Cozy cabanas. (our new "digs")

Our new lecture hall in the Tabacco Caye Marine Station

Two days ago there was a visitor sitting on the dock we wanted to land on when we approached our Mangrove site: an American crocodile, just sunning itself.

King of the dock at the mangroves.

Fortunately it took off so we could hop off onto the dock and walk a short flooded trail through the Mangrove trees. Red, black and white mangrove trees are all adapted to grow in saline conditions- It was neat walking through them and feeling the mud oozing through your feet.  Snorkelling through the root system was even more incredible, they were loaded with sponges, corals and other invertebrates. It was clear how the Mangroves serve as nurseries for a swath of creatures. (kind of like our kelp beds at home!)  Unbelievable creatures like the upside down jellies and the absolutely bizarre short-nosed bat fish were other highlights.

Learning about Mangroves from Mathew Jasinski- one of our leaders while hear at the Quay.

Later in the evening we went for our first night snorkel.  At first I thought I would be intimidated, but I think it is my favourite thing to do!! All of the inverts come out (my favourite)sea stars, urchins, and several Caribbean octopus gave us incredible displays!!! We had a great view of some huge moray eels, lion fish, a variety of sea cucumbers- the list goes on!  The best is when we swam out to the deeps, turned our lights off and swooshed around like little kids playing in the bioluminescence.

Pod of Spotted dolphins paying us a visit on our way out to our snorkel site.

I think the dolphins swimming beside our boats yesterday were an indication of a great day to come as we went to Glover’s reef for the day.

Amazing coral and sponge diversity. (The geology of it all is pretty interessting too, but that is another story)

A real highlight was going to what is called the Long Caye wall. A wall is where the ocean floor drops off (in this case to 6 km). The edge of the wall provides a unique habitat.  We hovered about 40 – 60 feet above it. Some of us were able to free dive down to get a close look at the giant barrel sponges, and then, a ghostly turtle entered the scene; slowly flying through the water, it was an amazing experience.

Over the next couple of days, we’ll have a few morning lectures and snorkel.  Then we have our exam on Friday and leave to go back to Monkey Bay for our last night in Belize. Hopefully I’ll be able to write one last time before we leave.

P.S- One of the most common fish on the reefs is called the “Slippery dick”.  Makes for interesting conversation.

Group shot just before leaving Cockscomb Basin.

Boy, if that title doesn’t get your attention, what will?

Our time at Cockscomb absolutely exceeded any expectations.  The  diversity  and landscape was incredible.  Every night we went for night walks and every morning we did a show and tell of our new discoveries

Juan & Tim doing the herp dance after catching a Fer de lance. Little did we know some of us would see a 8footer a few nights later.

We also caught a brown vine snake, green parrot snake, and many others.

My home stay in Maya Centre was also incredible.  I am looking forward to sharing some of the hand picked and ground organic cocoa when I get home.  We all had really positive experiences and got our butts kicked by the school kids playing soccer!! (That didn’t stop us from picking them up and tossing them around a little bit.) Kids are always a favourite part of homestays.  We learned so much and really appreciated the current lifestyles and traditions of modern day Mayans.

Grinding Corn with Maria to make corn tortillas (my personal favourite)

Although we were sad to leave Cockscomb and our fearless guides, we were so excited to come to Tabacco Quay and learn about Coral reef ecology and conservation issues.  Tomorrow we go to the Mangroves and hopefully will see sea horses!  The fish lectures have really helped with our ID, your head swims there are so many kinds of fish!!

Sunrise on Tobacco Quay

Only one week left.

Hopefully I will get in a couple more posts- and then we’ll be home!!

(p.s- thanks to everyone who registered us for our classes in the fall!!)

Everyone says hi.

We went to the Belize zoo again, this time at night when a lot of the animals are more active (the cats!)  One of the highlights for me was the howler monkeys again.  They sound so other worldly!!!

 We also wrote our first exam and I think that went pretty well for all of us.  It sure makes learning easier when you are living it!!

The peppered tree frog Wendy found today at Monkey Bay. If you handle it, don't touch your eyes after. It is called the "pepper" tree frog for a reason!

Today we leave for our homestays with a creole family (in groups of two, for you moms out there) for two nights! Then we are off to Cockscomb Basin to finally see the tropical rainforests!! (So far we have been in Savannah, Pine ridge, riparian and gallery forests.) Let the birding and herping begin!!!

