Belize Blog – Belizeadventure.com

We have a birding register in our dining hall. Sometimes months go by and no one enters anything in it, but we have quite an impressive record going back to 1999. Last week I made a cumulative list and found we have collectively seen 82 species on this little island.

The complete list:

American Redstart, Anhinga, Baltimore Oriole, Barn Swallow, Bay Breasted Warbler, Belted Kingfisher, Black And White Warbler, Black Bellied Plover, Black Catbird, Black Crowned Night Heron, Black Neck Stilt, Black Throated Green Warbler, Blue Grosbeak, Blue Winged Warbler, Boat Billed Heron, Brown Booby, Brown Pelican, Canada Warbler, Caspian Tern, Cattle Egret, Cedar Waxwing, Cliff Swallow, Common Grackle, Common Nighthawk, Common Yellow Throat, Double Crested Cormorant, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Wood Pewee, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Great Tailed Grackle, Green Breasted Mango, Green Heron, Grey Catbird, Groove Billed Ani, Hooded Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Least Flycatcher, Lesser Nighthawk, Little Blue Heron, Magnificent Frigatebird, Magnificent Hummingbird, Magnolia Warbler, Mangrove Swallow, Mangrove Warbler, Northern Perula, Northern Waterthrush, Olivaceous Cormorant, Orchard Oriole, Osprey, Ovenbird, Palm Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pectoral Sandpiper, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Royal Tern, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Scarlet Tanager, Snowy Egret, Solitary Vireo, Spotted Sandpiper, Summer Tanager, Swainson’s Warbler, Tri-Colored Heron, Tropical Mockingbird, Veery, Virginia Warbler, White Crowned Pigeon, White Fronted Pidgeon, Willet, Yellow Bellied Elenia, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Yellow Billed Cuckoo, Yellow Crowned Night Heron, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Yellow Throated Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yucatan Vireo.

(Click on each photo to see the full image)

There is probably nothing more closely associated with life on a tropical island than palm trees and their coconuts. As is typically seen throughout the islands of Belize, Long Caye is covered with palm trees; in fact, for many decades the island was a coconut ‘plantation’, with over 1000 coconut palms planted in rows and tended for their production of this valuable fruit. Many of these original trees, then 50-60′ tall, were wiped out by the Lethal Yellowing Disease which struck the island in 1998. We treat about 500 of these trees quarterly, and have planted another 450 trees, now 20 feet tall, that are resistant to the disease.

Palm trees produce coconuts year round, there is no ‘season’. The trees flower, then the nuts grow on stem clusters until mature. Each tree will have clusters of coconuts in all the various stages of growth, so there is a continuous rain of coconuts falling from the trees. These then spread through human relocation, or by water; coconuts can drift in the sea for months before washing up on a beach and then sprouting. Since they contain their own supply of water and food, the trees repoduce at a hardy rate and are very prolific and fast growing. They tolerate growth in salty conditions and can grow in bare, sterile sand, and are hurricane proof in design. Coconut palms were introduced to the Caribbean when the Spanish arrived in the early 1500′s, and have spread through the region where they are now found everywhere in these tropical latitudes.

The most common commercial product from these palms is the coconut oil, and this is what was produced on the island. When we first arrived there were the remnants of the fireplace used to render the oil, along with the ruins of a building where the work was performed. Ripe coconuts, which turn brown and fall from the trees, are collected and first husked on a sharp stick. The resulting rounded ‘nut’ is the hard shelled coconut you see sold in supermarkets. The workers then chip the hard shell off with a machete, and they are so skilled that the entire piece of interior ‘meat’ is left intact and whole. The chips are then saved as fuel for the fire. Once the meat is split open and the water drained, it is shredded and placed in a pot of boiling water. After boiling or ‘rendering’ for a period, the oil is separated from the shredded meat and skimmed off the top, cooled, and bottled for sale.

Shredded coconut meat is also used to produce coconut milk, which is also sold for use in cooking, for mixes, and drinks (think Pina Colada). To produce milk, the shredded coconut meat is simply squeezed through a fabric strainer, and the fluid produced is coconut milk.

Coconuts are also edible in pieces (our favorite is to roast them) or as grated and mixed into a rice dish. However, if you have fresh coconuts available as we do on the island (an unlimited supply!) the best way to enjoy them is to pick them mature but still green, just before they ripen to brown and fall. You don’t need to husk them at this stage, just split them open or chip off an opening. The water is very sweet and the meat is soft and jello-like, also very sweet. They taste nothing like the hard, ripe coconuts. Below are some pictures of Slickrock’s ‘coconut seminar’ in which our local guides explain the coconut life cycle, then show everyone how to open and enjoy the sweet tasting green nuts.

This was a welcome, cool day after many hot ones! Click on any image to see the full picture.

A few weeks ago we wrote about spearfishing for lionfish, our newest sport on our island in Belize. Lionfish were introduced to the Atlantic basin recently, and arrived at Glover’s Reef just 2 years ago. Now there is a Caribbean-wide mission to keep their numbers down, as they have no natural predators since they are a Pacific fish. They will eventually eat all of the coral fishes in the small area that they take for their territory.

Our staff have been experimenting with preparing lionfish for the table. Victor has a great idea for lionfish cooked with lemongrass and served with fresh coconut slivers in lieu of noodles (both growing on the island). Here are some shots of Victor with a recent harvest.

What do you do for vacation when you work on adventure island? You think up the most obscure plans for yourself and friends throw in some ridiculous elements and whamo! Epics are born. Most of these plans happen over a drink. I think that part is similar for everyone. Then something happens, I decide it must be done and there is no changing my mind. For the last two months, in between trips at slickrock, I have been traveling around Central America on a motorcycle carrying an inflatable stand up paddle board, a surfboard, river gear, and camera gear. My companions were my brother, and a two man dream team film and sound crew. After a couple thousand miles on the bikes, great rivers paddled and some amazing surf sessions the trip is officially over and now it’s just a matter of editing the raw footage down to a short film. Film debut is scheduled for June 3rd at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, CO. Look for the Deflated web premier coming out around that time at www.danielrichardmyers.com.