Camera checking

Thursday, May 24

Woke up after a wonderful night's sleep at Hidden Valley Inn. Misread my clock and arrived for breakfast one hour early. They already had the coffee made so I drank a few cups while admiring the landscaping around the lodge. Lovely. Enjoyed the continental breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, granola and pastries right out of the oven. Delicious!

Morning was all on the 7,300 acres of the Hidden Valley Inn property. We checked two cameras at each of three sites. While at each, we made measurements of the vegetation and took numerous photographs as additional documentation.

It will take weeks to review all of the photographs. I selected four from the area near Butterfly Falls to give you a sense of what the photos show.

Many are of vegetation moving in the breeze. These are motion-activated cameras!

They have LED lights that flash brightly at night, dawn and dusk. These lights are invisible but can be used by the sophisticated camera to produce black-and-white images, such as this one of a Crested Guan foraging as near sunset:

This particular trail gets a lot of visitor traffic. This visitor is prepared for the most dangerous animal of the tropics, the mosquito, with a ready can of DEET: That spray should keep them OFF!

Many people are afraid of this animal, but they shouldn't be. They are fearful of humans (and rightly so). There are no documented attacks of jaguars on humans in Belize. They avoid us, and so even when you are in the same area, you are extremely unlikely to see one of these big cats:

Lunch was a big salad back at the HVI lodge. We picked up an HVI guide to show him how we check cameras. We set off for the southern portion of the Mountain Pine Ridge where the trees are bigger:

Visible between the trees there is Victoria Peak:

I love the tropical pine forest, with its tall pines and understory of evergreen oaks and Silver Palmetto, a Belizean endemic:

I tested out a tablet computer for field use:

I then handed the tablet to our friend from HVI and asked him to film an unscripted YouTube video. We may delete this later, or at least edit it, but for now, here it is (2'35"):

It was a long day with a lot of data collection, memory card swapping, camera repair and adjustment, vegetation sampling and photographing. We got back after the sun was down:

I ordered another huge meal at HVI but was tired tired to finish it and had to take some back to my cottage as a bed-time snack.

Reservoir scenes

Wednesday, May 23

Did not sleep well as it rained heavily and water got into my jungle hammock. My blanket had fallen out and was soaked before I could get it, so I lay, wet, in water, in my underclothes. I was chilly but not actually cold. Just enough that it was hard to sleep soundly.

Dawn came at long last. Breakfast on instant coffee and cookies. The sun rose and burned off the fog, yielding a warm, muggy sunshine:

But the rain overnight was flowing into the reservoir:

As with the previous day, we stopped periodically to make notes and take photos:

Of macaws:

We also talked to the rangers of the FCD (Friends for Conservation and Development) who were out patrolling for macaw poachers: They do a great job in difficult, sometimes dangerous conditions.

At the end of the day, we headed back down the reservoir to the boat ramp:

And took the boat out:

Which we stored in our assigned space by the dam:

All in all, the weather was great all day after the very rainy night:

The day ended with me walking up a rather more carefully groomed path:

To my "camp" site for this night, Cottage 3 at Hidden Valley Inn:

I took a much-needed shower and walked back up the path to the dining room for a delicious dinner. No photos-too busy eating. Back in the cottage, I slept dry and warm.

Wildlife

Tuesday, May 22 It rained much of the night but I was tired and so slept soundly in my jungle hammock. Woke up to the sound of a currasaw startled into flight by my friend getting up with dawn's light.

I had never woken up in a jungle hammock, in the rain, and so was unsure how to find dry clothes in my backpack wrapped in plastic under my hammock, get those clothes into the hammock while still dry and put them on. All in the hammock.

Recall, here is that hammock: I somehow managed. Breakfast was instant coffee from water heated on the fire. Yes, these men can make a fire in the rainforest during rainy season. They are that good. I also ate some packaged cookies. Delicious.

We had a GPS training session: then set out by boat, navigating by GPS: We saw lots of great wildlife, like Morelet's crocodile: Bats: Butterflies: Spider monkeys: Tapir tracks: Oropendula and their nests: And the highlight, for me: Cohune palms! But what is feasting on their hard nuts? Scarlet macaws: These beautiful birds are endangered in part by poachers. Poachers ascend nest trees to steal hatchlings for the international pet trade.

This macaw nesting tree has scars in the bark from climbing attempts by poachers: Please, do not buy scarlet macaws! The high market price for these birds drives the poachers. Most of the baby birds they steal from their parents die and so the poachers must take many nestlings in order to have even one baby bird to sell. Please admire live macaws in zoos, or better yet in the wild. Display photos and artwork of macaws in your home. Support hands-on local conservation groups like the Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD). They can do more with $100 of your money than a big international group can do with $1000.

