Adding a new zoo ...

As I have mentioned before, when I go on vacation, if there is a zoo available, I try to visit it.

While I was in Belize, on our free day where some of us went tubing, we also visited the Belize Zoo. Now this isn't a traditional zoo. All of the animals are native to the area; they're just not ones you would see often, since they live within the depths of the rain forest.

So now that brings the list to:

Belize Zoo - Belize, Central America http://www.belizezoo.org/

Sedgewick County Zoo - Wichita, Ks http://www.scz.org/

Kansas City Zoo - Kansas City, Mo http://www.kansascityzoo.org/

Miami Metro Zoo - Miami, Fl http://www.miamimetrozoo.com/

Knoxville Zoo - Knoxville, Tn http://www.knoxville-zoo.org/

Louisville Zoo - Louisville, Ky http://www.louisvillezoo.org/

SeaWorld - Orlando, Fl http://www.seaworld.com/

SeaWorld - San Diego, Ca http://www.seaworld.com/

Dickerson Park Zoo - Springfield, Mo http://www.dickersonparkzoo.org/

Gulf World - Panama City, Fl http://www.gulfworldmarinepark.com/

St Louis Zoo - St Louis, Mo http://www.stlzoo.org/

Busch Gardens - Tampa, Fl http://www.buschgardens.com/buschgardens_default.aspx

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas - New Orleans, La http://www.auduboninstitute.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Facility_Aquarium

Audubon Zoo - New Orleans, La http://www.auduboninstitute.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Facility_Zoo

Chicken Drop

My father-in-law is retired Air Force, and during the winter he heads to Florida and stays in a campground on military bases.

This last winter, he called us up to tell us about an activity he was participating in. I'm sure you know what a box-car race is. Well, he was helping out in an ouhouse race. Groups of retired military personnel on the base had been doing this for the last several years.

Basically, teams built an outhouse on wheels, and someone had to be able to sit on the toilet while the others pushed him/her around. The person on the seat had to hold a stick and be able to pick up rolls of toilet paper along an obstacle course.

What this has to do with the subject line is this ... until I visited Belize and saw a chicken drop, the outhouse race was the most ridiculous thing I had heard of.

In Belize, the professors encouraged us to attend a chicken drop. Now what that is, is on the beach, there are two plywood sheets with numbers from 1-100 randomly assigned to squares. A fishing net was wrapped around the boards, enclosing them. Only one person can claim each square per round, and bets are 1 dollar Belizian (50 cents US). What the bet is on is very simple. Once each square is bet upon, a chicken is released into the enclousure, and everyone watches and waits to see which square its shit lands on. That's right, betting on where a chicken will shit. LOL

I have to say, that beats an outhouse race.

Right up there though is the Testical Festival. LOL When we first moved back to Missouri, we were heading down one of the rural highways, and we happened to glance at a billboard that read However Many Annual Testical Festival with a giant bull on the sign. Oh yeah ... we were thrilled. For the longest time, that took first place in ridiculousness. Then the outhouse race.

Now ... the chicken drop.

I am almost afraid to see what will come next to replace that one.

It's amazing ...

It's amazing how utterly exhausted you can get and not know it. LOL

With traveling, snorkeling, cave tubing, hiking, climbing ruins, trips on a boat, etc without air conditioning in a very humid environment, many of us hit that air conditioning yesterday on that airplane where we were forced into inactivity and we just wilted.

By the time we got off of the plane in Dallas and raced to get on the plane to KC, and got settled, many of my classmates were out cold. LOL I had to wake up 6 of them that were sitting near me, so they could put their seats up and such for landing.

As for me, I slept from about 4 am to around 8:45 when my daughter woke up. I let hubby sleep a few hours longer while I ran errands, got the mail, etc. Then about 1 pm I headed for a nap. After I got up, I ran to the grocery store, and now I am cooking dinner. But I could still use another nap.

