oh, the places you'll go!

Last Saturday Tom and I took a walking tour of the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS).  This was one of the items that I have on my list of Things to do in Belize.  So I was thrilled and grateful when our friends, Andrea and Dion, invited us to go out there with them. 

The sanctuary was founded in 1985 by an American Primatologist, Dr Robert Horwich, and a Belizean landowner in Bermudian Landing, Fallet Young.  From its beginnings with 12 landowners it has grown to have the support of over 200 private landowners.  CBS focuses on four main goals-- Conservation, Education, Research and Tourism.  And not only does it provide protection for the estimated 2000 Black Howler Monkeys in the area it also serves to protect the flora and fauna as well.  

Here are just a few of the photos I took on our tour:

the museum...

warning about feeding and littering...


inside the museum...

Robert, our tour guide, led the way...

Robert was great at pointing out the various birds...he saw this tanager long before we did.

this is one of the two large lizards we saw in the area...

we saw a total of five monkeys...1 male, 3 females and 1 baby.

here is the baby peeking out to see us... the funny looking creatures down below!

these "baboon crossings" help ensure that the monkeys can safely cross the roads... 

The tour we took was a nature walk through the private lands.  It is mandatory to have a guide with you on the tour.  Along with the nature walks they offer night hikes, river tours, crocodile night tours, and birding.

Our walk was confined to Bermudian Landing but there are also things to see and do in the villages of Big Falls / St. Paul's Bank, Willow's Bank, Double Head Cabbage, Isabella Bank, Scotland Half-Moon, and Flowers Bank as well.

Please go to the website http://www.howlermonkeys.org/ to learn more about the sanctuary or about how you can get involved with the work that CBS is doing.  You can also check them out on Facebook.

And if you come to Belize... the sanctuary should definitely be on your list of places to go!

counting the gifts and an incredible day!

Every day above ground is a gift from Him.  

And yet, I think some days are bound to be treasured and pondered more than others.  Saturday was one of those blessed days for us.

Our friends Dion and Andrea invited us to spend the day with them.  That in itself is a treat.  But, we were also blessed to travel with them and their three children out to an area that we had never been to before.

First we drove to Bermudian Landing... the village where Andrea grew up.  From there we went to see our first cricket match over in Lemonal, a neighboring village, and then we drove over to the village of Double Head Cabbage to see the canoes coming ashore in the La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge.  After watching some of the teams come in and chowing down on a traditional Belizean meal of rice & beans with chicken we went back to Bermudian Landing for a tour of the Community Baboon Sanctuary. 

So many firsts all packed into one day.  Our first cricket match, watching part of the La Ruta Maya Belize River challenge and seeing howler monkeys up close and personal.  It was just incredible!

557.  adding to my list of Things to do in Belize

558.  visiting the villages of Bermudian Landing, Lemonal, and Double Head Cabbage
559.  meeting new people

560.  having cricket explained to us by Conway Young

561.  watching our first cricket match

562. intense concentration on the face of a child

563.  seeing canoes coming to shore after reaching this day's checkpoint in the race.

564.  tasty food cooked over an open flame.

565.  cashew trees

566.  creation's beauty

567.  time with howler monkeys

568.  large iguanas that try to hide high up in the trees

569.  Belizean holidays that give us three day weekends...today is National Heroes and Benefactors Day.
570.  being invited to spend the day with Dion, Andrea and their children
571.  being present and awake to the gifts of life
572.  emails from old friends
573.  spending the day appreciating village life and the people who live in them
574.  a camera that is still working after seven years
575.  ice cream on a warm day
566.  singing birds

567.  the perfect ending to an incredible day!

 joining in with the gratitude community: