Welcome To The Jungle

Guns and Roses fitsThis Part…..

My husband had his mind set on catching some Bone Fish and Tarpin on this trip and since there was no way in hell that I was going to spend 9 hours on a rocking boat out in the middle of the ocean (I know from experience what that does to me), getting sunburned, I decided my little man and I would take a trip to the jungle to see some creatures. And creatures we did indeed see!

We left fairly early in the morning once again on a little boat with a few other people. Many of the same ones from the day prior, so we all got to be pretty good pals, especially the sweet couple from California. Our boat sputtered quite a bit and we all thought we were in for a “three hour tour” if you know what I mean. But it all worked out pretty well. We stopped the boat not very long after we left and all of a sudden dolphins started jumping around us. My son, was again, the only kiddo on the trip, and his excitement made the whole boat happy. It was amazing for him to watch, so much so I couldn’t get my camera out because I thought I would miss his expressions too much.

We kept going until we reached the Monkey River.

Now I’ve been to the rainforest before, but this was a whole new experience this time. It was near the water. And it truly was like an episode of River Monsters. You couldn’t have paid me a million dollars to jump into those crocodile infested waters where a panther would crawl in from the banks and drown me. (yes there were panthers in the area!) We stopped at the place where we would come back for lunch, ordered our food so it would be waiting for us when we returned (hopefully!) and then were on our way.

We saw a few crocodiles lurking near the edges, and our guide was very knowledgable about the trees and flowers, etc. We saw termite nests, and bird nests and all kinds of weird creatures. Amazing but creepy. And the pictures truly don’t do it justice. It was hot and muggy and the jungle edges and trees are huge.

And then we stopped. We had come to the place where the howler monkeys lived. We could hear them roaring from water’s edge, and we were going to get closer? Yes, yes we were. We carried our bug spray with us (we had already put 7 layers on, and my poor kiddo had to wear sweatpants and a full sweatshirt to keep from getting bit, he was having a little bit of trouble keeping the bugs at bay because of his medication.) We were warned not to stop and touch anything as there were poisonous snakes and terrible bugs and ants lurking everywhere. Especially since it had just rained. And I’ve hiked plenty in my lifetime, but honestly this was the scariest walk I have ever taken. The monkeys howled louder and louder. My little man swore up and down that they sounded like dinosaurs roaring……and they really did. But the funny thing is, when we finally saw one, they were tiny. This itty bitty little thing was making noises like a monster. And they aren’t mean. At all. We saw two troops of them. We also saw GIGANTIC bamboo trees. Did you know they can grow a foot in a day? I was glad to get out and get back in the boat. The bugs were horrendous when we stopped to look at things, so moving was good. On our way back we saw little bats that eat those bugs… so I had a new appreciation for them! We made our way back to Roberts with our sputtering boat. Seeing Manatees surfacing now and again (I had no idea how big those things were!) We showered the jungle off us and went right back to the sand.

It was our last evening in Belize and we all spent it playing in the ocean. And in fact it will always be one of my most favorite memories…..because while we were playing, occasionally a school of fish would come flying out of the water right next to us. We would laugh and my dino dude would scream and giggle and try to find more. Another moment I wish I could have on film, but the memory will have to do. (And by the way, my husband did catch a Tarpin and a bunch of bone fish!) The next morning I got up and had my coffee on the dock. The water was still and clear. When I my boys got up, I made them take a photo with me (just to prove that I was actually there!!) and then they fished with shrimp off the deck. My little man also wrote a message to send in a bottle. Which he thought was the greatest idea on the planet. Unfortunately we watched some kayakers pick it up. Hopefully they kept it!

And then….. we were on our way back home.