Belize and Guatemala 2017

Journey End,

Sun, 03 Dec 2017 19:50:00 -0600

Our wake up call did not happen at 5am, so it was a good thing that Bill set the alarm for 5:20. We eventually received two wake up calls after 5:30 though?! We packed our bags one last time and headed a few blocks to the Blue Line which took us directly to O’Hare. Security was interesting. We had to take out all devices larger than a cell phone, remove our shoes, belts, hats, remove all foods and liquids from our carryons, remove all items from our pockets including tissues, carry the tickets in my hand. It was all very intense and of course caused a major back up because for us alone we had 6 separate bins. I bought an egg sandwich from Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant, did some Christmas shopping, went to Duty Free (which was at par with the Canadian dollar if we had some money on us!), bought a chai from Starbucks, then settled in by the gate for our 10am flight. After the 2 fantastic INFINITI Canada ads for the QX60 and Q50, I enjoyed the Well Being music on the flight. The album Breathe by Carl Borden was very soothing it has music and nature sounds. Reflections by Eskadet and Selected Artworks by Gorman Geto were good too, but less calming, bit more upbeat. They would be good choices for the morning, not bedtime. Bill should have tried listening to the Breathe album. He was not feeling very zen. The old man sitting in front of him was fully reclined and his head was practically in Bill’s lap. I am feeling sleepy, but am trying to finish the blog before we land, so I am trying to stay awake. I can nap on the couch with my girls when I get home instead! We arrive back in Toronto around 11:40 and we are sad that our trip is officially over! Thankfully it is not too cold, so that should make the transition easier. Right?!

Chicago, United States

Sat, 02 Dec 2017 19:50:00 -0600

We were up at the crack of dawn, but the sky was overcast so we did not see a good sunrise. It was a perfect time to head out on our walking tour. The city was still asleep it was easy for us to navigate. We only had a dozen guys ask us if we wanted a taxi ride. Later in the day we would have been harassed endlessly. On our walking tour we saw all of the remaining Belize City highlights. We crossed the Swing Bridge that no longer swings open to allow boats to pass through. The clock tower building was a great example of colonial architecture. Sadly the 4 clocks are not synchronized and probably not working at all. It is the site of the Supreme Court Building. We walked by the National Bank and found St John’s Cathedral. It was a little disappointing from the outside and only had a few small stained glass windows. Some of the windows were broken and have not been repaired and it was locked, so we did not get to see inside. Bill was able to take a photo through the shutters of the organ in the balcony. The one unique thing about the catherdral was the bricks. Most of the buildings are wooden or cinder block. The bricks are unique because they were brought over from England. On our way back to the hotel Bill decided to change the lense and put it in his backpack. Immediately after we saw all kinds of birds in an overgown yard. In the span of one block we saw at least 8 different species of birds. We saw a seagull, 2 types of sandpipers, a woodpecker, 2 or 3 types of seedeaters, an egret, and 3 other birds - wren, flycatcher or warbler?? It was unbelievable. I definitely have new species to add to the list. While I was trying to take some photos I could hear a woman from inside one of the residences. “Miguel, what’ that woman doing out there? Is she taking photos? What is she taking photos of? Why is she taking a photo of the car?” Finally Miguel responded and correctly identified that I was taking photos of the birds. She thought that was hilarious! We had breakfast at the hotel Once again the portions were enormous (as am I now). I asked for two poached eggs with bacon, tortillas, beans and salsa. I received a massive plate covered in a giant tortilla and was given bacon, ham and sausage too. It seriously way too much! After breakfast Bill stayed in the room to watch CNN and I headed to the pool for some last rays since the sun finally reappeared. This time, Lesel was on time and in the right place. We left the hotel shortly after 11am for our 2:30 flight. We arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare, so we did some souvenir shopping and bought a couple of new Christmas ornaments. I also bought my Marie Sharpes mild and hot sauces that I will be able to use at home & work. We ordered lunch at a kiosk and 20 min later they delivered some delicious grilled fish with beans and rice. As we boarded our flight we had a brief catch-up with Ben, Sylvie (from Chicago), Larry and Karen (connecting in Chicago on their way home to Washington). We were able to hear more about their fishing and snorkeling adventures when we landed and were waiting for our bags. It turned out that Ben and Sylvie live very close to the Renaissance on Wacker, so we shared an Uber ride with them and we able to have a nice chat. Sylvie and I exchanged numbers, so hopefully we can connect with them in Toronto or Chicago in the future. The hotel lobby and our room was great. Best of all, the bed was very comfortable! I know for sure that sleep #45 is not my #. I woke up with a sore knee, hips and back from the bed in Belize City. We arrived early for our reservation at Commons Club in order to have some drinks at the bar, but the restaurant was not busy and we were seated right away across from the pass, so we could see the activity in the kitchen and a nice view of the bar. Our service was really good, our waitress was very pleasant and helpful. Bill was tortured over what to order, he could not decide between the short ribs and chicken. He finally decided on the chicken, so after our amazing crab appetizer, she served us with a sample sized portion of the short ribs for us to try. It was an incredibly seasoned dish; it had a lot going on. The dried grapes were really interesting and it was decorated with some edible flowers and leaves. I really enjoyed my green curry salmon, it was a mild curry and balanced the richness of the salmon. Bill’s herb stuffed chicken was really tender and delicious. We walked over to the Blues Chicago and found the last 2 seats in the place. We enjoyed the first set of the band with Deidra Farr, then chatted with a couple of French guys. One was from Montreal and the other was from France. The Parisian really enjoyed that we were teasing the French Canadian about his language and the perils of dealing with a dual language country (as a marketer). It was hours past our bedtime and we headed back to our room to catch a few hours of sleep before our 5am wake up call.

