The Belize Zoo

This weekend we left Ambergris Caye for a trip to the Belize Zoo. We've been on the island for five weeks now, and with the exception of a day trip to St. George's Caye, haven't left the island, so we were all looking forward to exploring a bit. We rode our bikes to the water taxi, got off in Belize City, took a taxi to the bus terminal, then rode a 'chicken bus' to the entrance of the Belize Zoo. All of the buses in Belize are re-purposed school buses from the States. Most of them are brightly painted and have unique names. There are no ticket counters at the bus terminal, no schedules, no website, and definitely no smart phone app. You just wait for your bus to show up (you know it's your bus because the hand-lettered sign in the windshield indicates the destination), you get on the bus, and then you pay the driver or the driver's assistant. Neither the drivers nor the helpers wear uniforms. There is no air conditioning, no bathroom, no television, no wifi--no amenities of any sort. However, it cost us US $1.50 a person to travel the 30 miles from the City to the Zoo.

On the water taxi to Belize City

Bus time

Our bus, just after dropping us off

We arranged to stay in one of the guest houses at the Tropical Education Center, and we were picked up by one of their managers, brought to the 'Pond House' and dropped off our things. He drove us back to the zoo, and we purchased an annual membership and toured the zoo. It was amazing! All of the animals in the zoo are indigenous to Belize and were either born in the zoo, rescued from the wild and rehabilitated at the zoo, or donated to the zoo by people who realized their 'pets' were actually wild animals that they could not control. The facility itself is very impressive--it is a world-class zoo, well signed, with great exhibits and fascinating animals. We paid an extra US $10 to have a Toucan encounter and a Tapir encounter (the national animal and bird of Belize). We were able to enter the animals' enclosures with a zoo keeper and feed them. Those were both really amazing experiences.

After seeing all of the animals, we went back to the TEC, relaxed in the Pond House, then had dinner at the main building. We then got another ride back to the zoo for the nocturnal tour. We were the only people on the tour and had the entire place to ourselves! Our guide took us to all of the nocturnal animals' enclosures and we were able to feed them treats and view them up close. The highlight of the nighttime visit was getting to pet a jaguar's paws! That really made an impression on the boys.

The next morning we hiked around the TEC, did some birding, had breakfast and attempted to catch a bus after settling our bill at the Zoo. Unfortunately, the bus blew right by us. Apparently on Sundays, they are much less likely to pick people up outside of the designated station stops, and they only run every hour instead of every 1/2 hour. Fortunately, not more than three minutes after missing the bus, Brendalee--the same taxi driver that took us from the water taxi to the bus terminal the day before--pulled off the highway and beckoned us into her cab. She gave us a ride into town (which is a blog post in itself) and we made it on to the water taxi just before its scheduled departure.

It was a fun and surprisingly smooth trip. We will be taking more trips to the mainland over the coming months, and it is encouraging to discover that it is fairly easy.

Scarlet Macaw

Feeding Indy, the tapir

Just look at that proboscis!

The boys with Runt the Toucan

Yours truly trying to feed Runt a raisin

Jabiru stork, the largest bird in the western hemisphere

Lochlan, measuring up to an adult Jabiru

A male Harpy Eagle. These birds are absolutely enormous, about 25% larger than a bald eagle

Aracari toucan, one of three species of toucan in Belize

Keel-billed toucan

Lucky Boy the Jaguar

Red-lored parrot

Chillin' on the deck of the pond house, watching the crocodiles and parrots

Puma on the night tour

Petting a Jaguar

Amy on our birding/nature hike at the Tropical Education Center

Friends

The boys have been adjusting quickly to life here in Belize and are starting to make friends. Last Sunday each boy had a playdate--we took Liam and his friend Aidan swimming at the San Pedro Fitness Club, and that afternoon we took Lochlan and his friend Nathan sailing along the reef. They both had a lot of fun with their friends and we really enjoyed seeing the boys making new connections.

Cannon ball!

Looking for rays

Pizza Award!

