Friday, February 2, 2018: Belize Zoo

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We packed up and left for our second stay. 

Along the Road

Along the Road

On the way we stopped at the zoo. It had native animals which had been rescued and unable to live in the wild for one reason or another.  The entire zoo was a rainforest with mesh to contain the animals but otherwise very natural. There were many boardwalks high up so that we could see the animals in the trees. We were at the eye level of the howler monkeys and could see them jumping from tree to tree. We also saw scarlet macaws, jaguars, tapirs, toucons, and many more. The most friendly were the toucons which sat near the fence and interacted with us.

Crested Guan

Scarlet Macaw

Toucan

Tapir

After the zoo we drove to Yaxche Jungle Camp.  The road to Belmopan was similar to all of the others--2 lane, sparsely traveled with lots of speed bumps. At Belmopan we got on the Hummingbird Highway. The landscape around changed dramatically to small mountains, so the road became twisty and hilly. 

Since we had originally planned to take the bus, we arrived much earlier than expected. Since no one was at the camp, we drove back to the Blue Hole National Park. First we walked down to the blue hole, a sinkhole generally blue but now greenish brown with all the rain. 

 After that we walked a mile and a half through the jungle to the St. Herman’s cave.

  It was about a ten minute walk to the entrance of the cave, and we were able to walk in about two hundred yards, but after that we would have needed a guide to continue. 

 We walked back to the parking lot via the Higland Road where we saw the Maya Mountains in the distance.

 And then back to the Blue Hole to swim.

 After that we went back to the Yaxche Jungle Camp and found that our cabana was ready. It was a cabin built on stilts, Maya style with a high thatched room and screens almost all the way around. We had chosen a place that seemed authentic. Although we did have a bathroom in our room, there was no electricity nor was there hot water. Given that we had headlamps and that the days were really warm, we didn't need either. We were able to intermittently access wi-fi at the main area. We were also very happy with this choice of accommodation although 3-4 days was long enough!

  I explored the 24 acres for the rest of the afternoon, but the rain had made all the paths very muddy and the river was flowing over the path.