Belize - Day 4: Monkeying Around

Today is our last full day in the Belize jungle. We opted for the morning excursion to the Escarpment today (learning of the day: escarpment -- a long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau or separating areas of land at different heights) to see if we could catch some raptors / birds of prey (sidenote, shouldn't they be called birds of predators?). We also got some more history as we passed Sylvester town where most of the farm workers live -- apparently it started as a chicle farm -- where the people living here actually tapped these big trees for gum to make chiclets for exportation! 

But now the farm produces coffee, hot sauces, and the various product/livestock for all the residents/guests.  Here's the machine where they process the coffee beans.

Belize is apparently filled with butterflies year round -- they were EVERYWHERE. Many would just fly right into our jeep. And they'd congregate on the roads because they like the minerals in the water puddles. Check out the whirlwind of butterflies!

Beyond the farm, things quickly got more jungle-y. This area was pretty heavily impacted by the hurricanes about 3 years ago -- here is all that is left of what once a majestic mahogany tree (national tree of Belize).

Our new guide, Luis, showed off his amazing birding skills honed from 30 years of working at Chan Chich. There were way too many varietals for me to mention here but my favorite was the red bodied toucan (yes, I know the official name is something else). The beak is so unique it looks fake to me. Yes, this is a photo I took of his phone, because I didn't have a cool enough camera to get anything nearly this good.

It was a not insignificant drive up there -- probably an hour each way, made slower by the fact that we had to stop and clear the road of fallen trees and creeping sharp vines every now and then. And of course every time we tried to help, it turned out the vine had poisonous caterpillars or sharp barbs on it...jungle after all!

We weren't even sure we'd be able to make it because there is a bridge that is often covered by water -- we managed to eke by today with only about a foot of clearance!

We made it! 

Such a cute little lookout hut for guests to sit and sip a beer while enjoying the view. 

The only thing marring the experience was the ABUNDANCE of bugs. Sadly no mosquito netted room here! (This is sadly not the full extent -- the other side of Ian's arms were just as bad -- I managed to escape with much fewer bites -- 10 points for long sleeves and copious amounts of bug lotion!)

We followed a couple hawks through the spotting scope which was a first for me -- [note to big sky, we should do more of that from the living room! The birds are so much cooler looking up close!]

As we neared the lodge, we ran into a family of howler monkeys so our came the spotting telescope again! So cool looking at the animals up close like this. 

After lunch (delicious shrimp tostada, and fresh avocados because they're in season and literally dropping off the trees), I went back to the pool for some aerobic exercise while Ian took an afternoon nap. Remembered to take photos of the pool this time!

Tonight would be our last safari ride -- we decided to aim for the more animal-active dusk hour. Besides the standard birds again, we also caught up with a whole clan of howler AND spider monkeys. 

Check out these jumps!

These are my favorite Belize trees -- "Rain trees" -- this one is hiding a woodpecker, two brown jays, and more! (No, this isn't a Where's Waldo, you'll just have to trust me that they're there).

During this time of year, it generally gets a little rainy or at least very cloudy by the end of the day, so this was the best "sunset" shot I could get. 

Pretty nice view nonetheless at Lake Seca though.

Perhaps appropriate to close the day (and our Jungle safaris) with a "see you later alligator" (okay, fine it was a crocodile).