Belize, Belize

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 19:50:00 -0600

Flores, Guatemala

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 00:00:00 -0600

We woke up late and had to head down to breakfast right away. It was very good and I enjoyed my poached eggs as a nice change from the scrambled and omelettes. At 10am we did the lagoon cruise and made our first of two stops. Oscar fed the 6 adult and 1 baby Spider Monkey carrots. Margarita joined us on the boat to eat her carrots. She is the Omega female and always gets picked on, so she comes to the boat for safety. While I was trying to feed another monkey, Oscar was trying to prolong the expience which led to the monkey taking matters into her own hands and jumping on to the boat. Let me tell you, that was a bit of a shit show. The 2 females were freaking out in front of us in very small quarters and the Alfa male was dangling from a branch beside the boat throwing a bit of a fit. Thankfully after a short period of time, everyone was contentedly eating carrots again. Once we fininshed feeding everyone breakfast, we conintued on our journey around the lagoon. The resort is on over 400 acres and this is one of several lagoons, but this is the largest. This lagoon is 4km long and has a depth of 22m at the deepest part. The rest of our tour was quite leisurely. I snapped a few bird photos and Bill chilled out. After we cruised by the guest houses and main lodge we stopped beside the 2 inhabited (monkey) island. This island is home to 11 Spider Monkeys & 2 Howler Monkeys. The Alpha male greeted us and put on a great acrobatic show. He is not chill at all, so we were not able to see the other monkeys. After the cruise we spend the greater part of the day by the pool. It was very overcast, so it was not a good tanning day, but it was still nice to relax and enjoy being outside in the warm weather. Around 3pm we took a walk toward the nature reserve and got a close look of the rescued male and female ocelot cats, 3 tapirs and a beautiful male jaguar. The male was purring and rubbing his head against the fence like our girls do when they want to be petted. I really wanted to pet him, but Bill did not think it was a good idea; honestly neither did I, but he looked so lonely in that cage! Our walk back was uneventful and we did not see (or notice) any birds along the way to and from the reserve. We spend the rest of the afternoon in the covered room at the end of the dock by the cabins having our happy hour beverages and corn snacks. After enjoying the jacuzzi in our room, we asked to tour the museum at the hotel. The Mayan pieces that were on display were from different periods and from all over the country and were part of the resort owner’s private collection. The artifacts and how they were displayed was incredible. There were some amazing pieces of jewelry, masks, statues, pottery and jade. Bill really enjoyed the big stone masks, some were human faces, some were animals or birds, and a couple looked like skulls. My favourite pieces were the stone jewelry with small skulls and a female statue with a opening in the stomach that had a tiny figure inside. Some of the pottery were shaped like animals, there was a couple of armadillo shaped bowls and the plates had red painted people, birds and animals on them. We had a lovely dinner in the main lodge and ordered two more dishes from the Guatemalan section of the menu. We had requested some more traditional food, so the staff obliged us by making tortillas and guacamole. It was fantastic!

