Tag Archives: Crocodiles

Back to the Mosquitoes

This morning, as part of our last day on Glover’s, a few of us woke up early to watch the sun rise from the watch tower. This time, no clouds obscured the view and the sunrise was perfect. We left soon after, though, and had departed by 8am. At this point, we set our course for Carrie Bow Cay, an island in the atoll that is owned by Smithsonian and used for research. It was a very small island that could only host a few people, but it was quite nice.

Our final sunrise at Middle Caye
Dwarf mangroves

After touring there, we went to the nearby Twin Cays, where we waded into a mangrove forest and snorkeled in the sea near the mangroves. We saw a manatee from the boat, and in the water we spotted tons of sea stars and even a seahorse.

We got back to land at about 1pm, at which time I can say that, for the first time, I have fallen asleep on a moving boat. We ate a big lunch at Calypso before driving back to the Tropical Education Center, where we will again be staying for the night. We walked some of the trails here, where I got mosquito bites on my face, ate dinner, and then went to the nearby Belize Zoo for a nighttime visit. We got to see lots of big cats like a puma, an ocelot, and an especially friendly jaguar named Junior that loved rolling around on the ground. We also saw a few reptiles; we saw a Boa Constrictor, a fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper), one American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), and one Morelet’s Crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii). Once again, I can’t wait for my ice cold shower later, especially because the water pressure will be reasonable here.

Everything Goes Wrong (pt. 2)

Mishaps and miscommunication have become somewhat regular on this trip, and today’s adventure was no exception. We were supposed to say our forlorn goodbyes to Las Cuevas and the Chiquibul at 7am this morning and set off for a day of archaeological exploration at the ATM Cave near San Ignacio. But in true TFB fashion, absolutely nothing went according to plan.

After several hours of suspense, it became evident that our van was nowhere near Las Cuevas. Instead of wasting away the morning though, we learned about the fascinating conservation issues surrounding endangered scarlet macaws in the Chiquibul and enjoyed a surprisingly tasty lunch of peanut butter and cheese sandwiches (see me for more details on said sandwich). Our trustworthy van and driver arrived only 5 hours after its scheduled arrival, and so we set off by noon for our next caving experience.

Alas, my hopes of spelunking were dashed; we skipped the ATM cave and instead enjoyed an afternoon of wifi, souvenirs, and fresh fruit juices of the Orange Gallery. Despite our misadventures, our day ended with an incredible nocturnal tour of the Belize Zoo.

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Morelet’s crocodile.

Among reptiles, we were shown both a Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) and an American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). The American crocodile was substantially larger and had a much longer snout, although both were definitely creatures to avoid in the dead of night. We were also able to see a boa constrictor (Boa constrictor), which paled in comparison to the boa we saw on day 1, as well as a Central American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) and a yellow-jawed tommygoff (Bothrops asper). Given that we didn’t find many of these species in the forest, this was a great opportunity to see them up close.

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Ocelot jumping to catch meat.

And in case the reptiles weren’t charismatic enough, we also had the chance to see the different cat species found in Belize and a Baird’s tapir. If you were wondering, a hungry ocelot sounds a bit like an angry housecat, jaguars can be trained to do somersaults, and tapirs enjoy being fed carrots.