Today we traveled from the Tropical Education Center into the Chiquibul! I saw a ton of butterflies and moths today, starting on the road to the Caracol Mayan ruins in the Chiquibul. There were a ton of light yellow butterflies (which our guide said were called ‘sulfur butterflies’) as well as bright yellow ones, white ones, and many others! Once we got to the Caracol ruins, I was constantly distracted by every new butterfly that passed me (and there were a lot). Another cool one I saw was light green with black bands on its wings! Although I saw a bunch of butterflies, I haven’t been able to identify any yet, as there are so many species! I only got a picture of one small brown moths on the steps of one of the Caracol ruins:

(I will insert my pics when I have better WiFi!)

The Caracol ruins were also very cool. We saw several large pyramidal temples, as well as a court where the Mayans used to play a ball game. This area is massive, yet only about 1% has been excavated so far. One of the buildings we climbed to the top of is currently the tallest building in Belize!

In the car today, we saw two Scarlet Macaws! We also saw lots of other cool birds today, including Montezuma Oropendolas and the Blue Crowned Mot Mot.

After leaving the Caracol ruins, we drove to the Las Cuevas Research Station in the heart of the Chiquibul. At night at the research station, I saw an overwhelming number of moths (none being very distinctive) of all shapes and sizes. I can’t wait for our first full rainforest day tomorrow! Excited to hopefully see some snakes and confidently identify my first Lepidoptera (butterfly/moth).

– Ava