Tikal, Guatemala

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 18:10:00 -0600

Last night I could hear the Howler Monkeys in the distance and the roosters and barking dogs in the not so distance. It is a little known fact that roosters do not only crow at dawn, they in fact never shut up! We had our wake up call at 5AM in order to see the sunrise from a fire tower just outside of Uaxactun above the canopy that is 5KM outside of Uaxactun. From our high perch we could see the ruins that were 20km away in Tikal. At this early time we were hearing lots of different species of birds and the Howler Monkeys off in the distance. Our first bird of the day was a Laughing Falcon in the tallest trees and we could hear parrots nearby. We also had our first Spider Monkey sighting . As the dawn faded and the sun rose, we were able to see the sunrise and take in the distance sites of the ruins for a while. Other than the Howler Monkey screeches, it was very peaceful and we ended up seeing some beautiful birds. At 7:00am the sun was starting to warm us up as we were hearing the sounds of lots of bird chirping and pecking at wood. By now the Howler Monkeys had settled down and we were starting to hear motorbikes along the one road to and from Tikal. It was time for breakfast. Marina served us another great meal, this time in her restaurant. We had 2 kinds of beans and 2 types of fresh, steaming hot endless tortillas, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fried plantains and papaya with honey. She also served us some camomile tea that was made with dried camomile. We went back to the campsite to pack up and we ended up seeing lots of birds. I had a better look at the Masked Tityra and the Keel Billed Toucan in the trees above our tent. We drove a short distance to the other side of town and began the tour at Plaza or Group B at a palatial home. Saw 3 architectural examples of lentils - stone, wooden and stepped. We walked a short distance and saw a neat bird, Blue Cowned Motmot. It’s tail feathers are plucked and shaped, the way it looks is not natural. It uses the tail feathers like a pedulum. It is extremely rare bird to see in this area. The Pale Billed Woodpecker finally popped around for me to get a shot but I was unable to get a good shot of Chestnut Coloured Woodpecker stayed elusive. Carlos was extremely happy to spot the email Mountain or Collared Trogan. Carlos was so happy to see this bird, the last time he saw one was 7 years ago and it was the male. This is the second one he has ever seen. We also enjoyed the acrobatics of a spider monkey jumping from a high tree to a low dead stump before moving on to Palace A 18. This dwelling had the highest ceiling and as we were exploring it, we saw a Fruit Bat. We were told that it used to have a spiral stairs to connect to the 2nd floor, but it is no longer there. We then drove back to the site our our dinner. It’s one of the oldest astrological sites dating back to BC. They marked the Solstices each year at this site. On the drive Jonathan saw something on the side of the road, so we pulled over and we saw a large troop of Coatimundis. The live in female colonies and are simultaneously very curious and very shy. They would sneak a peek at us, then hurry off into the trees. We parked and then saw another very cool bird, Montezuma Oropendula, which is part of the Orioles family. It is a really neat looking bird and almost appears like it could be part of the toucan family. I was trying to get a photo, but somehow the settings on the camera are all messed up. This bird creates a nest that looks like a pendulum which is part of the reason for its name. After a great lunch, I had chicken and Bill had beef with fresh tortillas and habanero sauce we saw another Agouti and a flock of Collared Aracaris on our way to the ruins. The first stop at Tikal was called Katuns (20 year site) was a pyramid with Stelles on the North side there would have been a palace. A new one was built every 20 years. This one was built in 300 BC. 9 is a sacred number. It is the number of levels in the underworld. There would have been 9 priests seated in front of the Stelles on the round stones. Site 4 was 70 meters high and built by the son of a very imprtant king. It was also known as the Double-headed Serpent Temple. It was built 1,000 years after Katuns. From the top we could see the Acropolis to the far left, straight ahead was Temple 1, 2, 3 and to the far right was the Lost Temple. While sitting on top of the temple, for a brief moment after the Highland Guatemala family in traditional clothing left, we were all alone. It was a beautiful way to experience the view. It was so peaceful until the Brown Jays showed up. On our way to the next site, on the ground we saw a Great Tinamou. It was sitting so still that it really surprised Carlos. Bill was even able to walk up very close to it and take photos. This bird makes a beautiful call that carries 2 Km at dawn and dusk to start and end each day. We also saw a male White Whiskered Puffbird. It is one of two puffbirds in this region. It has a very fluffy looking face like our kitties. Carlos said it is very rare to see this bird too. We then arrived at The Lost World Temple. It was built not in the local style because it was built by a Mexican. The builders of this temple were important foreigners and the locals crowned him the King. The temple was white in colour instead of the red of this region, and had different style balastrates. The Lost World Plaza was the largest with 38 buildings in it. Beside it was a pyramid, it has inset stairs unlike a temple. It had been closed for 7 years because people were injured climbing it, but they are building stairs on the back so people can climb it again. There was a mound nearby for dancing. Fun! Beside the pyramid was ruins of elite residences. We saw the top of Temple 3 from a nice wooded path. We passed some ball courts and one of the 13 reservoirs. Temple 5 was very impressive. It is the only one facing north. All others face east and west. It was built by an overthown ruler and faces another temple in another city to create a triangle of commerce. It became the burial chamber of the fallen king. The grand finale of the tour was the Great Jaguar and The Mask Temple. They were built in 700 AD and 682 AD. The first was for the King and the one we climbed was for the Queen. At the top of the stairs in a huge tree we could see an Orange Breasted Falcon. It was thought to be extinct in this area, but made a reappearance at Tikal. This falcon, the Puffbird and the Trogan are birds that you only see once a year. We were also luck to see at one bend in the path on the way back to the SUV 3 species eating ants - Rose Throated Tanager, Ivory Billed Woodcreeper, and Ruddy Woodcreeper. Also along the path we rand into the Great Curassao males and females again, this time they were just a big blur thanks to Bill. We saw more Oscillated Wild Turkeys strutting their thang. The colour is amazing and iridescent. They have feathers that remind me of a peacock. I had another chance to take a photo of the Montezuma Oropendula; this time got a great shot! In the pond by the car I was able to see one more new species, a Grey Necked Wood Rails and a Green Heron to cap off an amazing day! Species of the day: Laughing Falcon Spider Monkey White Fronted Parrot Masked Tityra Black-Throated Green Warblers Short Billed Pigeon Yucatan Flycatcher Royal Flycatcher Blue Cowned Motmot Pale Billed Woodpecker Chestnut Coloured Woodpecker Mountain or Collared Trogan Spider Monkey Fruit Bat Squirrel Cuckoos Great Curassaow Agouti Montezuma Oropendula Oscillated Wild Turkeys Collared Aracaris Yucatan Flycatcher Dot Winged Wren Great Tinamou White Whiskered Puffbird Orange Breasted Falcon Rose Throated Tanager Ivory Billed Woodcreeper Ruddy Woodcreepers Oscillated Wild Turkeys Grey Necked Wood Rails Green Heron We drove back toward Flores and checked into the beautiful resort, Las Laguanas. It is beautiful and our room is spacious and even has a closed in deck with a jacuzzi. We had a great dinner and Elmer took great care of us. We ordered a local fish and a Guatemalan chicken and beef dish. It was very good and we enjoyed a bottle of wine from Chile, Alegoria. I used the facilities after dinner off the main dining room. I had some seasoning in my teeth and decided to rinse my mouth to get it out of my teeth. I realized what I had done immediately - essentially drank water from the tab. Oh no! Bill’s solution to the problem was to follow it up with alcohol, so I finished his wine and then ordered a Hendricks. Not sure if it worked or not, but I still feel fine 3 days later.

