Day 4: Jungle Oasis

Day 2 at Chan Chich, the oasis of luxury in the jungle.

I woke early to go on a walk with a guide to look for birds. E slept in. The bird life has such different patterns and sounds that I'm used to I don't even know where to look in the trees. We saw some beautiful birds: toucans (wow, not in a zoo!), scarlet and green slaty-tailed trogons and many others.

I met E for breakfast at a reasonable hour for non-birders and then we went on a wildlife tour of a local marshy lake with Luis, the guide of the Margay sighting. He was a wonderful guide: patient, curious and still full of wonder at the wonderful creatures we discovered. These included an emerald green cicada, freshly hatched grasshoppers and many strange birds hiding in the marsh.

That was the morning. The afternoon was one of the laziest and luxurious I have ever spent - a long lunch, a long nap in the hammock on our cabana's patio, a leisurely stroll through the rain forest and a lazy swim in the pool before drinks, dinner and an early night.

I kept plotting how I could ever afford to come back to this amazing place. My opinion about resorts has done a complete turnaround - I'm a big fan now!

Several endangered species are common in this forest preserve. The birds: red-crested guans, parrots, occellated turkeys and great curacaos. The mammals: margays, jaguars, howler monkeys and spider monkeys who are hunted so people can have their cute babies as pets. Needless to say, the mother and most of a troup is killed in the process of getting a baby. And needless to say, the baby is not cute for long and when it grows up cannot live with people or monkeys ever again.

I try not to think too hard about this as we are awed by the experience of being surrounded by monkeys and parrots and other hidden life in the forest. Hopefully the presence of tourists like myself will give incentive to save what's left. So far it seems to be working fairly well in Belize.

PS changed the picture later - the monkey will go to flickr

Belize Trip Back Blips
Day 1: Lost Luggage and Laminai
Day 2: The Ruins of the British (and Mayan) Empires
Day 3: Journey to Chan Chich
Day 4: Jungle Oasis
Day 5: It's a jungle out here
Day 6: We win the Survivor reward challenge
Day 7: Floating down the river to infinity
Day 8: A Military Escort
Day 9: People Watching
Day 10: Toilet Humour
Day 11: Tikal Immersion
Day 12: Roxie and the Machete
Day 13: Communing with Tikal
Day 14: Slash and Burn
Day 15: Swimming with Sharks
Day 16: Passage of the Mangroves
Day 17: Exploring San Pedro
Day 18: Lost and Found