I am flat out beat. Yet when I was running around, doing all of the strenous activities, I hardly felt it. LOL

Belizan It - day 11 and into 12

Monday/Tuesday: (Travel day)

Ok, so everything started out good yesterday. I was up, packed, and had almost two hours to kill. Got caught up on blog posting and email, while the wifi was playing nice.

Then we headed out to the tiny airport with dogs on the runway. In a downpour.

We finally got out of there, and to the main terminal, but without three of our group. Their flight times had gotten screwed up, and they were supposed to have been there 2 hours before the rest of us. They FINALLY made it to the Belize City airport.

While we were waiting, we found out that our flight was going to be an hour+ late. Warning signs went off in our heads since we only had an hour and a half to get through passport and customs in Dallas before our flight to KC. The good news was, it was the airlines fault, so if we missed the flight, they had to put us up in a hotel and feed us.

So we finally get out of Belize City and in to Dallas. By the time we taxied in, our flight was supposed to be taking off. So we didn't push ourselves too hard heading to passport control. It was there they informed us the flight was being held for us. Which prompted the crazy dash throughthe terminal to the baggage claim where we picked up our backs and carried them a little ways through the terminal, then tossed them onto another conveyor belt.

Then we had to go back through security plus customs. Where normally the professor said, it could take an hour. Instead they rushed our asses through. Random people were searched, random people were sent throught the extra scanning machines and then we were running to the sky-tram to get to the terminal we needed to head out of.

Our group was broken into many tiny groups by this point, as everyone took off at a dead run.

Ours was the second group on the plane, and together with the first, we made up about a 1/3 of the group. By this time, the plane had been waiting 45 minutes for us.

The rest of the group finally managed to get onto the plane, an hour after our flight was supposed to have departed.

We got in to KCI -- finally.

Then our ride picked us up and we did the hour and a half drive home. We made it most of the way there, and came across a downed powerline. LOL So we had to detour down back coutry roads.

FINALLY -- we made it home. At just before 3 am (which is why I made note of it heading in to day 12 ...) we pulled up in front of our home to a major surprise. Someone had stolen my husband and daughter's bikes. We didn't worry too much about them because they had chains, and we had someone coming to our place daily at random times to care for the fish/plants/birds. In hindsight, we would do things different ...

So a visit with a police officer and a report later, we were heading to bed. 3:30 am.

So all in all, I had a lot of fun, but next time (if there is a next time), we are driving (hubby says). And next time, I am taking the bikes (once we replace them) to a friend's house for storage while we are gone.

The real kicker -- my daughter's bike was her birthday gift, so she is all tore up over it.

So the trip really has been a roller coaster.

Belizan It - days 9 and 10

I thought about waiting to make this post until I got home, but I actually am done packing and have 2 hours left until we head to the air port. So I have time. LOL

Saturday: (project day)

All week long, during out snorkels, we have been using underwater cameras to capture images of some of the critters we learned about in class. Our class was divided into five groups, and students from a near-by community college that attended the trip with us were mixed into our groups.

Each group was given a list of organisms to find, allowing for four substitutions if there was something we just could not find. We could also trade photos, if another group had one that we needed.

Rather than going out on the last snorel, which after seeing manatee and a loggerhead, would have been anti-clamatic, I stayed back at the field station, and worked on the project and did some light shopping with the few that stayed behind with me. Then when everyone else got back, we all worked on finishing up the project, and then after dinner we did presentations.

Right now there are a group of middle/high schoolers from a provate school up North staying with us, and some of them watched the presentations.

Then it was time to kick-back and relax. : )

Sunday: (free day)

I mentioned early on that I was thinking of going cave-tubing. Well, I went on Sunday with hubby and 6 other students.

It was kick-ass.

First we stopped at the Belize Zoo, which isn't a zoo like we have in the states. Everything there is native to the area, just not something often seen. All the animals started out hurt, as pets that people realized they couldn't care for, etc. The cages were all done in a natural setting, and the walkways made to blend in to the scenery.