As a result, I will not be able to post a blog untill we go to the Coral reefs- about June 4th.  There will be so many pictures to share, I won’t know where to begin!!  Thanks again for all your kind comments.  It is lovely to hear from you all.

Off to our next big adventure!!

Vanessa.

Wow!!

What an amazing canoe trip on the Sibun River!! The water levels are low right now, so there was a bit more walking/portaging than expected, but it was awesome none the less.

My paddling partner was Chester, one of the guides from Monkey Bay.  Our head guide was Melito.  Both are so knowledgeable about flora, fauna and culture.  At one point Melito spotted a giant male green iguana; Chester jumped out of the canoe, ran up the bank, climb up a tree and spooked the Iguana who jumped in the river.  Melito was ready with his snorkel, and took off after the swimming Iguana- it was all very exciting!  Most of us got a chance to hold this magnificent beast.  What a highlight.

What a beautiful specimen!!! (and the Iguana is pretty cool too). Melito and Ed are to the left.

  We spotted many other creatures along the way too, but that encounter really stands out.  We witnessed alot of the land use issues of the sibun watershed; in-river mining with trucks parked in the river bank leaking oil, farmers clearing fields right up to the banks which fall away to erosion, livestock “depositing” in the river-  maddening really, but issues we face around the world. 

lack of regulation and enforcement make it a free-for-all for industry- all to the detriment of the biodiversity below. This bank receeded 12 feet right after the farmer logged it. Currently he grows hundreds of acres of corn, with pesticides eventually making their way to the river.

 After all our sampling (soil, water quality, macro-inverts), Ed Boles will be able to apply our results to his long-term study of this watershed.

Now, we get ready for day two- this time on the lower reaches of the river.  I have a feeling today will be as amazing as yesterday.

This is the beautiful canyon we saw proboscis bats latched to the rock faces. (don't worry Mom, they are insectivores) You can see the low-light. It was a long, and wonderful day.

Happy to be in Belize!! – Vanessa.

Belize boasts aprox. 275 native orchid species.

Black orchid. The National flower of Belize

The diversity of orchids here is incredible.We left Monkey Bay and went to Mountain Pine Ridge, within the Mayan Mountain range; the perfect setting to approach watershed ecology, with our guest lecturer Mr. Ed Boles; a professor with the U. of Belize.

Our lecture/dining/hangout room @Mountain Pine Ridge. Morning Lecture with Ed Boles

What a gifted, and knowledgeable teacher.  It was an absolute pleasure to spend time with and learn from the local expert on watersheds.  It was also neat to go out into the field right after lecture and experience all of the features of the watershed we had just learned about.  We started our river assesments by doing some soil samples, water testing, and macro-invert cataloging. (amazing caddisfly diversity, and a “Gordian knot” of writhing, mating nematomorphs… cool)
We also were treated to some caves called the Rio Frio caves located in the Da Silva Forest reserve.The caves were absolutely wild, and they just radiated that these were sacred spaces for the Mayans.

Deep inside the cave called Closing Jaw. When headlamps were off there was a complete absence of light; very cool

Another treat was going to Caracaol, an ancient Mayan site located in Chiquibul National park.  It is amazing to reflect on how civilizations rise and fall. There are over 20 theories of why the Mayans abandoned their cities. (war, famine, peasant uprisings)

The toucan is the national bird of Belize

This courtyard housed the main temple, altars, and a ball court.

On our way to the site, WE SPOTTED A MATING (oops, I meant breeding) PAIR OF SCARLET MACAW PARROTS!!!!  This is incredibly significant as their are only 200 breeding pairs left in Belize.  Our guide Juan, (amazing naturalist) has not seen them in 6 years.  Needless to say, our species list is growing substantially for birds, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and fish.
SO,… last, but not least, Tim our instructor/master herper located the most venomous snake in belize (relative of the cobra… drum roll please…)
The  Coral Snake!!!
If you are ever curious to know what Tim looks like dancing, get him after catching a rare snake.
So much to share, and so little time.  Be sure to check back soon for a little update on our festivities last night with the amazing Creole drummers led by Emmeth Young.  Oh, did I mention they were amazing!?  Pictures to come soon!
“I don’t know where the bug bites end, and the heat rash begins”.
 - Vanessa Elton

Jaguar- "Junior" was rejected by his mom.

