The Jungles of Belize

This video from Education 2000's Dive Travel shows you the Jungles of Belize.

Gary: Next on our tour was a visit to the jungles of Belize in search of the famous Black Howler Monkeys. Daniel stopped at a fruit stand along the way and purchased a bag of bananas to feed the monkeys. He pointed out to us a native cashew tree growing along the roadside, also, a pair of jabirus storks standing far back in the field. The jabiru is very rare and is endangered and one of the largest birds in the world standing at five feet tall with a wingspan of eight feet. Also, from the road we saw a Keel Billed Toucan known as the Bill Bird locally. It’s also the national bird of Belize. Here native cattle graze in the green pasture fields. Also along the Belize River that winds its way through the jungles, we already spotted Black Howler Monkeys at a distance perched and hanging in the trees along with native iguanas sunning themselves on the tree limbs. Bamboo was growing along the river’s edge providing food for the animals. Later, another guide from the Belize Baboon Sanctuary joined us and let us at a walk through the jungles. He pointed out a mahogany tree. Thought to be about 95 years old, he said the bark is sometimes used for medical treatments. He also showed us trees used for treatment of everything from ringworm to poison ivy as he demonstrated by putting a branch from a tree on his arm. We even found this termite nest in the tree. Soon as we arrived, the single troupe of monkeys came down the tree is ready to be fed and ate the bananas right out of our hands but not before a little investigation to find out just who we were. They were all over Doug. And one little cutie even tried to take my camera. Howler monkeys are vegetarians feeding on flowers, fruits and leaves. Within Belize, a special community-based conservation organization has protected land along the Belize River for the howler ensuring that their food trees are not destroyed. The Black Howler Monkey notice the baboon in Belize is the largest monkey in Belize and one of the largest in the Americas. Throughout most of its range, the Howler Monkey is endangered from hunting and habitat destruction. Fortunately, Belize has a healthy population of these loudest to primates. Black Howler Monkeys live in troupes of between four and eight members. Each troupe has its own territory in which it feeds and lives. The size of the territory depends on the size of the troupe ranging from three to 25 acres. Baboons defend this territory from other troupes through the use of their voice. Howler Monkeys are named and known for this loud guttural howl that they routinely use to check out their nearest competitors at the beginning and end of each day. The howling is one of the loudest animal sounds in the tropical forest of Belize and the loudest animal in the New World. And while their howl is not a piercing sound, it can travel for three miles through the dense forest and jungles. Listen now as our guide howls imitating another male monkey in turn, getting male to howl back defending his turf, thereby, living up to his name. (Howling sound) Walking back, we came across Leaf Cutter Ants. It was fascinating to watch them at work following their paths through the jungles to their home below ground. Some were travelling out in search of leaves while others were returning with their bounty on the same path. The guide explained the Leaf Cutter Ants cannot see and only travel by scent. To prove his point, he took his foot and pulled it across their path whereby the ants came to a screeching halt and all pooled on either side of the footprint only ever so slowly later ventured out until the finally made it across once again continuing on their journey. On another day, it was off to the famous Mayan Caves for a cave tubing adventure south of Belize City. It’s a new up and coming sport offering tourists to Belize another adventure. First though, we had to walk several miles back into the humid Belize jungles carrying inner tubes to swim with along with heavy lights watching along the way for native animals. The Jaguar is native to Belize and frequently found in the jungles and the mountain there is. On our trip, we didn’t happen to see any however. Make sure you take along plenty of mosquito repellant when walking through the jungles. We’d also taken malaria medication as a precaution for the trip. Cool flowing rivers coming down from the nearby mountains run in and out of up to seven miles of dark caves. Many still holding Mayan artifacts and drawings. Many of these caves run seen by human eyes for a thousand years since the collapse of the Maya civilization until just recently. The Maya believed that the caves found around Belize were entry points into the underworld. And we’re about to cross the threshold on an inner tube in the cave’s river. The caves are made up of limestone formed from coral. Rainwater percolates through the ancient reef dissolving limestone and redepositing it in the form of stalactites, stalagmites and other formations. The stalactites hanging down inside the cave ceiling is an awesome view to witness as you float in tubes through the caves down the river. The sometimes roar of rushing water is heard as the relentless streams carve away at the soft limestone walls. It was a very peaceful and tranquil experience and a way to cool off after building up a sweat walking miles through the jungles beforehand. On this trip, you can go at your own pace. In some areas of the cave, you can even take a break and rest alongside small trickling waterfalls. You need a light and a small one is provided by the guides to wear on your head but offers little light to see with. My advice is to take along a more powerful dive light as we did as you can see the insides of the caves much better with brighter light similar to my camera’s lighting system. Later, we also toured part of the famous Belize Zoo, Central America’s finest zoo. The day we attended thought it was closing early so our tour was very brief. But we still got to see a few of the native animals of the country. Finally, it was time to board the Belize Aggressor III for our weeklong live-aboard diving experience. After all, we came to go diving.