Uaxactún, Guatemala

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 19:50:00 -0600

We woke up early to do the Savannah Walk because we splurged on one extra tour for our stay. We went with Chris, Manuel our captain, and Abdul. It was very calm and there was mist along the banks as the sun was rising upon our departure. As we were departing from the dock we saw a huge fish with a fin called Tarapin surface briefly. During our short boat ride across the lagoon to the other bank we saw 4 Blue Winged Teal that were on the water and flew away before we could get close. We also saw an Osprey and Cattle Egret flying overhead (no not together, that would be weird). We saw aBlack Headed Trogan on the bank, but it flew inland when we tried to get a closer look. We coasted into a muddy bank and I stepped out of the boat onto a cinder block and immediately wiped out. I did not cut myself but was covered in mud. Good thing Bill had some wipes in the backpack so I could clean my arm and hands off. During our walking Safari we saw some cool dewy plants and lots of birds: Passion Flower 2 Plain Chachalaca 2 Yellow Throated Euphonias Yellow Lored or Yucatan Parrot that had a yellow head and red beak. Several of them were just sitting on top of the trees eating leaves. Vermillion Flycatcher female. It is distinguishable form the male that has a lot of red. Black Throated Bobwhites flew up from the ground when we approached. White Bellied Emerald Hummingbird was on a branch and then flitted away when Bill tried to take a photo. Olive Throated Parakeet Black and White Warbler walking down the tree Ruby Throated Hummingbird Rufous Tailed Hummingbird like the ones at the lodge. American Redstart Warbler. I think we were able to get a better shot than yesterday. There may be a photo of a White Bellied Emarald Hummingbird, but probably not! Acorn Woodpecker Botteri’s Sparrow, which is not often seen on the other side of the lagoon. Vermillion Flycatcher male. Gorgeous! Brown Crested Flycatcher Common Yellow Throat Warbler A flash of yellow and black to the Social Flycatcher before heading down the path to the boat As we cruised back we saw a Black Vulture and Muscovy Ducks. After breakfast we headed to the room and saw 2 Yucatan Squirrels playing and at least one new bird. I will likely not be able to identify it without the assistance of our guides! We really enjoyed our last meal at Bushy’s Place, then boarded the boat with Larry, Karen, Ben and Sylvie. They are heading to a resort to go fishing and snorkeling. Coincidently they are taking the same flight back to Chicago on Saturday. We did not have a lot of time on the cruise back, but we did see: Osprey Anhinga Snowy Egret Jacana Our drive back to the Belize City airport was a bit livelier. We saw a lot more traffic and lots of people along the side of the road. School was getting out at this time so we saw lots of little ones in their school uniforms walking home or boarding buses. We boarded our Tropic Air flight with 2 other passengers. The passenger to pilot ratio is 2:1 today. We flew low the entire time and really enjoyed the view. We were not sure when we crossed over into Guatemala and only knew for sure when we could see Flores. It looks like a pretty little city on either side of the lake, but we will not be spending any time here this go around. Bill was happy that we were greeted with our name on a Goway sign. I wish I had taken our photo with it! We were told that driving into our camping area would taken an hour and 40 min by our guide Carlos and Jonathon our driver. Carlos explained that the community in the jungle was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The residents live in Uaxactun (sounds like Watch-a-Toon) with renewable resources. They do not have electricity or running water. People have lived in this area dating back to 1100 BC! We also learned that Tikal was escavated dating back to 1950’s for 15 straight years. During that time they uncovered burial chambers, Mayan treasures and texts. The only creature we saw on the way in other than a Common Pauraque was a little Grey Fox. It was around 5:30 when we landed, so most of the drive was in complete darkness. Once we left the main highway and entered the site at Tikal we had to show our park passes since Uaxactun is 23km beyond Tikal. Of course because there were no lights it was pitch black and we had nothing to look at while enduring the bone shaking ride. To illustrate how rough the road was, it took us an hour to drive 23km. When I saw the 10km to Uaxactun sign I was thinking great, we are almost there. After a while I could see another sign and I was so excited because I thought it was the Welcome sign, but no, it showed that we had 5 more km to go. I was not happy! It had been 6 or 7 hours since my last meal and I was getting hangry! After another 15 or 20 min we pulled up to the campsite in the middle of town. Our tent was set up onto a covered platform and there were shared toilets and showers at one end of the site. The tents were very spacious, but did not include double cots! We then hiked over to the (what we learned later) astrological Mayan ruins so we could have our dinner at the site of one of the ruins of Uaxactun. Marta and two helpers had our dinner prepared and the site was beautifully decorated with lots of candles and palms. She prepared some amazing guacamole and chips for us, a fantastic chicken dinner with rice, beans and tortillas and some really sweet pineapple for dessert. Carols had brought and chilled a lovely bottle of white white for us and had some grapes and Gouda to finish our meal off with. It was really a special evening and was worth the torturous drive in!

