Thursday, April 9, 2009

Monkey River

My boss, Pat, took me on this tour with her last month... another tough day at the office! Thank you, Pat!

The tour is called "The Monkey River Tour". It think it is a must see!

We drove about an hour south of Hopkins and parked the van in Independence and took a boat across a beautiful and large lagoon. You would think it was the Sea, but technically it is a lagoon. Along the way we learned about the Hurricane that hit that area in 2001 or 2002. We arrived in t Monkey River Town after about 30 minutes on the boat. The town is only accessible by boat. It has no electricity, so people have generators. We places out lunch order at the cafe,(chicken or fish with rice and beans) and got back onto the boat. We then started up the river.

Monkey River was a town settled with Banana farms. It goes bask to the early 1900's. Lots of neat history! Along the way we saw a lot of wild life!!
Crocks


Birds



A little bat! See him? I cant believe the guide spotted this little thing from 10 yards away while moving up the river! The guides are amazing in this country! They really know their stuff!


This is a Boa sleeping in the tree... I took this photo from the boat.



We went up the river for about a half hour and pulled up to shore. I took this photo of the same Boa from the land. See his head? We then started on a jungle walk. It was an easy, flat walk through the jungle on the look out for Howler Monkeys.

You are guaranteed you will see Monkeys when you take this tour!


It was not long before we saw them. My photos are not that great... See them?!



We walked into this area of the jungle and there was this cluster of Bamboo. I have never seen bamboo like this! And the locals were saying you have to be careful where you plant Bamboo because this is what it like to do, it grows like a "weed". This is why so many things are being made "GREEN" with bamboo. (That is for you, Mr Burrill!- Go Green!)


Now, you can tell how HUGE this stuff grows... It was amazing.

Remember the movie Jurrasic Park and King Kong... Sometimes I look over my shoulder to see what is behind me.

So, Did you know that the HowlerMonkey is the third loudest animal in the world. Its almost scary to hear them. And they are not that big. In the video below you will hear the guide hitting his machete against the tree and call to the... the monkey yells back.


We headed back to the cafe for lunch. Very good as most lunches in Belize are. Then we headed back across the lagoon. This time a bit slower as the Lagoon is a habitat for manatees. And we saw quite a few! No photos.. as they are quick with their nose up and back under they go.
We had left at 9 a.m. form the resort and were back by 3:15. It was one of the best tours I have been on! You get to see a small town culture, the beauty of Belize Rivers, the jungle, wild life, and a nice little lunch too!

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