Today’s daily 6 am birding happened to turn into monkeying instead. Right when I woke up, we were told to look out the back of the Las Cuevas clearing to see a family of 5 howler monkeys. There was an adult male and female and their three kids including a young male, female, and baby girl. The baby was tiny and would occasionally climb on mom’s back when the monkeys had to make treacherous treks across branches. They were fascinating to watch as they moved from tree to tree. 

(Howler monkey)

 Then, we were so lucky to have the opportunity to visit the Las Cuevas Cave (translated to “the cave cave”). This cave has a massive entrance, and while we were not allowed to go past the first chamber, the entrance chamber alone was a spectacle. We got to see fully formed stalactites and stalagmites as well as just barely starting to form stalactites and stalagmites. Additionally, we learned about how this cave system was used by the Mayans. There were ancient plaster terraces, cracked pottery, and steps leading down to the water source at the bottom all created by the Mayans hundreds of years ago. This cavern was also right beneath a Maya temple which archaeologists think means that the cave was used for religious ceremonies to worship the rain god (for the water source below) or the god of the underworld. 

In the middle of the day, Dr. Solomon caught a casque headed basilisk lizard and brought it to us. Basilisk lizards (or Jesus Christ lizards) are known to be able to run on water for short periods of time. They have super long toes that maximize the water’s surface tension and allow them to sprint on the water to avoid predators. This lizard was super cool to see in person, and it was the reptile I most wanted to see here in Belize!

(Casque headed basilisk lizard)

This evening, we watched the sunset from the Bird Tower, a tower on one of the taller hills around that looks over the wide expanse of rainforest. The trek up to the tower was steep, but it was worth it for the gorgeous sunset. I saw a tiny silky anole on the trek back down, but since we were hiking in the dark, I can only imagine how many more reptiles we did not see. 

(Sunset at the bird tower)

Thanks for following along!

Claire C