We kicked off February with a weekend-long celebration for Bob Marley’s birthday (which is February 6th). I picked David up from the airport that Saturday morning and he came along with us for the celebrations.
We came prepared in our Rasta wear
and had an evening of singing and dancing at Cha Chi’s
The next day saw us at Barefoot Bar where they had a DJ and a beautiful breeze on a hot day.
The following Thursday, my ladies’ group and I went on another adventure, this time to Red Bank to see the Macaws. The Macaws can only be seen in this area at certain times of the year when they migrate from the Cayo district in search of food.
On the way there we took a wrong turn and ended up on a little more than a narrow, muddy track that took us the long way round to Red Bank village. There were a couple of spots where I thought we might get stuck in thick mud. The image of my three lady friends pushing the car whilst I spun the wheels, drenching them in mud, was quite an amusing one. Fortunately, that didn’t happen and we arrived at our destination in one piece and mud-free, albeit a little late.
We climbed into the back of our guide’s truck
where we bumped along another little muddy road, this one in much better shape than the one I drove on.
passing lush green scenery along the way.
At one point we thought it might rain, but it held off.
Our guide parked on the side of the road and we began our hike into the rainforest
passing huge palm trees
a thorn tree
and a Quamwood tree, which is the tree the Macaws like to nest in and feed from.
Presently, we turned off the main track, down a steep pathway and back up the other side
which levelled out to a narrow track with a steep drop down the hill. We were very careful about where we stepped. The screeching sounds of the Macaws was very loud and across the valley, facing another hill, was where they were all perched.
Our guide handed us several pairs of binoculars that he kept in his backpack and it was then that we were able to see them in all their glorious colours flying from tree to tree and calling to each other non-stop. I would estimate that there were at least fifty or more. After a while, they put on a pretty good show by all rising up from the trees in search of better feeding grounds.
Of course, my phone camera is in no way good enough to capture them in all their glory, so I borrowed this photo from our guide.
They flew overhead to higher ground. One of my lady friends and myself decided we were not up to hiking the very steep trail up to the top, so we went back to the truck and waited for the others. Here’s a photo one of the ladies took from the top
After that, they hiked down to the river
and then back to the truck where we were taken back to Red Bank Village. A really spectacular experience.
These birds are native to Belize but their beauty is sadly also a problem. They are highly coveted as pets – selling for hundreds of dollars in Guatemala. And much of their habitat in this country, the Chiquibul (pronounced Chick-ee-bull) Rain Forest (over 400,000 acres of rivers and ancient trees and wildlife), lies closer to Guatemala than to any populated area in Belize. This blog post, Heroes in The Jungle, provides more information about these beautiful birds.
On the way home we stopped in at Santa Cruz for lunch at The Happy Ranch Club,
a restaurant and bar on the ground floor and a nightclub at the top.
It also happens to be right opposite A Delicious Restaurant.
We had lovely pork ribs, stew beans and rice. It’s Spring, here in Belize, and pretty flowers everywhere are starting to flower
This past weekend was the annual Sidewalk Arts Festival. All kinds of local art was on display including pottery
Hats and baskets
jewelry
paintings
and so much more. We sat on the pier and watched the sail boats for a bit
after which we bought lunch from a food truck and sipped on pina colada in a bag – yummm.
On the way out I bought two star apples and had them for dessert that evening.
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