2003 Daily Journal

Day Two: Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Mountain Pine Ridge

After an early morning bird walk we traveled by bus to Domingo Ruiz. We hiked through moist tropical forest for about a mile. Along the way we saw acacia ants. As part of the ant/tree symbiotic relationship, the acacia tree provides the ants with food, a home and spiky thorns in which to lay their eggs, while the ants protect the tree by repelling leaf-eating animals and clearing away encroaching plants that might block sunlight.

Rio Frio cave

We visited two caves. Domingo Ruiz was dark and had stalagtites and stalagmites. Rio Frio (pictured right) was large and airy. It had a river flowing through it with a cool sandy bank, and a flowing waterfall. We ended this tropical adventure with a group photo at the Rio On waterfalls, where we had a swimming competition against the mighty currents. The water was extremely high! We then returned to Warrie Head Lodge to complete our homework.

Question of the day: If you see a jaguar very close, what do you do? How do you get away safely? Answer

2003 Daily Journals
Day One: July 14
Day Two: July 15
Day Three: July 16
Day Four: July 17
Day Five: July 18
Day Six: July 19
Day Seven: July 20
Day Eight: July 21
Day Nine: July 22
Final journal: July 23

Previous Years' Journal Entries
Belize Institute 2004
Belize Institute 2005