Liz and I stopped off at Big Rock Falls after our visit of Caracol. With little gas and a lot of nerve, we deviated from the main road for just a couple of miles on our way back to San Antonio and then to Table Rock Jungle Lodge.

The deviation took us past Five Sisters Lodge and down a road we just didn’t know would lead to a destination. Once we got there, we had to guess at the trail as a few sort of led in almost the same direction. We headed out, video loaded and recorded every step of the way. This video shows a few highlights of the visit.

All of this was shot with the V.I.O. POV (except the stills) that I picked up from Backcountry.com I took copious amounts of video with this thing and if it weren’t for human error, I would have had some awesome footage of the trip to ATM. Grab your own…

Liz and I recently posted a detailed story about our encounter howler monkeys at Caracol. It contained lots of details of a particularly unique visit ith with Jack, a juvenile howler monkey cared for by one of the restoration workers at Caracol. Almost immediately, this post was responded to by concerned local activists within Belize. They alerted us to the impending tragedy that is this little Monkey.

When we came across Jack and his “owner,” we were told the little monkey fell out of the tree and that once this happens, these infants/juveniles, are abandoned by their mothers. Thus, Jack was actually being rescued and cared for until he was old enough to return to the jungle canopy. We were informed by Colette Case of Be Kind Belize, a humane education program, and by Jerry Larder of Belize Bird Rescue that this is a terrible lie. In fact, we were informed that the little monkey was likely stripped from its mother’s dead arms after she, and very likely other members of the pack, were murdered. It appears that the “falling out of the tree” story is just a myth told to naive tourists such as Liz and I.

Tourists, such as ourselves, are often very excited to see such foreign and exotic animals and the chance to take photos up close is very exciting. Liz and I snapped numerous photos, totally ignorant that we were, in our own little way, supporting a terrible and inhumane practice. We were never encouraged to tip the caretaker or anything like that, but we’ve surmised from this that the behavior is encouraged unofficially because of the positive response from tourists. I just wish that one of the other tour guides, or the Belize Defense Force soldier or Police Officer were more aware of the law.

Apparently, few are aware of the law and Belize lacks the law enforcement power to prevent it from happening. Belize has only one forestry officer for the entire country – simply too much land for one person to patrol. It’s a tragedy in and of itself, but becomes more horrible when one realizes little Jack’s ultimate fate.

Apparently, Howler Monkeys can become very aggressive, especially males, as they reach sexual maturity; about 4-5 years of age. At this time, they are no longer cute, cuddly and photogenic so they are often euthanized. If you’re keeping track, the death toll is now at one entire group (possibly as many as 12-18) killed for a few lousy photographs.

Liz and I have taken the photos off this website. We do not wish to be associated with such immoral behavior and feel that this post should be a preliminary step in voicing our opinions about the horrible practice. We’ve been encouraged to contact the Belize Press and share with them our experience and renewed understanding so that maybe others can be made aware. Unfortunately, in Belize, ignorance of the law is grounds for dismissal of charges. If more are educated, then that may discourage this behavior and prevent others from capitalizing on this technicality.

A special thank you goes to Jerry and Colette for bringing this to our attention. You can read their comments here.

Piggy Backing on Courtney’s Post: Zip Lining in Belize: Part 1 of 2: We headed to the zip-line area after the black out and we  were guided by a nice worker there to the area. Along the way, there was a large pavilion which at first I believed to be the zip-lining site, but this seems to be more of the “break” area for the zip-line workers there. We met Harrison and Kent. They were both really nice gentleman and extremely patient with us as Courtney attempted a couple of different ways to mount the camera on the helmet from the front. While Courtney worked on mounting the camera, Kent helped me gear up. Soon after, Harrison worked on Courtney and later allowed Courtney to use his personal helmet to try and mount the camera. After a few attempts and realizing he did not bring the zip ties, he mounted the camera with a few piece of duct tape and we continued on with our journey.

Harrison and Kent led us up a trail with a buncha stairs to our first launch site. They told us a few tricks to zip-line and then we were off! We soared from ramp to ramp above the Belize jungle. We soared, we laughed, we giggled, we squealed. It was an absolute blast and an incredible experience. I had been waiting years to do this. Since I was a little girl. It was everything I ever dreamed of. Although, I wish it lasted longer! It took us about 20-30 minutes to complete the course. But it was worth it!

Here are the photos. Look for video in the near future!