Every Friday is Pizza Day at the Island Academy. Fridays also start out with an all-school assembly, and during the assembly, one student is given the Pizza Award. Last Friday, Lochlan won the Pizza Award, which is given by the teachers to a student who performed a random act of kindness. During his recess, Lochlan stopped playing to help teacher Susan clean out some plastic bottles that she is going to use for science class.  He got a free tasty pizza and a plastic toy so everyone can see he got the award. We are very proud of Lochlan!

The Winner!

Independence Day!

Yesterday was Belize's Independence Day, and man do they know how to celebrate! We had the unique opportunity to be in the parade, and we jumped on it. In years past, the Island Academy has had an official entry in the parade, but this year opted to participate in the St George's Caye parade instead. However, many of the families really look forward to the Independence Day parade, so several of the moms took the initiative and organized their own entry. Our group was called 'Just Friends' and was composed mostly of kids and parents from the San Pedro Junior Sailing Club. The parade is very much in the style of Carnival, with outlandish, colorful costumes, very loud music, decorated floats, dancing, and lots and lots of alcohol.

Doesn't Amy look smashing in blue eye shadow and red sequins?

The boys, ready to march and dance in the parade!

Some of the boys on the sailing team

We had BIG speakers, and a DJ!

Loki marching

Liam and his sailing coach, Randy

Juice! Rocking the Bob Marley shirt again.

Amy, one of the organizers of the group

Everybody dance!

Lochlan getting into the spirit

The crowd

This little fella was so cute I just had to get a photo!

Whereas, this Happy Palm Frond Dude was not so cute, but his enthusiasm was infectious

Random people posed for photos with the boys

This Garifina man was rocking with his group

At the end, we were hot and tired, and Lochlan crashed his bike right near our house. :( Fortunately he felt better quickly.

The day was sunny and hot, and we paraded for three hours! We had such a great time participating. Towards the end (and after we had passed all three judging stations) we peeled away from our group so we could watch the rest of the parade, and it was amazing to see how much energy and creativity went into all of the entries.

This was definitely a fun and unique experience. Lochlan has already announced that he wants to do it again next year. :)

A Belizean Birthday

Last Sunday we attended a birthday party for Alejandra, one of Liam's classmates. Her parents own the El Pescador resort, which is on the north part of the island. We had to take a boat to get there, and hopped on the Coastal Express at the Amigos del Mar dock. The ride was very quick, and we were at the El Pescador dock within about 10-12 minutes. The resort is absolutely beautiful. They cater primarily to very serious fishermen (and women) and everything about the resort reflects this, even down to the artwork in the bathrooms.

Lochlan on the Coastal Xpress

Amy, enjoying the ride

At the El Pescador dock

The cake was amazing! Made by a mom from school (yet another Amy)

General mayhem ensued in the pool

The kids convinced me to do a cannon ball (or two)

Another view of the pool

Some of the very cool fish-themed artwork

Liam and Elisa getting ready for the three-legged race

On the "teacher boat" heading back to San Pedro

The weather was very cooperative. As I blogged about previously, it has been very rainy here, and on the morning of the party, it poured, but cleared up shortly before we set out to the ferry. The weather during the party was great, but it clouded up shortly after we returned home and rained all night!

As we learned after we arrived at the party, Alejandra and her two sisters' birthdays are all within a month of each other, so her parents celebrate all three with a single, giant party. There were about 50 kids in attendance, along with their parents, many of the teachers from Island Academy, and various friends and neighbors. The kids spent most of the time in the pool, but there were games too, such as three legged races and tug-of-war. This is the slowest time of year here on Ambergris Caye, and since there weren't many guests at the resort, Aly and Alonzo (Alejandra's parents) had their staff run the party--there was an open bar and a buffet in the kitchen with four servers. It was pretty awesome, and a little different than most of the kid birthdays we've been to.

We had to catch a boat home during the pinata portion of the festivities, which was disappointing to the boys, but they had a great time at the party. Fortunately we were able to catch a ride on the 'teacher' boat, because the Coastal Express ferry was full and blew right past the dock!