“Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff too show.” -Unknown
We only ended up doing one excursion during our time in Belize. The weather and then my hurt wrist put a squash on some of the other ideas I had. The excursion we did was one that even the youngest in our group could do. It was called the Monkey River Cruise.
Captain Jaks picked us up at our dock and took us down the coast of Belize to the Monkey River. The beginning of the day was beautiful, smooth seas and lots of sunshine. We traveled about 14 miles down the coast to the Monkey River. As we entered the river we passed the wooden homes owned by the locals and past the village we would come back to for lunch.
On the way up the river we saw Howler Monkeys, some mangrove swallows, lots of herons, cranes, a kingfisher and a few crocodiles. We kept our eyes open for other exotic birds but we didn’t see any.
Once up the river we took a hike through the jungle. By this time the rain had caught up with us, but we’re in a rainforest…what would you expect? From the boat we sloshed through the mud into the forest to find a few monkeys and a cool bamboo forest.
After the hike we headed back down the river to Monkey River Village where we had a nice lunch made by the local women in the village. After lunch we were supposed to see the manatees that hang out near the cruise line island of Harvest Caye, but by that time the rain was pelting us and we weren’t in the mood to look for them. The ride home was a bit rough and very wet but everyone made the best of it.
The ride down the coast to the river was very nice.
Monkey River Town
Everyone kept their eyes pealed for something interesting.
A Howler monkey. We never got to hear them call to one another.
A Guiana chestnut flower, a turtle and a small crocodile.
Part of the river.
Beginning our hike through the jungle.
A cool bamboo forest.
Doesn’t this look like fun?
Another Howler monkey…watching us watch him.
A Coroozo or Cohune Palm. The Maya used this tree for oil, roofing, and even salt.
Part of our muddy group.
Monkey River Village where we had lunch. Definitely not fancy, but the lunch was good and the people were so friendly.
Our ride home was wet and a bit cool. Everyone was a good sport and no one really complained. We just but our heads down and waited it out.