Orange Walk, Belize

Mon, 27 Nov 2017 19:50:00 -0600

We started early again on our own birding expedition around the property. We headed to the edge of the village and then walked over to the old landing stip and ended at our room. We saw lots of birds, many of the same that we have seen before, but I think we added one new one. We did see lots of different butterflies, moths, some hummingbirds, parakeets, and the highlight was seeing 3 Keel Billed Toucans in one of the tallest trees, then they flew overhead to another massive tree. Bill was able to get some cool photos of them flying overhead. The toucan torpedo is a great pic! Chris confirmed these other birds that we saw on our morning walk: Hepatic Tanager Orchard Oriole Rose Throated Becard Paula and Janet filled us up again with fresh fruit, omelette, bacon and potatoes. This is the first meal that I have not over overdosed on the butter, only because they did not serve it to us! After breakfast we did the Medicine Walk and Village Life tour with Chris. They were kind enough to provide this tour to us at no extra charge. We learned that from 250-900 AD, the classic period, doctors that knew how to use these medicinal plants (prior to that it was a real crapshoot): Jasmine bush with small green leaves for numbing your mouth in order to reduce pain while removing teeth. I did remind Bill that just because Chris hands it to you doesn’t mean that you should put it in your mouth. Shate looks like bamboo. The US used this plant to colour their money. Provision tree is good for regaining energy. Wild Papaya with fruit is a female. If it has a lot of leaves and flowers it is a male plant. Banana Silk Spider Red Ginger; you can drink it Oregano with really large leaves Bananas were native to East India and were brought by the British White Blossom Ginger Moses in the Cradle is a plant used to heal cuts. Moses is the little white flower Halaconia looked like a Bird of Paradise to me. Pride of Barbados or Birds of Paradise; you can see the wings, head and tail feathers Lesser Yellowheaded Vulture that will attack live prey. Gecko White Collared Manakin was posing for us and is rare to see here Chris was kind enough to make me a palm fan to keep me cool Lemon Grass Bush for making tea when you are not feeling well Yellow Throated Warbler In the village saw a Ruddy Ground Dove and its nest, Chris’ house, the school, library, park, football field, grocery store where we bought plantain chips, houses, Sugar the cute puppy, and our final destination for our cooking class, Las Orquides Restaurant. In the village they have given up on the Mayan religion and there are now 6 different denominations of Christianity here. Las Orquides was run by 2 women at a time and they rotate on a weekly basis and they individually get to keep the profits. During our cooking class we learned that Anattoo gives red colour and was used for colouring the temples. It is added to ground corn for empenada or salbutes which was a small fried tortilla with shredded meat and tomatoes on top. All Spice along with dried Oregano leaves and were added to our Escabeche along with onions and chicken. It is a soup that is only made for special events. White lime was ground limestone and added to hard corn and boiled to soften the corn for grinding. The white lime also keeps your teeth healthy and white. Marta demonstrated how to grind the corn into a paste for the tortillas the traditional way. Paul and Jill showed up with Wild George and a new couple John and Vanessa. They heckled us as we ground our corn and then shaped our tortillas. They did not realize how difficult and labour intesive it was until they had their turn! Marta toasted our tortilla over the wood burning oven, then we were able to sample our masterpieces with some tomato and habanero sauce. It was really good, definitely worth the effort, but I think I will only have one! Gladys helped us make tamales. Tamales are made with tortillas, tomato sauce and meat inside steamed banana leaves. Each of us made one and was served to us as an appetizer for dinner. We enjoyed more tortillas that they ladies made for us, empenadas (Bill loved these) and our Escabeche along with a couple of Belekins. It was all really good! On the way back to the resort we saw a bunch of new birds: Black Headed Saltator Golden Fronted woodpecker Black Cowled Orioles Summer Tananger female Red Legged Honeycreeper juvenile Magnolia Warbler American Redstarred Warbler Bright Rumped Attila Yellow Winged Tanager On my walk near our room in the afternoon I saw 2 Russet Naperville Woodrails walking around in a clearing. As soon as they heard me, they ducked into the shrubs. Bill and I took an afternoon Nature Walk tour with Chris We saw: 2 Black Vultures way up in the tree at the entrance to the museum White Tipped Dove walking in the ground Owls Eye Butterfly Northern or Thrushlike Schiffornis Red Throated Antanager Golden Fronted Woodpecker Tawny Winged Woodcreeper Yellow Winged Tanager Vampire Bat Howler Monkeys Lesser Chachalaca Mosquitos everywhere! We walked around the British Sugar Mill that has been abandoned since 1866. It is really cool and lots of the equipment is just lying around and rusting. The brick building is very cool looking and has a tree growing on top of it. We also saw the ruins of the two churches that the Spanish had built. The only think left is the structure because the Mayan had burned the churches down when the Spanish departed. Abdul and Chris led us along with Vanessa on the Night Walk around the property. We eat had a headlamp and instantly could see a ton of little green glowing eyeballs. Tina would have been freaking out because each one was a tiny Wolfspider. We were able to see a lot of other creatures during our walk: Marine or Cane Toad Centipede Geckos that made clicking sounds in Brazil and don’t say “gecko” Possum was climbing up in the tree Sleeping dragonfly attached to a leaf Kinkajou was really cool. It belongs to the same family as raccoons. Their tail can be used like another limb and they are herbivores that eat fruit. Turnip Tailed Gecko was on the side of the generator building. It is very rare to see one. Abdul and Chris was very excited and took photos of it too. Bats zipping around us the entire time and Howlers creating a ruckus in the distance. Those guys seem to make noise almost all day long. So much so, that it just become white noise. Bill won’t eat coconut or raisins, but to humour Chris, he ate live termites off the ground. Mexican Mouse that I spotted tucked away in the shrubs Tarantula that Bill spotted on a vine leaf Cricket and spider eating a grasshopper, what a macabre site! Caterpillar Fire Flies blinking on and off. Yucatan Banded Gecko. This one is very colourful and rare too. Rainforest Toad Common Paraque flew up in front of us Barn Owl in the distant trees flying just far enough ahead of us that we did not get a good look We had another great dinner and had to say good-bye to Paula. She was taking three days off and was going to a zoo in Mexico with her son and daughter.

