Sunday, December 29

We needed to check out of the Almond Tree Hotel Resort today. Lynn, the propietor, has a coatimundi as a semi-domesticated pet.  Her name is Rocky.  Rocky is attracted to fragrances like perfume, deodorant, etc.  So, on Sunday morning, the boys rubbed their hands with wonderful smelling lotion to attract her.  They had a unique experience as she climbed up into their laps to lick the lotion, rub the fragrance into her long tail.  She looks like a cross between an anteater and a raccoon, and she can and does bite as another guest (who stuck her hand into Rocky's face without being invited to do so) found out.  The boys both had a great time with her though.

After finally checking out, we drove into town to get some gas --- $180 BZ, that's $90 US, later, we were on our way towards the Zoo via an area called Progresso Shores.  About 3 miles or so outside of Corozal, we had to take a hand-cranked ferry across the New River.  It is just what it sounds like  --- there is nothing automated nor automatic about it.  There are two men who work 8 hours a day on the ferry, taking cars and trucks across the river since there is no bridge.  If you're in a hurry, don't live out that way.  Most likely, you'll have to wait.  Dawn asked if she could have the "honor" of turning the crank, and about half-way there, she gladly returned the crank to its familiar operator.  It took about 12 minutes to cross the river, maybe 150 feet altogether?,  once we were on the ferry itself, but we waited about 15 minutes on our side of the river before it returned to pick us up.

We drove through some very rough, muddy, submerged, desolate roads out in this area.  In fact, the Progresso Lagoon was overflowed in one of the subdivisions we tried to go into...so, we opted not to tackle that one!  Smart move, I think!

We had wanted to get to the Zoo in the afternoon to be able to see it in the daylight, but we didn't make it before they closed at 5 p.m., so we headed to the Tropical Education Center across the highway to get our cabin for the night, eat dinner, and leave for the nighttime tour of the zoo.  Our cabin was extremely rustic, located over a pond that had at least 2 crocodiles in it.  Can you see one?

We moved our stuff into the cabin, wondering how we were actually going to sleep as it was so humid and, well, it was a cabin in the woods over a pond with crocs.  It had a tin roof though, which at 5 a.m. provided a great sounding rain for a couple of hours.  We ate dinner and then headed back out the bumpy road to the Zoo for the tour.  We saw a tapir, a couple of gibnuts (which I've heard is Queen Elizabeth's favourite type of rodent to eat), a black jaguar, a margay, a boa, a huge American crocodile named Brutus, an ocelot, and howler monkeys that make a ghoulish howling sound --- and they all talk to each other.  

We made it back to the cabin, ready for a good night's sleep around 9:15 or so.