Nine Cedar Key area residents recently returned from an adventurous trip to Belize. Donna and Jay Bushnell, of Fowler`s Bluff, Libby Cagle and Roger McDaniels of Rosewood, Joyce and Ed DeHaan, Jean Rigg, and Donna and John Thalcker of Cedar Key flew from Gainesville to Miami to Belize City in what was supposed to be the dry season in the Rainforest. Many pounds of mud confirm that this was not the case during their visit. The Belize trip was planned and led by Judy Dourson, who is also a part time Cedar Key resident. This trip included activities to inspire all aspects of appreciation for the Rainforest environment in these nature lovers. The Black Orchid Restaurant had not only orchids but birds galore, including parrots in the nearby trees and herons in the river to watch while we ate our first lunch. It was the first of many Belizian lunches that included chicken, rice and beans, and cole slaw with a favorite beverage, lime juice. Our guides on all side trips and most restaurants offered this same delicious menu. We decided that the Cyrila`s Chocolate Factory had the best traditional meal of our 10 day trip, because bits of organic chocolate were added to the chicken and rice. 
l to r front row: Jean Rigg, Donna Thalacker, Joyce DeHaan, Donna Bushnell, Libby Cagle Ed DeHaan, John Thalacker, Jay Bushnell, Roger McDaniels
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Several river boat cruises were included in our trip. As we traveled on the rivers we saw Morelet crocodiles, huge termite nests (some 6 ft. long), wasp nests that looked like cow`s tongue, and Mennonite farmlands. We saw over 136 varieties of birds, more than half of them we had never seen before, such as jabiru stork, jacana, montezuma oropendula, and vermilion fly catchers. One of the river cruises took us to Lamanai Archeological site, which was occupied from 1500 BC to the 19th Century, making it the longest Mayan site to survive. There we saw ruins of three Mayan temples and a British sugar mill dating to the 1860`s. Many of us are going to be able to skip our stress test this year because we proved we were in o`k shape by climbing to the top of the 115 foot El Castillo or High Temple, dating from around 100 BC. A great example of a locally generated conservation effort, is the Community Baboon Sanctuary, which is really a howler monkey sanctuary. Here 220 families from seven communities agreed to leave fifty foot natural buffers on each side of their land and also agreed not to hunt the wild animals in these buffer zones. The native plants and animals have thrived and so has the ecotourism in the area. Here we learned about natural plant and animal medicinal uses, including using army ants to suture a wound until it heals. At the Sanctuary two young howler monkeys descended to the ground to let us pet them until their mama called them back to the trees. 
Donna and John Thalacker; Libby Cagle, Joyce and Ed DeHaan, Jay Bushnell; Donna Bushnell, Jean Rigg, Roger McDaniels
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The Belize Zoo provided other up close and personal animal encounters with owls, boas, scarlet macaws, and a "kissing" jaguar. Junior Buddy is a four year old jaguar who allows people to sit in a cage in his enclosure while he rubs against the cage, does somersaults, eats chicken from your hand, and then jumps on top of the cage to lick the heads of his visitors. Sharon Matola started this zoo in 1983 with animals left over from a nature film project. She found that many children and adults of Belize had never had the opportunity to see the animals of their land and so she is now busy educating people while rehabilitating animals. Of special interest are the rare Harpy Eagles that Sharon hand feeds at 4 pm each day. Another fantastic encounter was with Robert and Carol Foster, who are Emmy winning naturalist photographers. You have probably seen some of their award winning film footage on National Geographic or the Discovery Channel. They showed us how they make a set and film some of their animal films. They usually spend about 6-9 months filming for one short nature film. We drove through the capitol city of Belmopan and shopped in its huge farmer`s market. We were given a list of fruits and vegetables to purchase with Belizian money. We saw acres of citrus groves, cashew farms, banana farms, and cocoa forests, many with very organic methods of farming and some that were not. the litter free roadsides made travel pleasant and even more beautiful. By far the most adventurous aspect of our trip to Belize was the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education, better known as BFREE. BFREE regularly hosts college students and research scientist, but we were the first group of senior citizens to slosh 6 miles through the mud and water to reach the bunkhouse. We were greeted with a trip to find the outhouses (screened on a couple sides and open on the others) and the outdoor shower with warm water and bunk beds with mosquito netting to sleep under. The whole operation at BFREE is powered by solar panels and a little propane gas for cooking. We had wonderful meals prepared by their cooks and were able to relax in hammocks, check our email, search through their extensive library of books and learn about the rainforest on hikes, bird banding demonstrations, canoeing, swimming, and more animal encounters, this time with snakes and bats. Judy and Dan Dourson were wonderful hosts and eagerly shared their vast knowledge and plans for the future of BFREE. They tried to plan activities that would satisfy each of their visitors through activities like a tortilla cooking lesson, making crafts from kahuna nuts, night hikes for the adventurous, opportunities to rock hunt and snorkel in the Bladen River, and a place for cocktail hour complete with ice. We spent three days in this tranquil rainforest jungle. And then we had another adventurous retreat through six miles of mud bogging, where the four wheeler got stuck. We found out that getting a vehicle out of mud is very different from getting it out of Florida sand. We visited a Sustainable Harvest cocao or chocolate farm and got the opportunity to try to make our own chocolate. It is not as easy as one would think to grind on a stone. We stopped at a prison where the inmates carve magnificent mahogany doors and smaller wooden pieces. Of course we had to bring some items home. We had lunch at CHEERS of Belize. We visited a wonderful Mayan woman Aurora Saqui, who is not only a local healer but also started a Woman`s Art Cooperative with local crafts, including slate carvings. We shopped at local super stores and markets and we stopped again and again to focus our binoculars on some new species of bird. And we had the opportunity to experience the Mayan Airlines, where schedules and size do not matter much. But the airline is well run and known for its safety. The last two days of our trip to Belize were spent in a beach resort on the Caribbean Sea in the town of Placencia. I think these were the only days on our trip when we did not need our umbrellas. Robert`s Grove resort was palacial, especially appreciated after our rustic accommodations at BFREE. We ate at a beachside seafood buffet, complete with Garifuna drummers for entertainment. We were able to snorkel and scuba dive on the second longest reef in the world. We saw many lion fish, some lobster, eels, barracuda and beautiful coral reefs. On our last evening in Belize we had a special treat, gelato, or ice cream at a small shop in Placencia. The next morning we waved good bye to Judy and Dan Dourson and headed for the Mayan Airport to start the trek back home. At the airport in Belize City, we ran into Nancy and Jerry Solomon of Cedar Key, who were just beginning their vacation in Belize. And when we arrived at the Gainesville airport at 9 pm that evening we were greeted with, you guessed, rain. |
