Tag Archives: Gecko

Getting to Glovers!!! (Day 1)

Hi all, it’s Faith here with Day 1 updates from our Belize trip!!!

Today, we spent such long time just trying to get here, so I’m a little worried about the intensity for the next few days, but I didn’t  sign up for this thinking it would be easy! Here is what happened:

The whole group made it on time and to the airport by 8:00, but not even 10 minutes in, we ran into our first problem– the professors hadn’t filled out the paperwork to bring their kids!

So, while we were reorganizing the class gear to be under 50lbs, the professors were rushing to get their kids on board. Don’t worry though, we all made it on the plane, and had time to grab panda express for breakfast.

After some seat and boarding pass complications, we made it to the Belize city airport, and went through an hours worth of customs! Then we temporarily lost Professor Solomon (which was kind of my fault because I didn’t follow him outside, but no one has to know).

After a brief stop at the supermarket to grab snacks,  we headed to the boat for a 4 hour boat ride. On the way there, Dr. Correa’s son was telling Maegan and I that he wanted to see rollercoaster-like waves once we passed the barrier reef. We got kinda confused, but he was right, and we saw huge waves!

Not much happened after the boat trip. We just got our rooms, ate some yummy dinner, went over the station’s basics, and admired lots and lots and lots of hermit crabs. Fun fact: on the way back from the shower a giant ghost crab ran into me.

Sadly there were no echinoderms today because we were on land, but I’ll let you know what we find tomorrow.

I saw one reptile, a common house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus on the shower wall. He was cute and although patternless.

Quote of the day: “Don’t just write ‘Oh, I saw that dang tree again!’ I can confirm *laughs*  there are gonna be trees in the rainforest, thank goodness” -Dr. Solomon

The Common house Gecko on the shower wall (Hemidactylus frenatus)
One of many, many, many giant hermit crabs

22/05/19 I’m not popular with boys, but I’m popular with mosquitoes!

After 6:00am breakfast at the Tropical Education Center, the class drove an hour and half to the marina, then three hours (in a boat) to Middle Caye in Glover’s Reef. The three-hour boat ride was quite exciting because of the high winds and choppy waves—it felt like a roller coaster. Every time the boat ascended a wave, my body would fly out of my seat; then, when the boat crashed back down into the water, my body would smack against the seat. Arriving at the research station was exciting! The view is beautiful up above and all around, and on the ground there are adorable hermit crabs scuttling about everywhere. One of the more interesting hermit crabs that I observed had a snake-like pattern on its shell with banding and scale-like coloration.

Hermit crab with snake-like shell

We tried our gear out in the ocean for the first time. While circling the patch reef, I saw several yellowtail snappers (piscivorous fish!) I also saw an upside down jellyfish and a sting ray hidden in the sea grass. The class migrated to the leeward side of the island in the hopes that the wind and currents wouldn’t be as overwhelming. To reach the leeward side, we had to run through the ‘mangroves of death’. Today, we truly experienced what the ‘mangroves of death’ mean. As soon as we reached the area, Scott took off running with little warning. We were confused, then we started feeling the bites. At one point, I had 7 mosquitoes attached to my body. These pests were swarming all over and biting through the dive skin. I have bumps all over my legs, arms, and face, and my skin feels like Braille. I don’t know Braille very well, but I believe that my right arm spells O U C H. My skin is red, blotchy, and very, very angry at the mangroves of death. We made it to the other side of the island though, and I saw fire coral, Christmas tree worms, what I believe are young grunts, and a slippery dick (Halichoeres bivittatus).

Unfortunately the only path back to the research station was through the mangroves of death. We were aware of the danger this time, but it turns out that not even speed, mad flailing, and slapping can save us from the mosquitoes. Back in my room, I saw a common house gecko crawling on the ceiling above my bed. He was unusually large—at least 15cm in length and 3cm in width (very, very fat). I spooked him and he fell from above the top bunk to the floor with a thud.
The class ended the night with lectures on corals, sponges, and reef microbes.

5/26: I Would Walk 500 Miles

We started our day early today for birdwatching, but the hazy morning made it difficult to spot much of anything. After a late breakfast at 7:30, we designed our first project of setting out camera traps to monitor predator and prey, hoping to spot a big cat or two when we collect the traps again in a few days.

We may have bitten off more than we can chew though; we set about half of our traps before lunch, and then went back out at 2:30 to set the rest of them. This involved going deep into the bush, though, and we did a little bit of accidental meandering that led us to return to the field station a full five hours after leaving and a bit after dark. This made for an interesting, dark, spider-filled walk back to the station. This means that we spent the high majority of today walking, something I haven’t done in a while.

A camera trap with a makeshift fastening rope

We managed to see a lot of reptiles today. This morning we spotted a Norops biporcatus, a green tree anole, and a Degenhardt’s Scorpion Eater snake, also known as Stenorrhina degenhardtii. In the afternoon we spotted a Plestiodon sumichrasti, a Sumichrast’s skink, a Norops lemurinus, or canopy anole, and even a small Bothrops asper, the notorious Terciopelo snake. Upon returning to the station, another group had found a Turnip-Tailed Gecko, also known as Thecadactyla rapicauda.

Canopy anole

If You’re Reading This, I’m Sweating

It’s hard to believe that it was just this morning that I hopped on the lightrail in Houston with my backpack and suitcase to meet the rest of the group at Rice.  After some preparation at Rice, we got on the shuttle to Hobby for our flight. Despite slow lines and a minor delay, we finally got on our way to Belize City.

Upon arriving at about 4pm, we were picked up by a van, loaded all of our gear up, and went on our way to the Tropical Education Center (TEC). After stopping to buy snacks and refreshments at a convenience store on the way, we arrived at the TEC around 6. We managed to spot some reptiles here, including a green iguana (Iguana iguana) in a tree eating some leaves, lots of little geckos that I believe are house geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus), and a spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura similis) on a windowsill after dark.

Leafcutter ants at the TEC
Low-quality picture of the green iguana we spotted at the TEC – sorry for the quality, look at the branch 

I don’t think I have stopped sweating since I got to Belize. I’m realizing quickly that I won’t feel clean again for the next two weeks, but I am already dreaming of the ice-cold shower I will take after writing this post. I’m very excited for our journey to Glover’s Reef tomorrow, despite the before-6am wakeup that comes with it. I guess it’s a good thing I am already prepared to crash at 8:30 pm.