From wildlife to a wild ride

Dale, Chuck, Mary, and Carolyn rose at 5:45 a.m. and drove to nearby Blue Hole National Park for a birdwatching walk with a guide and bird expert married to a Jaguar Creek staffer. Equipped with binoculars, we saw hummingbirds, orioles, tanagers, robins, warblers, hawks, a toucan, and a social flycatcher. We walked to the Blue Hole, which is a sinkhole flooded by a tributary. Seven of us left Jaguar Creek at 9:30 this morning to head for the airport. On the way we drove through Armenia and continued along the road. We noted that many of the small houses are built from concrete blocks with or without stucco or from wood. Most houses have either thatched roofs or corrugated metal roofs. Our next stop was the Art Box, where we bought some presents. Then we enjoyed a visit to the Belize Zoo, which is still directed by founder and environmental activist Sharon Matola. (Read "The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw" by Bruce Bartow to learn about her.) Hannah drove Anne, Ashley, Caleb, Carolyn, Ellie, and Teresa to Cheers for lunch. Then we headed for the airport and got a driver for the van at the car rental place to drive us through congested Belize City to the water taxi port. We took a water taxi across the Caribbean Sea to Ambergris Caye, an almost two-hour ride that was quite noisy. We were joined by Dan, Chuck, Dale, and Mary. We ate at the Blue Hole Grill and stayed at the Conch Shell Inn, close to where the water taxi docked.--ck