Where We Be
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| The spider monkeys were especially fun to watch -- they seemed every bit as curious about us as we were about them |
| Belize Zoo -- La Democracia, Belize |
The Belize Zoo is listed as one of the top ten
attractions on Trip Advisor for Belize. This led
us to look into it when we were planning our
trip, and we discovered it sits conveniently at a
crossroads only 45 minutes southwest of Belize
City. On our travel day from Placencia, we built
in a stop at the zoo along the way. (We paid an
extra $20 US to the driver to wait for us while
we visited.) The zoo is fairly small but densely
packed with interesting animals so we thought
it was a great stop. We visited for 1½ hours.
The entry fee is $15 US, but your dollars go
towards a zoo focusing on rehabilitation of wild
animals that were orphaned, rescued, or in
some cases sent to the zoo as donations from
other zoos. The Belize Zoo is especially big on
jaguars and has nearly twenty of them. That's
because "problem jaguars" repeatedly preying
on livestock or domestic animals are often sent
here. It's highly unlikely you'll see a jaguar in
the wild in Belize, so this is your best bet to
see one up close and personal. You'll also see
other animals endemic to Belize like tapirs,
spider monkeys, ocelot, coati, agouti, iguana,
parrots, toucans, harpy eagles, and jaguarundi.
attractions on Trip Advisor for Belize. This led
us to look into it when we were planning our
trip, and we discovered it sits conveniently at a
crossroads only 45 minutes southwest of Belize
City. On our travel day from Placencia, we built
in a stop at the zoo along the way. (We paid an
extra $20 US to the driver to wait for us while
we visited.) The zoo is fairly small but densely
packed with interesting animals so we thought
it was a great stop. We visited for 1½ hours.
The entry fee is $15 US, but your dollars go
towards a zoo focusing on rehabilitation of wild
animals that were orphaned, rescued, or in
some cases sent to the zoo as donations from
other zoos. The Belize Zoo is especially big on
jaguars and has nearly twenty of them. That's
because "problem jaguars" repeatedly preying
on livestock or domestic animals are often sent
here. It's highly unlikely you'll see a jaguar in
the wild in Belize, so this is your best bet to
see one up close and personal. You'll also see
other animals endemic to Belize like tapirs,
spider monkeys, ocelot, coati, agouti, iguana,
parrots, toucans, harpy eagles, and jaguarundi.
| You do have a good chance of seeing toucans and parrots flying free in Belize and Guatemala, but you'll rarely see them this up close and personal |
| You'll probably see a few animals you're not that familiar with here. Agouti (left) roam freely outside the cages. Harpy eagles (center) are some of the largest and rarest eagles in the world. And jaguarundi (right) are the second smallest of Belize's cats -- we'd never seen one of these before. |
| Jaguar do exist in the wild in Belize, but when we asked local guides who hike nearly every day in the jungle how many they've seen, the answer was either none or one. So, again, if you want to see one in person, come to the Belize Zoo. |
| This baby spider monkey stretches his arms behind his head and settles in to see what these strange humans will do next |
| The spider monkeys stared at us like we were some sort of fascinating reality TV show. If curiousity is a hallmark of our species, it definitely extends to our near relatives too. |
| One of our favorite things about this zoo was the signage. Someone had a lot of fun making signs that rhyme! Each sign tells a little story about this tree or that animal. |
| Belize has ~145 species of mammals but many of them, like this tapir, are forest dwellers -- secretive and active mostly at night -- so your best chance of seeing one is right here. The tapir is the national animal of Belize. |