By the way, we saw no evidence that any macaw have used any artificial nest boxes: Macaws really need large tracts of intact tropical forest. This is where they can breed and fly free: We stayed out until the sun went low. Dinner of crackers and peanut better. A night of heavy rain in the hammock. Got a little chilly, but my blanket was wet so I did without.

Upstream

Travel day, going against the flow. The morning (Monday, May 21) starts on Caye Caulker at the Ocean Pearl and the smell of the sea is in the air through the open window. I always request a room with no AC as I know the price of electricity on Caye Caulker. And Belize generally. It isn't merely paid in $, either. I get some of Frenchie's coffee and continue the packing I started last night. I separate everything into two piles: one to be stored for a few days in my wheeled duffel, and one to be crammed into my knapsack for a backpacking trip. I am too excited to eat the yogurt I bought and so let Frenchie know. We talk about the Mountain Pine Ridge and I urge him to take a vacation with his wife to explore that part of Belize. He seems keen on it. I have him call a (golf cart) taxi to take me to the water taxi leaving at 8:30 am for Belize City. There is also a 7 am boat but I assumed it would be full of Belize City residents going back to work after a weekend on Caulker. There are few people waiting on the dock: Maybe a dozen, perhaps 20, and little cargo: Looking north from the water taxi dock, I see the remnants of the dock on which Rhea and I were wed eight years ago: Our marriage is in much better shape! In a few minutes the water taxi approached from San Pedro and we moved up our dock to board: And waited while a few passengers disembarked: Soon we were inside and on our way. Plenty of room for everyone: It happens, but rarely: we made a stop just south of Caye Caulker at Caye Chapel to pick up a few passengers. Caye Chapel is a weird place. A luxury golf course resort on a little island that should be covered in mangroves: There is a large marina in the middle, always empty: We soon left: The Belize City harbour was quiet: I got a taxi at the water taxi terminal. He had a Mercury Grand Marquis--nice! Cushy ride for rough streets. Driver took me to the Belize City office of the car rental agency where I had reservations. Slight confusion: my vehicle was at their airport location. I did the paperwork while still there and then their driver took me to the airport where I got my vehicle: Out of the parking lot (BZ$4), around the runway to the Northern highway and turn left to go north to the Burrell Boom road. Fond memories of the Boxing Day horse race there late last year. Past the prison and to the Western highway. Quick stop at the Belize Zoo to drop off a package. They were expecting me, which was nice. I wished I had time to stay and visit the animals, at least the macaws by the entrance, but I was already running late and so left after making my apologies. I might be in hurry, but I had skipped breakfast and would have no hot meals for a few days. So of course I had to stop at Cheers! The tamale came fast, as did a coke to drink and one for the road. Continued west. I went past Georgeville and into Santa Elena. Bought about BZ$50 of groceries. Turned left up the Christo Rey road. It is in excellent shape and I made good time to San Antonio. Love that village but had no time to visit old friends. Kept going to the junction, turned right. The Moonracer gate was open and it was tempting to stop to visit, but the rain was beginning to fall and I wanted to cover miles before the road got worse: Checked in through Friday (May 25) at the Mai Gate and went on up to Blancaneaux. Raining hard now. Met my friend outside and we moved around gear in a heavy downpour. He put his things in my truck and away we went, further up into the Mountain Pine Ridge. At Augustine, I parked and signed in at the BDF (Belize Defence Force, i.e., the Army) checkpoint. They monitor who goes in and comes out of this dangerous area. Xateros, wildlife poachers, and other armed criminals from Guatemala have been a problem in the remote region for several years now. Some of the roads are pretty rough and needed do-it-yourself repair as we passed: Soon there was no road at all: and we had to proceed by boat: through an eerie landscape: We could not see the sun through the heavy clouds, but as it got darker we camped. It was raining, the hillside was steep and densely vegetated, but we hung hammocks: and even got a fire going. Sort of. A wet night, but I was tired enough to sleep soundly, far from Caye Caulker where I had awoken.

Day of rest

No diving today. I looked for colorful birds instead of colorful fish. Here are cropped images of three common birds on Caye Caulker from today: Magnificent frigate bird White-winged dove Cinnamon hummingbird I collected my laundry, paid my bills, returned some work emails, read a novel and generally relaxed. I'm leaving Caye Caulker in the morning. I'll take a water taxi to Belize city, rent a 4wd truck, drive high up the Mountain Pine Ridge and hike far from the nearest dirt road and camp. So, no blog entries or anything else online from me for a few days.