Strange Sounds in the Morning

The bird songs here are so different. I wish I could record them and share the sounds with you. There are some songs that sound like doves, though a lower pitch than any I've heard before. Then there are some loud whistles, sharp single whistle like someone trying to get your attention. I found out later that they are great-tailed grackles. Lots of other sounds that are hard to describe. Some of them sound a lot like parrot sounds.

01 Hotel Mopan

It's so interesting when you think about it, how the sounds of the morning gradually build up. It starts with one bird calling. Then more birds join in. Soon, you here the sound of someone getting ready for work. Then, a radio starts playing and more sounds of other people getting up. A car drives by, then more cars and people talking and suddenly, the whole town is awake and happening.

02 Belize City Street

Everything in Belize City seems a little dingy. Belize City is the biggest town in Belize, but it's small compared to cities in the states. It's probably about the size of Wenatchee but, more compressed. The streets are narrow, the blocks are smaller, there are more buildings on each block and the buildings are smaller. We walked around in Belize City for a while. We wanted to go to the book stores to see what they had. I found a little bird chart coated in plastic that I bought. The bird book I found was huge and I didn't want to carry it around with me. We took the water taxi to Caye Caulker and it started raining about half way to the island. It really poured hard and they grabbed a big tarp to throw over the folks that were sitting out in the open. I was under cover, so didn't get too wet. It was so warm that it actually felt god. It stopped raining just long enough for us to get off the boat onto the dock, but it started pouring before we got off the dock. So, we ducked into a little bar called the Sandbox and had some chips and wine (Dave had coffee). We waited until it let up a little and then walked down to a small rental place we read about in our guide book. The second place we checked that had the best price, Mara's Place $41 a night, had a couple rooms left and we took one of them. We haven't decided if we will stay there the rest of the time we are on the Caye, but we will see. It's nice enough and the price is right. The only thing Dave wasn't happy about was he wasn't sure if he could get his radio antenna set up there. He really wants to use his ham radio while he is here. He believes he will get lots of contacts because there aren't many hams in Belize. After we got settled in we wandered around the little town. I determined that the black birds I was seeing were indeed grackles. I also saw lots of brown pelicans. They are huge! Also Magnificent Frigate birds and a Little Blue Heron. This was just while I was wandering around the little town. It's still raining on and off and when it starts to rain, we duck under a palm tree or under a building until it let's up. We are hoping tomorrow will be less rainy because Dave doesn't want to go snorkeling if it is raining like today. The rain wouldn't stop me though. Mara's Place is down by the split where Hurricane Hattie created a split in the island. It's the only really good place to go swimming and it's far enough from the main part of town that is is more quiet.

03 Interesting construction

The island is pretty small .7 miles at its widest point and only about 4 miles long. including the north part that was split off from the main part of the island. We can walk the whole distance of the island in about 45 minutes. The island is about 20 miles north of Belize City and takes an hour to get to by water taxi. there are lots of restaurants and places to stay, though most of them are small. There are also a few gift shops and lots of tour companies. there are a few street vendors selling mostly jewelry. A lot of the gift shops have imported items, but there are some local art also. There are two Internet stores, the one I use is a Cyber Bar where you can get a lower price for Internet access and drinks during happy hour.;-) I don't know how they get power, telephone and DSL here.  Water is available from wells and there is a spring that runs year round. They use desalinated water for everything but cooking, bathing and drinking water. They also collect rain water in huge wooden cisterns. Today I saw a number of them overflowing with rain water.

04 Leaving the Dock on the Water Taxi

We've been hearing a gecko outside but, still Haven't seen it. They don't seem to come into our room like they did in Hawaii. This island is supposed to have iguanas but, I haven't seen one yet. I'll have to keep my open for one tomorrow.

05 A full Boat

06 It's Prying Out

07 Sogging Caye Caulker

08 Milky Puddles

09 Big puddles of water