Belize!

 Sunni and I met up in Miami in early January to fly to Belize City together. From there we took this tiny plane out to Gallon Jug which is surrounded by jungle. 

 


We were picked up in Gallon Jug and driven down the bumpy jungle roads to Chan Chich Lodge where we stayed for 5 nights. 
 

 They offer all sorts of activities and we started our first night with a night drive for wildlife. We did several of these drives plus walked around on our own at night as well. Here are some highlights:
 
Mexican red-rump tarantula

Baird's tapirs

Baird's tapirs

Gray fox

Mottled Owl with prey

Hairy-headed leafcutter ants

Flatplate millipede

Tailless whipscorpion


Northern Potoo


Wolf spider

On our first night drive we also saw a puma (aka mountain lion aka cougar) but it was too quick for a photo. On our last night we tracked down an ocelot that many people had seen but couldn't get photos. 

So the night life was amazing but the day life was fantastic as well!  

Red-lored Amazons

Collared Aracari

Elephant beetles

Yucatan black howler monkey (male)

Yucatan black howler monkey (male)

Monarch

Bat Falcon with prey which it was eating while it flew

King Vulture

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Social Flycatcher

Blue-black Grosbeak (female)

Morelet's Seedeater

Wood Thrush

Mesoamerican Slider

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail

White-tailed deer

Ocellated Turkey

Sunni and her pal, AJ

Central American spider monkey

Purple-crowned Fairy

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

We took a day trip to Xunantunich, an ancient Maya archaeological site near San Ignacio. It was incredible and we had a very knowledgeable guide who had actually worked on the excavation of this site. 

Keel-billed Toucan, San Ignacio

Mangrove Swallow, San Ignacio

Lesson's Motmot, San Ignacio

Sunni and our guide Luis, Xunantunich

 




Black spiny-tailed iguana


Sac-winged bat, Xunantunich

Sac-winged bat, Xunantunich

Boat-billed Flycatcher, San Ignacio

Green iguana, San Ignacio


Spider that makes webs like fake Halloween decorations

Our only white-nosed coati of the trip

Back to Chan Chich: 

Robinsonia sabata

Roadside Hawk

Little Blue Heron

Morning birding
Ocellated Turkey

Golden-hooded Tanager

Stub-tailed Spadebill (lifer!)


Sunni and huge mushroom

Black-cowled Oriole

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Morelet's crocodile

Olive-throated Parakeet

Proboscis bats
Tropical Kingbird slaying a sphinx moth

White-whiskered Puffbird

Slaty-tailed Trogon

Green Kingfisher

Squirrel Cuckoo

Collared peccary (bad phone pic)

Paddling Laguna Verde


Flying back to Belize City

One day we also lucked into views of a Northern tamandua (aka anteater) climbing a tree but couldn't get a photo. Overall it was an amazing trip!

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