The keel billed toucan is the national bird of Belize but it eluded us for quite a while
We got to Orange Walk Town in the early afternoon on Thursday 11th August and then made our way down to a restaurant on the bank of the New River. It had extensive grounds and facilities for camping and we parked up under one of the palm trees about 6 feet from the river. It was the most beautiful spot, right on the banks of a slow moving river with lotus lilies and water hyacinths and we sat and watched egrets and lily trotters trotting from lily pad to lily pad whilst sipping cool margaritas.
Campsite by the New River, Orange Walk
Lily Trotter
But, oh the bugs! The place was teeming with mosquitoes. So, our evening was slightly spoilt by the fact that every second or so one or other of us was slapping ourselves in an attempt to kill the little buggers.
On Friday we went to the Lamanai ruins which were all that Mayan ruins are supposed to be tucked away in thick jungle on the banks of the Lamanai lagoon. The two hour boat trip there was fascinating, up through a myriad of twisting channels, some of which were not the obvious course of the river. We stopped a couple of times, once to get a closer look at a spider monkey and the second time to try to catch a glimpse of a manatee but sadly we only managed to see its trail of bubbles.
Spider monkey on bank of New River
Mayan temple at Lamanai
Mayan temple at Lamanai
Close up of temple carving
We returned to a cool evening with a blessed breeze blowing off the river. We had a lovely sausage supper washed down with a bottle of Reservado and surrounded by mosquito coils like a defensive army. We sat happily in more or less mosquito free conditions and put the world to rights as is our custom.
Orange Walk Town didn't have anything much else of interest so we left there on Saturday morning and made our way south to the Crooked Tree Wildlife sanctuary.
Crooked Tree is reported to be somewhat of a birdwatchers paradise, but sadly the area was badly hit by Hurricane Earl, the water level in the lagoon was very high and so we arrived to news that many of the birds had fled. The jabiru storks (the largest flying bird in the Americas) which we were so keen to see, had apparently been there in abundance until the hurricane but were conspicuous by their absence during our stay.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed a couple of really good days there and, with the help of an experienced guide we had some good views of wildlife in the area. An evening trek in the pine forest produced good viewings of beautiful Yucatan Jays, a nesting hole full of a family of acorn woodpeckers and a small and rather worried looking tree porcupine that was sitting up in the tree wiffling its nose at us in a slightly quizzical manner. An early morning boat ride in the lagoon and creek produced good sightings of black collared hawks, a number of kingfishers of different species, a variety of herons, green and black iguanas, and a couple of extremely large crocodiles.
Fisherman with catch, Crooked Tree
Black collared hawk
Black collared hawk
Large iguana
We also paid a visit to Belize Zoo which mainly provides homes for native species that have been injured, orphaned or bred in captivity. Although it was sad to see big beasties incarcerated there was a good educational message for children about the importance of caring for and preserving the indigenous wildlife.
On Monday 15th August we moved on to Belmopan, the Capital of Belize although you would hardly think so. The government decided to move the capital after Belize city was flattened by a hurricane in 1961. The new capital of Belmopan was created in 1971 and it is a totally unremarkable place with a number of government and ambassadorial buildings scattered somewhat randomly within a ring road. It is apparently the smallest capital city in the world and we can believe it.
On Tuesday morning we drove south along the Hummingbird Highway (one of only half a dozen major roads in Belize) which is probably the most scenic route we have travelled here, being the nearest thing to a mountain road through the jungle whilst most of the country is flat.
Our first stop was St Herman's Cave where we did some cave tubing. This involved walking for a short while through the bush, then descending into a cave until we reached a subterranean river and then jumping inside a lorry inner tube and floating gently along the river as it wound its way through the darkness of the cave.
Entrance to St Herman's Cave
On the way to the cave we came across the sloughed skin of a Fer de Lance snake and we hoped that its previous owner wasn't nearby because they are very venomous and rather aggressive.
The tubing trip which lasted a couple of hours was great fun. There were lots of bats roosting in the caves and an amazing collection of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites and columns where the two had met. We turned our head torches off for a while and listened to the sounds of the cave in complete stygian darkness, it was very peaceful.
Sue ready for cave tubing
It's not difficult to understand why the Mayans regarded these places with some awe and superstition and regarded them as the entrances to the underworld.