After that, we hit the road and headed to the mountain for tubing.

We had to hike 45 min carrying our tubes, which wasn't too bad, since we were under the canopy. Then the fun began. We got to go through two different cave systems, instead of the normal one, so it was an hour and a half trip, rather than an hour.

It was fantastic. The water was cold, but refreshing after a week+ without air conditioning.

And the formations were phenomenal. I love caves, and going through one while on the water was a unique experience. We were there, observing part of the natural process of what forms the caves in the first place.

Then we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant then headed back to the island.

After dinner at the field station, some of us headed out for some last minute shopping. LOL Hubby got a nice Belize golf-shirt and I picked our daughter up a last minute T-shirt. Already had gotten her one, but figured she would like this one too.

And now it is Monday morning, and we are all getting ready to leave. The suit cases are packed, everything is ready to go except for the lap-tops.

It's been a hell of an adventure.

Belizan It - days 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

Wow! It has been busy as heck the last few days. Meant to update each night, but the internet is hit and miss and when I have had time, it hadn't been playing nice. I'll probably update about today (project day), tomorrow (free day) and the next day (travel day) when I get home.

Monday:

We visited a section of reef called coral gardens and one other place, can't remember the name now.

Tuesday:

We took a break from the water and headed to the mainland. Took about 45 min by boat to get there, then we went about an hour up the river, took a hour 15 min bus ride to a small villiage, then took another hour plus boat ride further inland. But it was all worth it - because our destination was Laminai. There is Mayan ruins there, and we got to climb one of the temples, which was 112 feet high

My hubby made it 102 feet up, but the top platform was so crowded he didn't go the rest. I made it about 33-40 feet up on the steep as hell steps, and gave up. To make it up, you have to hold on to a rope and step up these very narrow steps that have been worn down over time. Um ... no. I am way too afraid of heights.

Wednesday:

I don't remember exactly where we went on Wednesday. I was medicated on Benadryl due to a food allergy. Whole swelling of the hands, face (it wasn't too bad), hives, etc. Most of the day was a haze.

I do remember we went by Caye Caulker for lunch and some shopping. Lunch was really good. They had french fries. Oh yeah, my arteries LOVED it.

Thursday:

Thursday morning sucked. We went to the mangroves, which was cool. But in the water around the mangroves are these little isopods which evidently love sunbrunt flesh, because those of us that got bit the most were the ones with sunburns. Cool area to see, but I will NEVER snorkel it again.

Was a learning experience for the professor too.

The afternoon though MORE than made up for it. Oh my god. We went on a dive and while we were just floating along, a manatee came up under us. It was so absolutly COOL!!!

The instructors caught our attention and motioned for us to just float. They got us to poke our heads out of the water where we could listen, and told us that as long as we didn't crowd the manatee, they would explore us, due to their curiosity. It was so absolutely kick-ass. We floated there for a good while, and it swam right under me at one point in time.

Friday:

Yesterday was another GREAT day. : )

We went to a conch grave-yard. The conch fishermen in this area are only those who predated the marine sanctuary designation, and when they die, that's it for that section of the sea.

Where we went was a marine sanctuary, which had one remaining conch fisherman, and he was out. What was so cool about it is that there is a huge Loggerhead Sea Turtle that lives in the area that had grown used to the fisherman, and allow him to feed him. So tourists can actually swim with it, provided there is no touching. The fisherman is very protective of this creature.

Rays also gather in the area, because as the fisherman emptys the shells, he tosses the not prime pieces overboard and feeds the critters. There was a spotted eagle ray, horseshoe rays and southern stingrays there. The horseshoe rays would let you touch them, and often floated right under us.

