I was lucky enough to have a two-week field course in Belize as part of the extreme plant-nerd program that I'm spending the year doing. We flew down on the 6th of January, leaving cold, snowy Edinburgh behind and walking into warm tropical rain. Delightful.
These are some shots I took on our way from the airport near Belize City to Hillbank Field Station. They are terrible shots taken from a bus, but they capture my first impressions of Belize well. I love the first few hours in a new country when everything is fresh, new and exciting.
Sugarcane harvest
A market in Orange Walk.
Choosing snacks for the week at the grocery store in Orange Walk.
Happy Cows
The bus journey from Orange Walk to Hillbank took us down a very remote-feeling road past Mennonite Farmers' fields and into the tropical rain forest. The bus got stuck and stayed stuck. We happily jumped off and started walking, thinking the field station wasn't too far off. It was pitch black within half an hour, we had some vague (wrong) directions and no map or compass. After about three hours of walking, a detour to a farmer's house and a piece of chocolate each, a pick-up truck shuttled us to Hillbank, still another 25 minute drive away. It was a great adventure to start the course off.
Hillbank
The field station sits at the southern end of the New River Lagoon. It was the perfect temperature for swimming and I made sure I went in at least once a day. We went crocodile searching with one of the rangers on our last night there and saw an 8-foot croc. Apparently they only hunt at night, but I'm still glad I saw it at the end of my stay rather than at the beginning.
Leaf cutter ants. These hardworking insects collect leaves to 'farm' fungus on them. The fungus converts the indigestible lignin to something called gongylidia which they can easily eat.The ants in action.
An ocellated turkey. These guys are listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List, but it didn't seem that way at Hillbank as a rather tame flock of them would cruise around the buildings.
Iguana in the old steam engine.
The food was fantastic, but I was dubious about the pink cake.
Sunrise on the lagoon.
4 comments:
Awesome! I want to go to Belize!
And I want to go back!
Cool turkey! What's the plant underneath it? Did you have a field guide for Belize?
I have no idea what that flower is. We had many plant guides, mostly keys without drawings or photographs. We spent much of our time keying plants out, but I never managed to id this one. All I know is that it's an invasive weed down there, it has opposite leaves and it reminded me of stinging nettle, but it wasn't in the same family.
Post a Comment