About the only downside to the trip to ATM was the tour group. Mayawalk is not a tour company I’d recommend to any potential tourists. I hate to say this, because their prices are cheaper than the competition, but the experience could have been far better with a better company. “Why,” might you ask? There were a number of shortcomings:
Liz was ill so she couldn’t go. They charged me a 50% cancelation fee, explaining that they’d already purchased a lunch for her, etc. The lunch, while tasty, cost $4US. I know this because I bought lunch from the same place they did the day before. No other sacrifices were made on their part. They definitely didn’t turn any potential guests away. I realize a cancelation fee is almost always applied, but this was unbelievable; especially because of their next ding.

The trip started after 9:00. The instructions were to be there by 7:30 for an 8:00 a.m. departure. Over an hour late, we finally got out. I sat and waited, and waited and waited.
Did I mention this was the Friday before the nation’s independence day? By the time we did leave, there were children’s school parades all over the city of San Ignacio. Every road in town was blocked or occupied by a parade or traffic. We didn’t actually make it out of San Ignacio until after 10:00. Did I mention Liz and I had to drive back to Belize City that night?

Running two hours late, our guide kindly informed us that the tour was typically, 2:30-3:00 in length. However, since we’d gotten off to such a late start, we’d be pressing for the 2:30 mark. I guess this helps me get back to poor Lizzy sooner, but what the heck? You delay me by two hours, and now you’re telling me you’re going to cut my tour short too?!

My headlamp had dead batteries. The guide hooked me up with a janky headlamp that provided a warm, orange glow. I couldn’t see anything with it. He didn’t replace it until halfway into the tour. He replaced the batteris with two equally weak batteries. Twenty minutes later, my warm orange glow looked more like a faint, dying star off in the distance. Finally, he managed to hook me up with strong batteries.

The guide’s spotlight had weak batteries. He tried to show us the first feature, and his spotlight barely illuminated it. He then declared that he would only provide minimal lighting in order to preserve the battery. “Better have your cameras at the ready, I’m only going to shine this for a few seconds.”

We were rushed through lunch, barely given time to taste it, let alone enjoy it.

We practically sprinted in and out of the jungle. Not that big of a deal, but I like to take pictures, and who knows what I could’ve spotted along the way given more time.

The other guests were being driven back to Belize City, so they traded the guide and I off onto this hoopty minivan. It took them five minutes and an inspection of the engine to get it started. I couldn’t get the seatbelt to function on it.

To the guides credit, he did tell a great story, and I did thoroughly enjoy the experience, despite the constant grumblings of one of the other guests. He still shared some interesting stories and described how the Maya may have interpreted different features of the cave, such as the sacrifice victims and the rock formations. I really wish I’d been able to make the POV function for that trip. Sans video, it was still an excellent narration and I can’t for the life of me, remember all of the details.

Deep into the cave we started to come across various pottery and other artifacts of the Maya. There were a variety of pots and other articles, some broken to bits, some with just minor breaks. The guide gave us a very detailed explanation of the orientations of the different pots. It was actually quite remarkable.

Pots are broken to release their spirit. The Mayan believed that each piece of pottery housed a spirit. The pottery is a vessel for carrying food and water for the ceremony or rite. Once the practice was concluded, the Mayan would break the pot’s open. Some pots only had a chip removed from the rim, whereas others were smashed to bits. I don’t know if the smashed pots were symbolic of some other activity, a result of enthusiastic Mayan ritual, time and nature, or accident as some clumsy visitor might have stepped on them.

Some groups of pots were arranged in a very particular way. The pots would be set up with one upright, one on it’s side and one upside down. They symbolize the pre ceremony, partaking in the bounty, and conclusion of the ceremony, respectively. These two pictures together show the three pots. Other pictures didn’t quite capture the full array, unfortunately. Look closely at the individual pot. There is a small, round hole. Unfortunately, the light is too intense to see the accompanying crack. This procedure had a lot of meaning, as well. Rather than break the pot, the Maya would punch a hole in it and send the fissure through the pot. I cannot recall the symbology; and an internet search didn’t help either.

The next picture shows a human relief carving. Our guide was quick to point out the four fingers and four toes. “This has great symbology,” he said. “It symbolizes how difficult it is to try to draw/carve five fingers.” We realized he was making a joke, but it really was the case. Making five fingers fit is hard!

We saw a number of skeletal remains as well. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to make a separate gallery. So that will have to wait until a future post.