In most of Belize, at least outside of the cities, the diversity of nature is unbelievable. There are jungles, grasslands, lagoons, the ocean, and riparian habitats. Here are a few pics we took while we were there.
Land iguanas, such as this one on the roof our hotel, were everywhere in Belize. This guy was just hanging out in the 100 degree heat staying warm. The heat was actually not unpleasant unless one traveled inland a few hundred feet, then it became quite hot and humid.
These are howler monkeys. They hang out near the rivers in the jungle and are actually easy to find but hard to see. They make tons of noise in the treetops and really the only way to see them is to make them mad enough that they start jumping around inthe canopy and screaming.
Saw these turtles on a trip up the Monkey River...pretty cool.
Quite a few of these tarantulas as well. We saw this one on a trail cut through the jungle.
These flowers are yellow until they become pollenated...then they turn bright red and begin to wilt. The locals call them virgin flowers.
These are hibiscus, very common in many colors, especially red and yellow.
Don't know what this is, but it's pretty!
This is a place called Laughing Bird Caye. It is off the coast of southern Belize near Placenzia about 40 miles or so. It took us quite awhile to get out there by Panga, but it was beautiful...some of the best skin diving I have ever seen!
And this is a limestone cave on Blue Creek on the southern coast of Belize. The cool part of this cave is that the creek runs through it, and local guides will provide battery powered headlights and guided trips swimming up the creek in the cave, then running the creek back out....very cool, a highlight of the trip!
