Belize Zoo

 Before our flight to Caye Caulker we had time to visit the Belize Zoo and we had a great time seeing animals that are native to Belize.  

Spider monkey

Sparks the Tapir

This little ocelot came out of the bushes growling at us and it was amazing!

We loved all the signs they had up around the zoo

This Puma was so cool

a sleeping jaguar 

howler monkeys

a type of stork 

more crocodiles 

of course there are iguana hanging around 

Lindo the jaguar that was awake and acting like a house cat cleaning itself

These were tiny jaguars, not baby ones, but a smaller version 

We loved watching Neo the otter swimming around. He seemed very happy to entertain us. 

a parrot

a pile of coati's on a log

I love these plants!

Then we grabbed an ice cream to hold us over until we go the airport.  Cam was able to pet a Dalmatian dog in the parking lot and was super excited about that!  The partly cloudy skies and the large trees helped us survive the heat!

St. Herman's Cave and the Inland Blue Hole, St Herman's Blue Hole National Park, Belize

Our on way out of San Ignacio we drove by the LDS church building.  Too bad we won't be here on Sunday b/c it would be nice to attend an English speaking sacrament meeting.  

It was an hour drive to the national park and then a 15 minute walk to the cave.  We noticed so many army ants moving things in long lines on the trail.  

Mario plant!

The foliage was gigantic

Entrance to the cave:

This is when Cam got pretty nervous b/c of how dark it was.  Luckily she realized she was okay with a flashlight in her hand and walking between Konrad and I.  

There is water running through this cave and. you can actually tube through it if you hire a guide.  We were completely content to just explore on foot though.  None of us wanted to be in the dark for that long!

We enjoyed the water ripple reflection on the cave walls

Next up was the inland Blue Hole (not to be confused with the giant blue hole that is in the ocean in Belize), but we decided to get some ice cream first.  Konrad had read about a yummy ice cream place so we drove about 15 minutes of the road to find it. 

We were driving on Hummingbird HWY and it was so pretty! We stopped on the side of the road for this picture

The ice-cream place was called something different than google maps said, but we found it and enjoyed some ice cream.  Their tables were covered in pages of the Bible and they had scripture versus painted on the walls.  

On the way back to the blue hole I noticed a sign for a lookout spot so we decided to check it out.  Turns out it was actually a hike, that would take 25-30 minutes, but it was closed for repairs (I had to laugh that the security guard we talked to explained about the hike and the time before telling us it was closed :)) but he did say we could head up Cliff Drive and see the view from up there.  So kind and it was so pretty!

Then we made it the Blue Hole and had a short walk to it.  

So pretty and the water was the perfect temp...nice and refreshing but not too cold bc we got used to it very quickly.  

This picture of Konrad cracks us up!

There was a little cave off to one side and while we were checking that out (and yelling into it for the echo) we saw a hummingbird taking a little bath in the water

apparently this cave has never been explored and the workers at the site had no clue how big it was.  

Mermaid Cam :)

Do the teenage boy hairstyle, haha!