July 19, 2004 • Tropical Ecology Institute • NC Museum of Natural Sciences

We're here! After a long day of travel which began around 6:00 a.m., we arrived in Belize City at 2:30 p.m. (Belize time, which is 2 hours earlier than Raleigh). We were very happy to see the five people from our team who were meeting us in Belize: Bill Hasse, one of our trip leaders; Nathan Forbes our naturalist guide/driver; Sue Hove, one of the group members who had been in Guatemala; and our two Belizean teachers, Hector Ayala and Kaisa Melina.

We left the airport, and immediately went to Bermudian Landing to see the Howler Monkeys. We not only got to see a troop of about 5-8 monkeys, but some of us were even able to feed them cashew fruit! Our guide there, Fallet Young, called in the dominant male howler by imitating the monkey's call. The male responded in loud and glorious voice!

We then headed west to the village of Teakettle to our resting place for the next three nights, Warrie Head Lodge. Lydia Wade and her staff, Isabel and Blanca, welcomed us with a fruit punch of papaya, pineapple, and orange juice. They then provided us with a delicious meal of stewed chicken, rice cooked in coconut milk, vegetable casserole, plantain (a type of banana) which had been fried very slowly, and a salad. Maria Sharp's Belizean Hot Sauce was added to nearly every dish. We can hardly wait for our early morning bird walk (5:45 a.m) with Nathan!

2004 Daily Journals
Day 1: July 19 – Raleigh/Dallas/Belize/Belize River
Day 2: July 20 – Mountain Pine Ridge
Day 3: July 21 – Xunantunich/Macal River
Day 4: July 22 – Warrie Head/Belize Zoo/Cockscomb Basin
Day 5: July 23 – Cockscomb Basin/Placencia
Day 6: July 24 – Beach/Barrier Reef/Mangrove Ecology
Day 7: July 25 – Mangrove ecology/Reef snorkel/Bird Rookery
Day 8: July 26 – Monkey River Village School
Day 9: July 27 – Placencia/Dallas/Home!