Orange Walk District, Belize

Sun, 26 Nov 2017 13:50:00 +0000

We began our morning bright and early at 6am for the Jungle Dawn Walk with Chris around the property. It was a clear day and not too hot yet. We saw a lot of cool things on our morning walk, I will mention some of our highlights here and the full list at the end of this entry. We saw the Bat falcons flying in pairs; they have this name because they have small bat-like wings and looks like bats in flight. We were able to get a great view and photo of one bat falcon resting in top of the dead branch. Swanson’s Warbler was really exciting for Chris. This makes bird species #296 for him! It was in the vines and leaves in the tree with a Magnolia Warbler. We caught a glimpse of the Barred Antshrike, but it was too shy. People come from all over the world to try and see it. We saw it but did not have a clear view and did not have a chance to get a photo. I was taking photos of the Guanacaste tree, which is so pretty and is the national tree of Belize. We did not see, but could smell and hear the Collared Peccary, wild pigs. Leaf Cutter Ants were hard at work all in a row on the path hauling their leaves. The Stripe Throated Hermit Hummingbird zipped by singing a happy tune. It is the second smallest hummingbird in the world. We walked on the old airstrip and passed by the pond where we could hear the Striped Cuckoo & saw the Green Heron flying over the water. The solitary Great Blue Heron was standing under the trees by the pond, 3 Cattle Egrets were chilling out on top of the palm trees and we could see Crocodile eyes and snout popping out in the pond. As we began heading back to the resort we walked by a Vanilla Orchid which is very pretty and tiny. The noisy Brown Jays flew by when we arrived at Bushy’s Palce for breakfast and the last treat before breakfast was 3 Ringed Kingfisher that flew overhead. For breakfast we had the most delicious bacon, scrambled eggs with spinach, fresh fruit, biscuits with some great butter and some light baked tortillas sprinkled with sugar. Everything was so delicious and so filling! After breakfast we began the Mayan Temple tour. Before we left the resort we saw a huge Black Spined Iguana in the tree by the dock. It was a short boat ride to the ruins and at that dock we saw a Mud Slider Turtle in the water covered in algae. We saw the Black Orchid which is the national flower outside the museum. It is known for flowering all year round. By the museum before we started the tour of the ruins we saw an American Redstar Warbler flitting around, a Violaceous Trogon way up high in the tree, a Young Yellow Warbler hiding behind the branch, a Northern Waterthrush Warbler hopping along on the ground and an Ivory Billed Woodcreeper If you want to choose the Mayan Ruins and history adventure, continue reading, if not, skip ahead to read more about birds and animals. The proper name is not Lamanai, it is Laman Aiyan, meaning underwater crocodile, the word lamanai means underwater bug. The story is that the Spaniards heard the name incorrectly when they arrived the first time, in 1544. Once the Spaniards thought they had successfully conquered the Mayans and converted them to Christianity, they left to conquer others peoples. The Mayans had pretended to adopted this new religion, but did not really convert; in fact, they burned the church down. When the Spaniards returned in 1644, they built a second church from temple stones. Mayans had many gods and did not want to believe in only one god, so they kicked the Spaniards out. In 1840, the British came and built sugar mill. With them they brought Africans, East Indians and Chinese slaves. The Mayans refused to be enslaved, so the British paid the Mayans with rum which they eventually rebelled against. A small number of native Mayans have remained during this entire period in the Lamanai region. In 1974, Dr David Pendergast from Canada with ROM money came to the area and excavated 5% of the city including the temples that we were able to see on the tour. The first temple we saw was the Jaguar Temple. For Mayans the Jaguar is a representation of the sun. Mayans believe that Jaguars live in the sun during the day and only come out a night, moving west to east, (which is why it becomes dark every night). Therefore, if you see a Jaguar during the day it is very special. There was a Stella laying on the ground with carvings on it. The Mayan calendar had been carved on the red rock. Unlucky dates on the zolkin calendar the last 5 days of the year. People born on those dates are supposed to be unlucky, but I don’t believe it! That is because the year is 365 days long and each month has 20 days, except for the last 5 days of the year. At Stella 9 Chris explained the carvings and hyroglifics to us on the Stella. He was able to read it to us in Mayan and translated it to English. We learned that Jade was the most precious stone for the Mayans and that is why it is often found at burial sites of the kings and queens. On the Ball Court there was a vertical hoop on the 