Shannon and I took a ten-day trip to Belize in November 1992 sponsored by the North Carolina Zoo through International Expeditions Inc. Our leader from the zoo was curator of the aviary, and many of the other 13 participants were birders.

We flew out of Miami November 13 to Belize City. Our first day was a full one, into Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary to see interesting plants, birds, and animals, including a buggy hike in the mud to see Black Howler Monkeys.

The next day, we traveled to Chaa Creek Cottages stopping on the way at the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center. We spent a day admiring the sites in the Mountain Pine Ridge, amazed at the ability of our bus driver to get us safely through the mud. The next morning, we learned about medicinal plants, which grow along the Macal River, that were used by the Mayans. I’ve favored natural medicines since that walk. In the afternoon, we drove into Guatemala to the Tikal National Park. We stayed at Tikal Inn, which had no electricity or hot water.

One of the highlights of the trip was an early morning visit to the Mayan ruins. We got up at 3:30 and walked up the trail from the hotel to the ruins and watched the sun rise. When we got to the ruins, the jungle was very still. After the sun rose, a pair of toucans flew in and lit in a tree just in front of us and started jabbering away. Then the parrots started moving around, adding to the sound, and then the woodpeckers started and the humming birds came in. We could hear the howler monkeys in the background. And the area was filled with colorful turkeys. As we walked back on the trail to the hotel for breakfast, spider monkeys put oon a show for us just over our heads. We went back later to watch the sun set.

We came back from dinner one night in Tikal, to find a pretty, brightly striped snake in our room. Our NC Zoo guide found someone to identify it to make sure it wasn’t a coral snake before he took it out of our room. We slept with the lights on that night. Not only was Shannon thinking that its mate was around somewhere, but our leaders had suggested we not leave open luggage on the floor because tarantulas were around and might get in the luggage. There was no way I was sleeping in the dark that night!

After Tikal, we spent a night at Warrie Head Lodge on the Belize River, and then flew from Belize City to a small fishing village, San Pedro, on the southern tip of Ambergris Caye. We spent three nights there at El Pescador, beachcombing, bird watching, and snorkeling – my one and only snorkeling experience.

Note: I found the photos of Tikal in Shannon’s computer files.