After that we went to Shark-Ray Alley where we saw lots more rays and some students saw sharks. Unfortunatly the only nurse shark I saw was at a distance as someone else scared it off. : ( But the rays were cool. : )

After dinner we headed out for a night snorkel. I preferred to stay in the boat, but hubby went out and had a blast. He saw squid, octopuses, and a ton of nocternal fish. I stargazed. : ) It's really breathtaking at night here, out on the water, without the lights of the city. I could actually see all of Scorpio, because we are further south than normal.

Belizan It -- day 3

Sunday:

Today was a really fun day.

After breakfast, we headed out to Mexico Rocks. We snorkeled three different locations, each with different features. Between the first and second location, we had lunch.

Then we came back for dinner, and then headed down to the beach for beach seining, which is basically a drag net that it curled in a half circle, and then you lift it up and see what you brought in. We grabbed everything and dropped it into a bucket to look at it, then at the end of the fourth dragging, we let everything go.

Tomorrow looks to be another full day. We are heading out to a mangrove area, and will be doing as fairly shallow snorkeling, but in an area with real fine silt. So the slightest brush of our fins along the bottom can stir up enough sediment to cloud the water around us for 20 minutes.

Should be an adventure. LOL

Just where is Belize?

It occured to me that since before this class I had no clue where Belize is, so you might not either.



Ambergris Caye is part of an island chain that runs along the coast of Belize, between the mainland and the barrier reef. San Pedro, the town on Ambergris Caye that I am staying in, is the red circle.

Belizan It -- days 1 and 2

Friday and Saturday:

Well, my prediction was correct. I burned like a lobster. LOL But I had fun. : )

It is a completly different world here. Coming in the airport in Belize City yesterday was a shocker. What was worse was then taking a small airplane out to Ambergris Caye, which is where our field station is.

Holy hell. There are dogs on the run-way. The baggage claim is a sandy stretch of area off to the side of the run-way. Definite culture shock for someone used to KCI, Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago. Plus the plane is a small jobber, with 13 whole seats, counting the co-pilot seat. Motion sickness kicked my butt during that leg of the journey.

We got in last night in time for dinner, then we sat around and talked about what this trip was going to entail and safety during snorkeling. Which we were talking, there were two bats that drifted around over our heads, snatching misquitoes as they passed.

The field station is set up like a rectangle, with a pool in the middle. No air conditioning. Windows that stay open year round. We do have fans though. And wifi. But no cell coverage, even if we wanted to pay internation calling fees. (No thanks, I'll use a calling card). Was hard to sleep last night, because some of my classmates were up until 1:30 am swimming. So last night was my third night of 5 or less hours of sleep. And I am a 8-9 hour sleeper, especially when there isn't any caffine.

Today we got an early start, with breakfast at 8 am, then out on the boat by 9.

We hit a section of pillar coral and snorkeled around that for a while, then had lunch on the boat, then headed to Tres Cocos for more snorkeling. By the time we called it a day, at around 2:30, most of us were done in.

It takes a LOT out of you to snokel. All leg work too.

We headed back to the field station, where we sat around and chatted, some people were exploring, and basically waited until dinner time at 6:30. Because it is fairly primitive, dinner is served during a window of time, then the food taken away. Otherwise, ants are a big problem.

So exploring has to be over and done before dinner, then you can go out again. Some of my classmates have been all over the place already. I am hoping to get some exploring done tomorrow myself, provided we get back in time for it.

This evening was spent by some of us working on our group project. This is a class, so we knew we would have to do some work. LOL But all in all, it has been fun so far. Except for all the time spent in the airports yesterday. I am so glad to be here.

I saw some really cool stuff today. Each site we go to has different features, so that we get the most out of the experience.

Tomorrow we are stopping by an underwater cave with a verticle opening, as one of out three spots, so we can snorkel over it, and the more daring can dive down in to it. I can't hold my breath very long, so I doubt that I will get down the 15 feet before I have to come back up. But I should still be able to see lots of interesting things from about 1-5 feet.