2003 Daily Journal

Day Five: Friday, July 18, 2003
Cockscomb Basin/Placencia

Last night we had an amazing walk along the access road in the Jaguar Preserve. We saw paraques and a tropical nightjar along the road. Of course our big excitement was going off the road into the swamp and finding breeding red-eyed treefrogs. We found males, females and eggs! We also heard two other species of frogs calling as well. We returned to the bunks ready to dream about frogs!

This morning we woke up to the sounds of thunder and waves of rain pounding on the tin foor. Not be outdone we went on an early morning birdwalk and were dazzled with sightings of crested guan, rufous hummingbirds, and violet sabrewings. We also learned the unique calls of the chachalacas and the white collared manakin.

Morpho butterfly

After breakfast we walked through the lush rainforest understory. It poured rain the entire way up to a waterfall on the South Stann Creek. Since it had rained we were amazed by how quickly the water rose in the pool while we were there.

Later, on our way out of the Cockscomb, we were fortunate to see a red brocket deer and two blue morpho butterflies. It was a great begining for our journey from the mountains to the coast. We said goodbye to Nathan when we arrived at Kitty's place in Placencia. We are enjoying the sand, sun, and surf, and are preparing for our day of snorkeling tommorrow.

Question of the day: Do the red-eyed tree frogs make the same sounds that the tree frogs make in North Carolina? 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