The Belize Zoo is the best Zoo I have ever been too (although I have not been to many.  What makes this place outstanding is that the facility is literally IN the environment, instead of ON it.

Happy to be at the Belize Zoo!

  It is sometimes hard to see where an exhibit ends and wilderness begins.  In fact, even though some of the Howler monkeys are permenantly handicapped, they still manage to ecape and sometimes have a hard time finding their way back in. 

Incredibly organic design to the habitat. (shows a portion of the Spider Monkey habitat)

The animals will have arrived in a number of ways, namely as a refuge for injured or orphaned animals, born there, or confiscated by the gov’t from illegal trade. (One Tapir who is blind has the name “Bullethead” for example)  There also run some really neat programs such as the Harpy Eagle restoration project, to try and re-introduce a population in Belize.  Even the signage is fun, engaging, informative and effective.  (rare in most exhibits).  This Harpy eagle came from that Panama breeding program and was blind in one eye.  As a top predator it is interesting to think of what kind of impact it’s re-introduction to Belize would  have on other wildlife- likely a re-arrangement of some sort! 

so much to report on, and so little time- basically…. holy diversity batman!! 

We leave tomorrow for Mountain Pine Ridge where we will begin our watershed studies, explore broadleaf forests and Mayan ruins.  So much to look forward to!!  No internet connection for a few days, so next post will update by next Friday. 

Adios untill then!  and… Tim says hi!!!

I will beging by saying that all of my classmates are currently passing around a mexican red rumped tarantula.

Mexican red-rumped tarantulas (and yes, we are still pale)

5:30 am I was awoken by Devon showing me a furrowed wood turtle.

furrowed wood turtle - rare due to over predation by humans

  It had rained last night,  so there was a greater diversity of animals out today.  Such a cute turtle, who apparently was a good food source for the Mayans.  After my visit with my little buddy (the turtle, not Devon) I went to go brush my teeth to find a dead praying mantis in the sink.  By 6am we are off for our morning bird walk and added the Aplomado falcon and Northern water thrush to our list.  I have to say though that this little orange caterpillar was my highlight. 

Cool eh!? We don't know what kind yet, but may be a mimic of a more toxic type

After Wendy’s morning lecture (see our classroom),

Common area/ dining area/ classroom. Super cool.

 on bat echolocation and feeding behaviour, we moved on to co-evolutionary relationships between parasitoid wasps, caterpillars and flowers- which I would delight to describe in more detail in person.  Here is what Tim’s lecture looked like:  oh wait!! There is a giant magnificent Iguana just outside?  quick, go check it out. So, as I was saying… lecture lecture, Oh, look at this Tarantula!!  We have to play with that for a while!! 

Chester- one of our amazing guides/tarantula hunters. (sorry for all the tarantula pic's mom)

 Lecture lecture, take a water break, what!? there is a Northern Cat-eye snake?  We must spend time checking this out! back to lecture… All before noon!!!

In the afternoon we went to the river and trained on river quality testing for an upcoming study which I am really looking forward to.

Group photo by Sibun River (30 min walk from camp)

Some of our aquatic diversity includes 8 fish species including cichlids, tetras, pipefish and gobys.

It is impossible for me to describe the incredible diversity we are witnessing here, so I will post a photo montage.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Belize Zoo and will enjoy an Anthropology lecture by guest lecturer Pio Saqui.

WOW!!

We are safe and sound at the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmopan, Belize!    Our friendly guide Juan picked us up and is so knowledgeable about all the plants, animals and cultural history.  After arriving at the centre,Juan took  us to the Sibun River for a dip.  Along the way he pointed out two plants in particular to avoid:  the thorny bamboo (photo to come) and the black poisonwood tree… ’nuff said.  At the river we delighted in small tetra fish nibbling at our legs.   We sighted both a male and female green kingfisher, rufous tailed hummingbird and a bunch more; our bird lists are growing!!! Cashew trees and Mangoes abound!! So much to see and learn about, We have an incredible adventure ahead of us, and today was a great beginning.  I will keep you posted! 

ILUD.

Passport? Check. Plane ticket? Check. Camera? Check. I just need to go pick up those malaria pills…
Very exciting.