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One of the highlights of our five nights at the Turtle Inn was a day trip along the Monkey River. The mouth of the river was a 45 minute boatride in the boat in the above photo with Randye and our guide, Clive. At the mouth of the river, was Monkey River Village with a population of 200 people. Also in the village, we were visited by a troop of Howler Monkeys, as seen in the photo to the left. They were pretty high up, and we never got to hear them howl. It was too hot even for them as the lounged around in the branches. From the village we went about five miles up river, slowly, looking for wildlife and unique plant life. We didn't see any crocodiles, but we did see bats (See below left photo), egrets, herons, kingfishers, other assorted colorful birds, iguanas, and a ton of interesting tree and plant life. At one point, we got out for a nature hike into the jungle. Due to hurricane Iris in 2001, the area was devastated, so we got a firsthand look at what a baby jungle looks like with all the vegetation competing for sunlight near the ground, as opposed to high up in the canopy. During the hike, we saw army ants, leaf cutter ants, a giant wasp, Birds of Paradise flowers, ficus trees that make your houseplant look microscopic, and a slew of unique toxic trees and plants that have created an interesting symbiosis with the local insects to ward of predators and create shelter. It was here that it was discoverd that Randye is a wealth of plant knowledge along with their medicinal purposes. She is a regular medicine woman! But, after tip toeing his way out of the jungle, Paul remarked how he was quite happy in the safe and relaxing environs of New England temperate forests. After a delicious Creole lunch with our guide's mother in Monkey River Village, Paul met up with another local denizen of Monkey River Village, a parrot. In the photo below, they make each others acquaintance after the bird took a liking to him and walked up his arm. The parrot was all to happy to aerate Paul's sun burned shoulder with its claws. In the bottom photo, Paul gives his best pirate imitation. From the village, we meandered our way north through the Mangrove area along the lagoon. There we saw a number of manatees, the same specie found in Florida, swimming in the water. Finally, we ended the day with a fruity cocktail from the "Laughing Fish" bar as we lounged in the fresh water pool. Belize
was a wonderful and unique country. However, Randye and I were happy
to return home to our family and friends, rested, married, and excited
to share these photos. Please feel free to e-mail
us for more stories about Belize. |
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