3rd level. Chris explained that they are still unclear on all of the rules, but it is believed that scoring even once was very difficult, so one one point with the rubber ball through the hoop wins/ends the game. The winner was sacrificed. Maybe it was not so hard to score, it was just that no one wanted too?! Chris shared some Punta music with us. It used to be music for the gods. Now it is dance music. I think something was lost in translation somehow! The High Temple was 33 meters tall, had been coloured red, and had 13 faces on it. The faces were masks or representations of the rain god. The number 9 was the symbol for hell and the number 13 was lucky. When the high temple was excavated they found the skeleton of an unknown bird, obsidian and jade as offerings. Chris shared a Cohune nut with us. It was very oily and was used for cooking oil. At the Mask Temple they have partially restored 2 of the mask carvings. The structure of the Temple had been changed over the years by several kings. The original structure dates back to 200 BC. Now if you chose the bird and animal adventure, keep reading here about our sitings around the Mayan temples: Masked Tityra Tropical Kingbird - vey bright yellow and is part of the flycatcher family. We saw the legs of a Tarantula in the hole. She kills her mate and eats him after they breed. 2 Howler Monkeys in the trees beside Stella 9. This was our first siting! Hooded Warbler on the fallen trunk Yellow Warbler Grey catbird Social flycatcher Squirrel cuckoo Olive backed euphonia Yellow throated euphonia Yellow Olive Woodpecker Least flycatcher Praying mantis Horse Balls tree Hooded Warbler Brown Jays in the trees and on the ground. These birds are much bigger than Blue Jays. Lineated Woodpecker Ivory Billed Woodcreeper - could not take a photo because the card was full of rock photos. UGH! We had a delicious and filling lunch back at Bushy’s Place. We had spinach dip and chips, black bean soup, chicken salbutes and banana cake along with Hybiscus juice and Balikin Beer. I saw a flash of colour and wen to the edge of the deck to see a Keel Billed Toucan, which sounds like a frog. I was able to get a great photo of it in the tree beside the dining lodge. After lunch we sat on the deck at our room. I sat in the hammock and Bill sat in the shade under our palm roof. I caught some sun and lots of photos of birds landing in the trees around our room. Chris was able to provide me the names of the birds later that evening. It was really neat to see a Flock of Wood Storks flying so low that they were almost touching the water. Our Sunset Cruise turned from romantic cruise to party cruise with Larry and Karen from Washington, DC and Ben and Sylvie from Chicago. We did not see a lot of bird on our pontoon boat ride, but we added a few new ones to the list: Several Fork Tailed Flycatchers along the bank. They have beautiful long tails. Turkey Vulture Male Snail Kite Pipe Billed Grebe Apple Snail Eggs laid on the stalks of the plants that grow in the water White Ibis flock flying overhead Great Egret flying by We enjoyed the beer, pina coladas, banana coladas, games and the company during our sunset viewing and cruising. We were also very fortunate to have a beautiful sunset too! The clouds rolled in and the water was a bit choppy on the way back to the resort. I think it will be great evening for sleeping and we don’t have an early wake up tomorrow. Our first scheduled activity is the walking tour at 4pm. I think we are going to attempt to canoe over to the Mayan Ruins in the morning on our own to see some more rocks and birds. In the bar before dinner we met Gordon and Chris from the UK. I had a fabulous black bean soup to start with buns, and lots and lots of butter. I think it must come from the Mennonites. Note to self, buy butter the next time we are in St Jacobs! For dinner we had chicken kabobs, salad, and twice backed potatoes. For dessert Bill had lime pie and I stole a bite. During dinner we saw bats, a bird that reminded me of a night jar (turned out to be a Pauraque) and an owl landed on the railing beside me and then flew away. We think it was a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, but it turned out to be a Mottled Owl. Returned to our room for bedtime and Bill saw a gecko run across our headboard and dive down between the headboard and the wall. Not sure I will get a lot of sleep tonight! We saw a lot of cool things on our morning walk, here is the complete list: Bat falcons Wood Thrush Howler Monkeys Blue Blacks Grassquit Small Seed Eater Swanson’s Warbler Magnolia Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Barred Antshrike Redbilled Pigeon Collared Peccary Black Headed Vultures Tropical Peewee Flycatcher Leaf Cutter Ants Stripe Throated Hermit Hummingbird Olive Throated Parakeets Red Lored Parrots Keel Billed Toucan Striped Cuckoo Green Heron Great Blue Heron White Collared Seedeater Cattle Egret Crocodile White-Fronted Parrots Yellow-Throated Warbler Vanilla orchid Grey Tailed Grackle Brown Jays Ringed Kingfisher

