Belize Part 1: Mud and Monkeys

We left Mexico from Chetumal and crossed into Belize.  We were excited to be headed to a new country! The fourth country of the trip.

 

Crossing into Belize

Incredibly, even just beyond the border, Belize seemed to have a whole different atmosphere than Mexico - much more of a Caribbean feel.  English is the official language of Belize, although many people speak Spanish or Creole as well. 

 

 

After the huge spaces and distances in Mexico, Belize seemed tiny.  Driving to the first city of Orange Walk took no time at all.  We decided to stop for a look around and a bite to eat.

Plaza in Orange Walk

 I found some funny signs that I just had to take pictures of...

 

Where would you prefer to eat...the Excellent Restaurant or the OK Restaurant?

I love the feel of sand in my clothes.

 

We stopped for a beer and discovered that in Belize there are alternatives to all the bland lagers of Mexico!  They actually had Guinness and Dragon Stout, a Jamaican beer.  A friendly guy in the restaurant even bought Ricardo a Guinness as a welcome to his country.

 

From Orange Walk, we went to the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, known mainly for its bird life.  The sanctuary is a series of lagoons and marshes surrounding the village of Crooked Tree.  It is a peaceful, laid-back place.  We decided to spend the night there in order to have time to explore its hiking trails and the village.



The first thing we did upon arriving, however, was disturb the peace of the area by driving a little too close to the lake... the ground was quite wet and we got stuck!  We detached the XTerra and got that out easily, but Cubby's wheels were deep in the mud.  After several unsuccessful attempts to pull, push and dig the trailer out, all with no avail, somehow we improvised a system to rotate the trailer until we could pull it onto hard ground.  The masterpiece:



I had to sacrifice a frying pan for the effort, but it paid off.  We slid a long board under the support post on the hitch end of Cubby and smeared mud along the length of the board.  Then we slid the frying pan under the post, on top of the muddy board.  We tied the hitch end of the trailer to the back of the XTerra.  Ricardo in the XTerra pulled the trailer sideways, while the rest of us pushed the trailer from the back.  The hitch end of the trailer slid, in the frying pan, along the muddy board, until either reaching the end of the board or tipping the frying pan over (like in the picture).  We had to repeat the whole process about 5 times before Cubby was turned around enough to be pulled out to dry ground.  

 



 

It was a long, muddy effort, but in the end teamwork paid off and we managed to get cubby safely out of the marsh.  And we provided much entertainment for the park ranger who watched the whole process from the entrance station...when we were done he told us that he never thought that we would make it out.

 

parked safely in front of the ranger station...whew!

It was too late that day to do any hiking, so we went to the village for a bit and did some hiking the next morning.

Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary

 There were plenty of cool birds to see.  We spent the morning wandering the trails and watching the birds.  It was quite muddy in places, like walking through a swamp!

 

After we had walked the trails in Crooked Tree, we went to the Community Baboon Sanctuary, another national park in Belize.  We hadn't yet seen any monkeys on the trip, and we were excited to have a chance to spot some.  The baboons are actually howler monkeys, but the locals call them baboons. 

 

When we got there, our guide took us right to where one pack of monkeys was hanging out, and she knew how to call them so that they would come down from the trees.  The monkeys that live in the sanctuary are protected, (it is illegal to kill them), and they are used to people.  Don't expect that from other wild monkeys, though! We were actually able to feed and touch some of the monkeys that were daring enough to come right to us.

 



Feeding the monkey our guide called "Grumpy Old Man"

After feeding and watching the other monkeys, our guide took us on a tour through the rest of the sanctuary, though we didn't see any more.  She was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot about the native plants and other animals in the area.

 



Mama monkey with baby

 Our wish to see monkeys fulfilled, it was time to head on to Belize City and the Cayes (pronounced "keys") to celebrate the New Year with some fun in the sun. The details will be coming in the Belize Part 2 post!