Just a few miles further along the road we stopped at The Blue Hole, this turned out to be quite a minor sink hole and not nearly as impressive as the cenotes we visited in Mexico. Nevertheless it was cool and Alan took the opoportunity for a dip.
We did a little bit of horseriding on Wednesday at a place called Banana Bank, half an hour or so from Belmopan. We were accompanied by a couple of small boys who were very pleasant and polite and we bashed our way through the palm jungle and the teak forest which had sadly been very badly hit by the hurricane. It was a great morning but we were both quite saddle sore afterwards, not being used to this method of transport.
Riding through the jungle
On Thursday we continued west along the aptly named Western Highway to the outskirts of San Ignacio and a delightful jungle lodge called Gumbo Limbo which takes its name from a tree, otherwise known as the tourist tree because it has red bark that peels. There we were looked after very well by Mike and Jenny who both come from Yorkshire but spent many years in Africa, so we much enjoyed yarning with them.
Having established ourselves in a rather posh cabana we decided to take a look at Barton Creek, some 8 miles further on down the dirt road. To get there we turned down a rather sporting little track along which you would not take a normal saloon car. Apart from the fact that the surface was largely composed of rocks and ravines we had to cross the Barton Creek by way of a 2 foot deep ford (Alan enjoyed it so much he did it twice so Sue could take a photo!).
River crossing at Barton Creek
The next excitement was a tributory of Barton Creek which had a bridge across it which almost reached the other side. We found this out as we were coming down the far side of the bridge and fortunately stopped in time and then reversed and forded this stream too.
Who took away the bridge?
At Barton Creek was a lovely large swimming hole where the water disappeared into a cave system but we were too late to take a canoe so we made arrangements to go back again.
Barton Creek Cave
On Friday we gave Lucy over to the tender mercies of Graham, who specialises in Land Rovers, for a full service. Graham and his wife Joyce were obviously used to overlanders and, not only did Lucy get her service, but we also got a supply of Yorkshire tea and marmite!
We returned to Barton Creek on Saturday morning where Alan managed to persuade the guide to let him paddle the canoe into the cave. The cave is apparently about 6 miles long but we only went in a kilometre or so because it then becomes too narrow and low. There were lots of bats and some wonderful stalactites and stalagmites and on a series of rock ledges you could see pottery left by the Mayans well over a thousand years ago and also one skull that was grinning at us from on top of a pile of rocks.
Coming out of the cave
Large blue butterfly
Whilst at Gumbo Limbo we finally saw a toucan for the first time, in fact we saw two of the three species found in Belize, both on the same tree. So that was an ambition fulfilled. Another first was when our attention was drawn one evening to a rather cheery looking tarantula that was wandering across the dining room floor without a care in the world. We decided to leave him or possibly her to its perambulations.
Keel billed toucan, the national bird of Belize
Close up of keel billed toucan
Road bridge washed away by hurricane at San Ignacio
Roadside residence
We have spent our last few days in Belize in the beautiful Black Rock Canyon. We are staying at the Black Rock River Lodge where you look down towards the rushing River Macal and up to the towering cliffs of the canyon. They wouldn't allow us to camp here so once again we have stayed in a cabin, what a shame!
On Sunday we went for a 3 hour hike with one of the guides and we saw a number of keel billed toucans and a king vulture on the far side of the river although it was too far away for Alan to get a decent photograph of it.
Macal river, still brown after the hurricane
Hummingbird
Vada falls on the Macal river
The main event yesterday was canoeing down the Macal River for about 6 miles through some little bubbly rapids and Alan got a reasonably good workout. When we stopped for lunch we were treated to the sight of about 5 collared aracari, the middle sized toucan, one of which posed for Alan's camera like a film star.
Collared aracari
Collared aracari
Today, Tuesday 23rd August, we are saying goodbye to Belize and making our way across the border to Guatemala. We have really enjoyed our time here, everything from the Caribbean feel of the islands to the jungle atmosphere of the mainland. It is a small country with a small population but there is a real melting pot of races here including Mestizo (Mayan/Spanish mix), Mayan, Creole, Mennonite and they all appear to live in harmony. Hardly any of the roads are signposted but we love the way that whenever you stop they are always happy to direct you with a big smile, although occasionally you get something like 'turn right at my granny's house'.
We think Belize is a lovely country but we have been saddened to see so many trees destroyed by Hurricane Earl (which turned out to be a Grade 2) and the damage caused by the flooded rivers.
