Belize - Day 2 - Puma!

I have to admit I did not sleep as well as I was hoping -- the mosquito netting, while romantic and picturesque, was not the easiest to maneuver and didn't quite keep all of the biters at bay. Good thing we weren't rushing to anything this morning. 

After a very large breakfast (large for me at least, maybe it's normal sized for people who enjoy breakfast regularly, but I honestly felt a little uncomfortable afterwards), we got to see the lodge in its daytime glory. 

The grounds at the lodge are really quite spectacular -- so many different species. Miles of hiking paths with dozens of different birds (based on the plethora of calls I heard this morning).

We took it easy today for the morning -- I caught up on some Olympics events and Ian caught up on more sleep. Which left us refreshed and ready for some physical activity: canoeing! Or, if you're Ian, more like "drinking beers while on a lake."

That's right, leaving me to do all the paddling! 

Okay, I guess I didnt do much either -- it was more like a controlled float for an hour. But amazing scenery again - SUCH smooth water, couldn't have asked for better weather.

Oh right -- what animals did we see? A fox on the way out (so little! Much smaller than foxes in the US), toucans, random little birds, a pair of mammals that we can't remember the name of (will ask our guide tomorrow), a pair of spider monkeys and a juvenile crocodile!

After the sunset, we set off for our night drive. It went for an hour or so where we literally saw nothing but deer after deer after deer. And then, we stopped by a field where our guide swore he saw something. From the binoculars, I honestly felt like we were just looking at a bush. I was positive that he was just saying he saw something so that he could call the drive a success. But then we drove around the other side to get "a better look" and then the "thing" popped its head up so we could get a good look --- it really was a cat! I wouldn't have known if it was a jaguar or a puma but he assured us it was a puma because of how it was deep in the tall grass stalking a deer. No photos, so you'll have to also just trust us, but you can pretend it looked like this:

Now that we've confirmed the cats really are around, we are ready to get some daytime looks/photos of them. So tomorrow, 6:30 morning wildlife drive.

Oh I forgot the most important development of the day! The lodge manager felt so sorry for me and my mosquito issues that he upgraded us for free to the luxury villa! It is NICE -- A/C, glass walls all around, lovely wooden paneled floors -- but most importantly -- no more need to deal with the mosquitos!! 

Looking forward to a much better night's sleep today!