Mike in the Wild

I hadn’t been at Altun Ha long before a flock of squawking parrots shot overhead. Chris, one of our guides, identified them as olive-throated parakeets—birds I’d never seen before.  I had entered the Mayan archaeological site already scanning the trees and had even photographed an American redstart near the restrooms.  But the parakeets were the sort of tropical birds that had drawn me to Belize’s hot interior rather than to the breezy cays fringing the country’s coral reefs, a far shorter trip from my cruise ship.  Surely, I thought, there must be trogons, manakins, euphonias, and even toucans in the surrounding jungle. View of Altun Ha ruins. There were indeed plenty of birds at Altun Ha. I found additional warblers besides the redstart—hooded, black-and-white, and magnolia—along with a white-eyed vireo. Several flycatchers called the park home, including great kiskadees, tropical kingbirds, and a third species that was either a dusky-capped or a brown-crested. A clay-c...

Belize is the quintessential destination for anyone eager to explore the Mesoamerican Reef, the world's second largest coral reef system.  The country's entire Caribbean Sea coastline, more than one hundred miles in length, is edged by segments of the reef usually only a short boat ride to the east from local ports.   On my seven-day cruise's stop in Belize, at Belize City, I headed to Caye Caulker, part of the string of barrier islands to the north of the capital city.  The sandy cay lies to the west of a section of the reef that's part of a network of pristine marine preserves.  Nearby was another unbelievable site - or maybe un-Belize-able as the locals liked to advertise - a sandbar petting zoo of sorts populated by timid sharks and gentle stingrays.   I had turned my back on the reef, quite literally, on my last cruise to Belize over a year ago, when I headed west and inland to Lamanai.  While I was in awe of the site's ancient Maya...