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Life on a Caye

Half Moon Caye covers only forty acres of dry ground. There is no electricity except when the generator runs in the evening. Our tent had a kerosene lamp and we used headlamps to get around after dark. Unlike at home, there is no prolonged period of dusk and dawn – just twelve hours of darkness and twelve hours of daylight.

So how did we pass the time? Days were busy with activities like snorkeling and kayaking and birdwatching. We often had talks on the island’s natural history. One evening our guides entertained us with drumming and dancing and stories of the Garifuna people’s history (it was not a happy story for the most part). We had wonderful meals prepared from fresh ingredients and our cooks always came out to describe the food for us. Most of the other guests were retired Canadians although two couples were from the US (Chicago and Pennsylvania) and one fellow was from the UK. Maybe three people had heard of Winthrop. They were mostly urban folks except for a couple from Nelson, BC.

We learned that coconut palms are not native to the Caribbean. They were originally planted and then drifted from island to island. And they are invasive. So some of the coconut palms were being cut down on the caye in order to preserve the native habitat preferred by the birds.

The dining hall
The conch was blown to notify us of meals and other activities. This is Sam, an Australian who taught yoga each morning.
Freddy describing our lunch
Clean up area
Activities were announced in the dining hall
The chalk board was used to sign up for activities.
Happy hour on the beach
Gathering after dinner for conversation and card games
Cleaning up
Our tent
Light cast from the kerosene lamp was not bright enough to dim the stars
Traditional drumming
Telling the history
Miss Anne demonstrates a traditional dance
Clint is her dance partner. He is also on the Belize National Soccer Team!
Getting ready for an outing to the Blue Hole!
A coconut grater
Bryan demonstrates how to drink and eat from a fresh coconut
Better coconut water than you can buy in a store!
Packing our luggage for the ride back to the mainland
Hard to leave.

Island Scenes

Half Moon Caye is a place straight out of a movie with turquoise clear blue water, coconut palms, tropical birds, sandy beaches and beautiful marine life. Even though we planned this trip a couple of months earlier and had plenty of time to study and learn about the place, it was still pretty unbelievable. And now, just a little over a week after leaving, it seems not quite real.

Half Moon Caye is a Natural Monument and is part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve. Like Crooked Tree, it is also partially managed by the Belize Audubon Society in partnership with the Belize government.

The Island Expeditions camp is comfortable and relaxing. Our weather was not as ideal as it could have been. Steady winds most of the time wreaked havoc with my sleep. The tents tended to make a bit of noise – well, they made more noise than the surf so maybe more than a bit. However I was able to overcome the lack of sleep with plenty of relaxing and enjoying the gorgeous setting.

Frigatebirds at sunrise
These comfy chairs got lots of use
Conch shell
The old lighthouse was destroyed in a hurricane in 1995. The new one looks like a small cell tower and it had an Osprey nest.
Newly sprouted coconut
Sunset beach.
They called this fisherman’s tobacco
A lily
Flower of the orange-flowered ziricote trees preferred by the Red-footed Booby birds
Fan coral washed up on the beach
More coral
Hermit crabs
Brown Pelican
Traditional fishing boat
The Belize Audubon boat.
Housing for Belize Audubon and government staff.
The tiny Audubon Center on the right.

Altun Ha

On another day we had a tour of the Altun Ha Mayan temples. This site is nearer to Belize City and easily accessible by car or bus. It is in more of a park-like setting than Lamini and adjacent to the community of Rockstone Pond. The flattened area that had a limestone platform similar to Lamini, has been planted with grass because the tourists frequently slipped on the wet limestone. Our guide, Anne Marie showed us through the visitors’ center and told us about the history before showing us around the site. She didn’t accompany us to the pyramid tops but waited patiently in the shade down below.

A ten pound solid jade head in the form of Kinich Ahau, the Sun God was found at Altun Ha and is now under lock and key at the Central Bank of Belize. One of the pyramids is featured on the logo for Belikan beer, the most popular beer in Belize.

Anne Marie talks about the significance of Altun Ha
I think this is the pyramid featured on the Belikan beer label
The top of a pyramid
A logging operation just beyond the site
Cacti growing on a tree
This is an allspice tree!
On top of a pyramid
More steep stairs

Lamani

While we were at Crooked Tree, we had opportunities to tour some Mayan archaeological sites. They were generally referred to as ‘ruins’ but that doesn’t seem like a good way to describe them. Remains of a lost civilization? They were hardly ruined.

Lamani was once a major city of the Mayan civilization, occupied as early as the 16th century, BC. It continued to be occupied up til the 17th century AD. The word Lamani means submerged crocodile. It sits on the edge of a large lagoon of the New River in northern Belize. The amount of labor that went into these structures is nearly inconceivable. Before the building began, the jungle would be cleared and the land flattened and covered with a limestone surface and then the towering structures were created. The Mayan civilization was very divided. Most of the people were poor and did the building and produced the food for the powerful leaders. According to our guides, the powerful people were also differentiated by being tall and healthy and long-lived. The workers were very short and malnourished and died young.

Most archaeological work at Lamani began in the 1970’s. Only a small section of the site has been unearthed. It is estimated that there are around 800 more structures hidden in the jungle. We saw three major pyramids and a ball court.

To get there, we were driven west from Crooked Tree to a dock on the New River where we met our guide, Emir and got on a boat that took us to Lamini. Emir is of Mayan descent and proved to be an excellent boat handler and knowledgeable guide. It was a good two hours to get to the site with frequent stops along the way to study birds that he found for us.

The New River
Northern Jacanas are sometimes referred to as the Jesus birds because they seemingly walk on water
Fisherman in a traditional boat
Our tour boat
They brought us a picnic lunch before we started touring the grounds
I was surprised when our guide reached out and picked this beautiful flower. It is a relative of the bird-of-paradise
The fellow on the right asked what they were good for
Emir gave him a suggestion and he went with it
Strangler figs will eventually kill a tree
Howler monkey. Lamini is the only place we saw monkeys
Horse nuts. The white sap coming out of the cuts is a very functional adhesive. The fellow who adorned himself with flowers also glued his fingers together.
Coffee flower
Our first glimpse of a pyramid
Emir shared his knowledge of the culture and the place
View from the top
Steep stairs
The jungle at the edge of the opening
This is an artist’s rendition of how it looked when it was in use
Traditional flint for making tools
This structure is 33 meters tall and the tallest at Lamani. Construction began in 100 BC.
The view from the top with the New River lagoon in the distance
More steep stairs
Ball court. Winners in the competitions were often sacrificed. It was an honor.
Home of a leader
The jaguar temple
Jaguar face

Getting to Half Moon Caye

Originally we were to leave Crooked Tree by 8 am in order to get to Belize City to catch our water taxi out to Half Moon Caye. However, plans change and it was much later when we arrived at the dock. That meant a rougher crossing during an already windy day. Later, our guides told us that our ride was one of the roughest rides they had ever experienced. It is 55 miles from Belize City to the caye and the ride takes a solid two hours. We sat near the back of the boat surrounded by coolers of food and big jugs of water. Some people were able to sleep on the boat.

Loading luggage and provisions onto the boat
The guides wanted us to see the map of Belize before we left
Goodbye Belize City
Miss Anne was our cook and Clint was one of the guides. He also plays on the Belize National Soccer Team
Going between mangrove islands. That’s where the saltwater crocodiles live. Or so we were told.
Shanti is a volunteer for the Belize Audubon Society
At last. Half Moon Caye.
We were welcomed by Magnificent Frigatebirds and Red-footed Boobys