Belize 2024 - Museum of Belize

We don't visit many museums on our travels but we had a 1/2 day left in Belize City before catching our flight back to Canada. The Museum of Belize gets very good reviews and was short walking distance from our hotel. 

The building that houses the museum was built as a prison between 1854-1857 and housed prisoners until 1993. It was restored and renovated in 2002. They have retained much of the original building and you can see where the cells used to be by the bars above each of the openings. 

This is the one cell that has remained as is. You can get an idea of the width from the door at the back of the cell. At peak capacity, each cell would house up to three prisoners. 

In addition to the prison history, exhibits include Maya artifacts and history, insect and bird displays, and an art exhibit. Also on display was a Belize flag "recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and stands as a reminder of that tragic morning. It is one of the few that were discovered after the tragedy. The flag was salvaged by the New York City Fire Department who then gave it to the Embassy of Belize in New York. It was later donated to the Museum of Belize."

By far the most depressing part of the museum was the slavery exhibit. Some of the stories depicted are truly awful and it's hard to grasp human beings treating others so badly. Really, I don't have the words for it. It's mind boggling to think this went on for more than 400 years. 

Belize 2024 - Birdwatching Tour

With one more full day in Belize City, Andrew arranged an "urban and country" birding tour for us through Birdwatching Belize. Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, Ivar, took us to various places in and around Belize City. He was very adept at identifying bird calls and then being able to find them. It was truly impressive! He does a lot of different types of guiding but birding is his passion and it definitely showed.

Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and rained off and on a fair amount so it wasn't the best day for photography but I still managed a few somewhat decent shots out of a couple hundred plus. I can't remember the names of most of these (although some, like the woodpecker, are pretty obvious) so will just leave them unlabelled.  :-) 

Belize 2024 - Iguanas

We were having lunch at a restaurant which was on the second level of a building when we saw two big iguanas in the hedge below us. It was entertaining to watch them and, once they moved out of the hedge onto the ground, it was impressive to see how long their tails are! 

This was an older, bigger guy.

The smaller, younger one had more green on him. 

These next two photos aren't the greatest as they're screenshots from video, but show how long their tails are compared to their bodies. More impressive in the video. 

Belize 2024 - Caye Caulker

Our initial plan with our last few days back in Belize City was to visit the Crooked Tree Bird Sanctuary. Unfortunately, there's been a lot of rain lately and it's closed due to flooding. 

Therefore, we decided last minute to take the water taxi over to Caye Caulker (a small island about 45 minutes away). It's known for its laid back vibe, younger clientele, and budget accommodations. It's advertised as "car free" but there are lots of noisy ATV/golf cart type vehicles. Bicycles are also a favoured mode of transportation and available for rent to tour the island on your own. 

We basically just wandered for a couple hours, stood/sat under an awning to keep dry during a sudden rain downpour, stopped for coffee and a smoothie, and checked out a few of the shops. The Belize Chocolate Company was our favorite!  :-)  (Which I neglected to get a photo of.) 

There's even a gym!

Coffee and smoothies.

No, we didn't indulge in any rum.  :-) 

Belize 2024 - Belize Zoo

We had a few days left in Belize City before heading home and had always heard good things about the zoo. Not to mention that we love zoos! 

The Belize Zoo is a bit different from other zoos in that all the animals are rescues and, due to injury, are unable to be released back into the wild. It was "founded by Sharon Matola in 1983, who was caring for a handful of wild animals that had been part of a natural history documentary. When filming was completed, she was left with these animals and decided to start a zoo. Over forty years later, the "backyard zoo" has become a world-renowned wildlife education center where visitors connect with Belize's unique natural heritage: the animals."

Because all the animals are native to the area, their habitats are much more natural than most zoos. It does make them a bit harder to see which is why we decided to do the VIP tour led by the zoo curator and got a more behind-the-scenes look at the animals and lots of very interesting information about how some of the animals came to be at the zoo. 

The zoo is likely most well know for the jaguars who, in recent year, have suffer numerous negative encounters with humans. They're tranquilized and then either released back into the wild or, due to circumstances, live out their lives at the zoo.  

It was pretty much impossible to get an unobstructed view/photo of most of the cats
due to the small wire fencing.

Jaguar paw

A beautiful puma!

This was a sleepy Margay cat. One photo and then he put his head down. :-)
They're nocturnal animals so mostly seen at night, if at all.

Andrew was excited about the snakes!

Boa constrictor

I always find humour in the monkeys. These are spider monkeys.

Howler monkey

Crocodile

Javalina

White tailed deer (Funny expression because he was eating.) 

Tapir having a colourful lunch with a chachalaca guest.

Brown pelican

Brown pelican

Parrot