After a nice, cool night of sleep, we got up and I returned to our actual room to shower and Roger chatted with Omar and Ellen. They made us a very nice breakfast and we got a chance to talk with them while we ate. What a nice couple! Again, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were their house guests - so warm and welcoming.





It had rained overnight (cleaned a bit of the dirt off the car!) and it was still overcast and cloudy - a perfect day to visit the zoo! We headed out toward the zoo without a concern since all the books (and everyone we talked to) said that it was easy to get to. Well...it was easy if you didn't get distracted by a billboard on the opposite side of the road! We went about 15 minutes past the zoo. Once we figured it out, I couldn't help but think that if we were on the "Amazing Race", we would have been that couple that goes the wrong way and all the viewers can't understand how in the world they missed the turn! We made it to the zoo and there were only 2 other cars there so we were still pretty early. It's really small but what a great place! None of the animals were captured from the wild - they were all injured or had to be taken from the wild because they were going to be killed because of their hunting (jaguar killing cattle = dead jaguar). We even saw one of their newest additions, "Lucky Boy" a black jaguar (rare) who had been rescued from a "resort" that shut down and basically stopped feeding him. The pictures of him when he first arrived are heartbreaking. He's in great health now and looking beautiful. We didn't get a great look at him since he was in some trees but he definitely looked pretty big!   One of my favorites was the Margay - the smallest of the cats at the zoo. He was really beautiful and fun to watch. He climbed trees like crazy and jumped from branch to branch like a monkey. I swear Susan's cats might have some Margay bloodlines!

Roger especially liked the tapir and he seemed to like Roger right back. They are the oddest looking things - floppy snout like a small elephant trunk, body like a big pig, and feet like... well, like not much else! They're actually related to the horse and the rhino. The zoo also had a troop of our friends the coatimundis.  They had some "regular" ones but also a few albinos!  In addition to the jaguars, one of the big projects of the zoo is the harpy eagle. They're dangerously close to extinction and the zoo has been participating in a captive breeding and re-introduction program. One of the eagles came to them injured and they nursed her back to health. They tried to release her back into the wild but apparently she had become attached to the keepers so she kept finding her way back to them! They finally gave up and let her stay (kind of reminds me of some of the porcupines at CFW...).

After the zoo, we went to Cheers for lunch. Yes it's a bar a couple of miles from the Belize zoo with the same name as the fake Boston bar. I'm guessing nobody's going to sue them despite the fact that the logo is the same exact one. It's definitely a place that tourists would feel comfortable (burgers, etc.) but the food was fine and we enjoyed it. I have to note here that on the menu, they offered "Rice and Beans or Beans and Rice - ask your server which we have prepared today". I thought for sure it was a joke but apparently they are different. One is cooked together and the other is cooked separately but served together. I can't remember which is which though.

From there, we headed about a half hour north to the turn off for the "Community Baboon Sanctuary" which is actually a sanctuary for black howler monkeys. Apparently they're called baboons in this area. Anyway, 12 miles down a dirt road (sound familiar?) we came to a little building that had a sign saying that it was the Visitor's Center. We were a little concerned but went in anyway. The story is that this sanctuary isn't really a preserve - it was created years ago when a group of people asked neighboring landowners to sign a pact that they wouldn't cut down the trees that the howler monkeys live in. They got over 200 local landowners to sign this pact! It's especially amazing when you understand that in general, these people have little to no money and "slash and burn" is the way they were always taught to clear land so they could farm it. Instead, they now all keep trees on their land so that the monkeys can continue to survive in this area. The original organization couldn't continue to run because there wasn't enough money coming in. A bunch of local women banded together and formed their own organization and now they run the sanctuary. They're all volunteers and the money they raise goes into maintaining the trails, keeping the buildings from falling down, and getting the word out about the work they're doing.

Kim took us out to the woods to look for the monkeys and it wasn't long before she found them. Not only did she find them but they were really close! She introduced us to a baby (about 3 months old) with his mother, a 1-year-old, and the rest of their family. Kim had been part of the original group that saved the center so she knew these guys well. They're still wild for sure but they trust that Kim's not going to hurt them so when she brings some of their favorite leaves, they come down to get them! I even got to feed the 1-year-old. Seriously - such an amazing experience to be so close. The troop was moving from one tree to another and the jump was a pretty big one. We'd watch each monkey rock back and forth and then leap into the air and catch themselves on the little branch of the other tree. The 1-year-old was just too small. He thought about it but after crying for a little bit for his mother (yes, the cutest sound ever), he actually climbed down to a low branch and jumped to the ground. He hit with a "thud" and Roger and I both caught our breath. He just hopped up and scooted along to the other tree. His mom didn't seem that worried. Kim even got the male to howl a bit (she was sort of like Kristen from CFW with her owl calls!). This was so worth the 12 mile dirt road!

We said good-bye to our howley friends and took off back toward Belmopan and got back to our guest house in time to do a little laundry before dinner. There aren't a lot of restaurants around here so I checked online and in our travel books and found "Corkers". The menu is definitely geared toward the travel/ex-pat crowd and not so much the Belizean folks - I don't think there was any beans and rice on the menu.