Sunset Cruise in Lamanai.

Belize, Belize

Sat, 25 Nov 2017 19:50:00 -0600

We were at the airport a couple of hours before our 9:40am flight. It was fairly busy, so it was good that we arrived with lots of time to spare. After going through security, we took advantage of Bill’s Priority Pass and had continental breakfast at the KLM Lounge. Our 2 hour flight to Belize City was uneventful and I was able to nap for most of it. We were greeted at the airport by our driver Herbie and 2 other guests from the UK, Jill and Paul. Milton from Viaventure welcomed us and provided us with our itinerary for the week. Herbie then drove us by Caravan for an hour to the dock. The drive was not very exciting. Once we left the city, we only passed through a couple of towns and did not see many people or other vehicles along the way. George was our captain and tour guide for the one hour plus boat ride to the Lamanai Outpost Lodge. George was great at spotting birds along the way, pointing them out to us and giving us some information about them. We saw the following birds and animals during our boat ride: Lesser Nighthawk; the brown colour allows it to blend in with the dead branch it was asleep on Proboscis or Long Nosed bats were asleep in a row on the trunk of the tree. During the night when they are awake and eat mosquitos Osprey was in flight over the water Jacana was also known as the Jesus bird because he walks on the water (on top of dead grass); it is similar to a sandpiper, but dark red in colour Ringed Kingfisher which was one of the largest of its species, 1/5 kingfishers found in Belize; it was very shy and does not like to have its photo taken Common Mud Slider Turtle was also shy and jumped into the water upon being spotted Limpkin was super cool and is the only one of its species. It was similar to an egret in size, but had darker speckled feathers. It had a hooked bill in order to eat snails. George said it makes Jurassic Park-like calls and looks like a prehistoric bird in flight. Pinto Horse, Holstein Cow, Goats and Chicken at the Shipyard. I say pardon? We were on the edge of a Mennonite village. There are 3,000 Mennonites that still only drive horse and buggy, drive tractors that have steel wheels and grow rice, corn and beans,. They produced 70% of all crops in Belize. We saw a young boy go barrelling by us on a Sea Doo, I guess that there is no rule for that one in the Mennonite handbook. And we could also see a lot of new full-sized pickups. So, I don’t think that they are all strictly religious. Yellow Crowned Night Heron; We saw 2 adults and 1 immature one Mangrove Swallows were on a dead branch during our ride and then on the dock when we arrived at the lodge. Northern Rough Winged Swallow; we saw a large flock overhead during the boat ride Great Black Hawk which has a yellow beak was sitting on a tree branch all by itself; it eats other birds, so likely does not have many friends We docked and headed up to the main lodge. We saw a Rufous Tailed Hummingbird on the deck. We discovered throughout our time there that there a lots of these around the dining room, Bushy’s Place. I guess it helps that they have several hummingbird feeders around the area. We enjoyed watching them zip around or occasionally sit on the planter or leaves while we were having our meals. Another cool bird we saw for the first time was the Keel Billed Toucan. We arrived at Lamanai Outpost Lodge around 3:00pm. We headed to Bushy’s Place and had some delicious potato soup with bacon and warm dinner rolls with lots of butter. We enjoyed our late lunch with Jill and Paul before sitting down with our guide Christian Ramirez. He explained the different tour options and we selected our plans for the next few days while we sipped on a pina colada and a Belikin, the national beer of Belize. Chris walked us down to our room which overlooks the lagoon. So far we are really pleased with the guides and the accommodations. Before dinner we chatted with an older gentleman and two ladies from Sydney. This is their last day at the lodge. They have had a great time so far and have enjoyed being at the lodge. Paula and Janet served us a fantastic dinner. The shrimp ceviche was great and I really enjoyed the chicken tamales. For dessert Bill had bananas flambé and I had the best coconut pie ever! It was almost 100% shredded coconut and tasted so good! I will have to try to figure out how to make it. I think it was made with condensed milk. After our first dinner in Belize, we did the Spotlight Safari boat tour. Down at the dock it was so clear and we could see thousands of stars. Abdul, Chris’ brother was our guide an we were joined by Mary and Catherine from Boston for the night cruise. We were seconds away from our dock when we began to see animals and birds. Under the spotlight we saw: Green Iguana in the branches Orange adult Iguana male Could hear the Limpkin and then saw two up in the tree Morelet’s Crocodile under the water that swam directly under our boat. They are fairly small and get to be 12” at the largest. This one was probably 8 or 9” long. Bats flying around the ruins dock Common Pauraque on the ground; it is part of the nightjar family Marine Toad on the rock; it only has one predator, Kinkajou, which belongs to the raccoon family (and we ended up seeing on the night walk on our last evening) Basilisk lizard which runs across the water like the Jesus bird Grey fox dashing around on the bank under the trees Great Curassow which commonly known as the great turkey. It was a big black male, high up in a tree. It is endangered because it is large with lots of meat. Later we saw the brown female Northern Potoo. Looks like an owl but not part of the family Provision Tree flower blooms only at night and lasts for 24 hours. It is pollinated by moths and bats Yucatan Nightjar standing up in the branches which is almost unique to the nightjar family. It is rare bird to see in this area. Green Heron on a branch posing for us Russet Naped Wood Rail or Grey Necked Wood Rail. This bird mates for life and was very pretty Large termite nests in the trees which we saw a lot during our time at the lodge Greater Fishing bats went flying by in front of the boat After an hour we spent a few minutes in the boat with the engine cut and just stared up at the moon and stars. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We could hear some crickets and occasionally hear some birds, but mostly just the sound of the water lapping against the shore. All the way back to the lodge Abdul piloted us back with the lights off and only the moon and stars to guide us. It was exhilarating and felt like we were flying! The water was so calm and was like a mirror reflecting back the trees and moon. It was a perfect way to end the tour and our day at the lodge.

Lamanai Outpost Lodge

Houston

Fri, 24 Nov 2017 15:20:00 -0600

We arrived in Houston an hour earlier than scheduled, that is some massive tail wind! We took an Uber ride from the airport to the JW Marriott on Main, downtown. It was a lovely hotel and had neat iron pillars in the building and in our room. Since we landed early, we had some time to explore. We walked around the deserted downtown area due to the American Thanksgiving. The core was empty except for the tourists and the homeless. It was nice to be walking outdoors without a coat on. We wanted to tour through a church, but it too was closed. So, we just ended up walking around in the entertainment and historic areas before going to the CVS to buy some snacks and wine that we enjoyed back in our room. We had a great meal at Potente: https://www.potentehouston.com/ We started with tonno crudo, spaghetti al tartufo nero, had veal cheeks and the filet for our mains. We finished it all off with apple galette and vanilla gelato for dessert. The food was a bit expensive, but the wine was very reasonable. The owner of the restaurant is the owner of the Houston Astros. The restaurant had a very Italian mafia vibe to it. The wait staff all dressed in black, mostly older male servers, and at one point I could see 8 servers at once. The area of the restaurant had less than 20 tables and it looked like there were 2 private rooms that were not being used while we were there. Overall, the food was amazing and the service was outstanding. We had an early dinner and went to bed immediately so we could be ready to go for our flight in the morning.