Lodge Review: Tikal Inn, Guatemala

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Tara

Although it is possible to visit Tikal as a day trip from Belize, I highly recommend staying at least one night. After studying the options, I chose Tikal Inn because it was within easy walking distance of the park, surrounded by rainforest and had a swimming pool to relax in during siesta when it’s too hot to be visiting the park or birding.

We stayed 2 nights and got in on a special deal that included a free sunrise or sunset tour, breakfast, dinner and a shuttle to Flores. Package deals change from time to time so always email them to ask what’s going. They sometime advertise their packages on Trip Advisor. Tikal Inn isn’t found on any of the typical online hotel booking sites such as Expedia or Hotels.com so you have to contact them direct. They take credit cards to pay your final bill. Wifi is available in the lobby though the signal is slow and tends to drop out. It’s adequate to check your emails. The setting more than makes up for slow connectivity. They turn the generator off around 10pm-ish. Birds are everywhere, you can see them from the swimming pool if you are feeling lazy! More on the local species later!

Reminder – Two Major Promos Ending Tomorrow

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Tara

Last week I blogged about the opportunities to buy airline miles with US Airways Dividend Miles and Avianca-Taca Lifemiles at greatly reduced costs through sharing them with someone else who shares them back to you. These two promos will be ending on 15 Oct so if you had it in mind to take advantage, then do it now! I didn’t partake this time as I have enough miles in these two programs to meet our needs for the next couple years. You shouldn’t buy miles unless you plan to redeem them within a year or so as they may depreciate. Here’s the details in case you missed it the first time.

US Dividend Miles

Avianca-Taca Lifemiles

Land Crossing From Belize To Guatemala

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Tara

Few people who visit Belize can resist the temptation to visit the wonderful archeological ruins of Tikal. Some people go on a very long day trip and return to their San Ignacio hotel at night. Others will be planning a longer stay in Guatemala and moving on to other places in Central America. Crossing at the land border is very easy whether you take a group shuttle or do it in segments.

If you want to leave first thing in the morning, the same companies that operate the Tikal day trips also offer shuttle service to Tikal. Here are a few to check out.

Pacz Tours

San Ignacio Belize Tours

Mayan Heart World

If you don’t want to leave first thing in the morning (birders probably won’t want to as they will be birding in the morning), you can either have your hotel book you a private transfer or take a Belizean taxi to the border, do the formalities on both sides and get a Guatelmalan minibus or taxi on the other side yourself. Since Parrot Nest is a fair ways out of town, we opted for the convenience of door to door service. The lodge arranged it and it was around $80USD to be picked up, have the driver wait while we did the formalities, then hand us over to a Guatemalan driver who took us direct to Tikal Inn. I don’t think you really save all that much by breaking it down as this guy on Trip Advisor paid $60 from the border to Tikal so make it easy for yourself!

Be prepared with cash as you won’t be able to use credit cards for the transport, the exit/entry fees and the entrance fees to Tikal. You will need to pay the departure fee of $37.50 BZD ($19 USD) per person after which you will stamp out at the Belize immigration desk, from there you driver will accompany you to the Guatemala area where you will then stamp in and pay a $6.00 BZD ($3 USD) entry fee. After you have completed this, hop in your waiting Guatemalan vehicle and head direct to Tikal.

You will have to pay the park entry fee before continuing the last 15 km or so to the lodges in Tikal. There are no ATMs or banks at Tikal so you will need to take along extra change to pay the entrance fee to the park which is 23 USD or 150 Quetzals. You should also change some extra money into Quetzals for extra park fees if you do a sunrise or sunset tour, meals outside your hotel, guide fees and souvenirs. Tikal Inn takes credit cards and we had breakfast & dinner there but lunch in the small market mearby. Some souvenir sellers take credit cards but charge extra for doing so.

These photos show what to expect from a border crossing from San Ignacio to Tikal.

SCENERY FROM SAN IGNACIO TO BORDER

BELIZE IMMIGRATION/CUSTOMS

PROTECT WILD MACAWS!

MY HUSBAND & DRIVER (GREEN SHIRTS) & THE CAR

GUATEMALA IMMIGRATION/CUSTOMS

SCENERY FROM BORDER TO TIKAL

THIS IS WHERE YOU PAY THE ENTRANCE FEE TO TIKAL

US Gov’t Shutdown Effects On Eco-Tourists

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Tara

Even though I blog about exotic birds in exotic locations, not all eco-tourism is done so far from home. Every year, 1000’s of Americans and foreign tourists visit the magnificent national parks in the USA. But sadly for the last couple of weeks, the parks have been shut down due to the US gov’t shutdown. If you visit the National Parks website, this is all you will see so you can’t even plan your future trips.

You are then directed to the US Dept of the Interior website where information is given about a few parks that are arranging with the State gov’ts to operate them during the federal shutdown.

Just a very sad state of affairs all around!

Lodge Review: Parrot Nest, Belize – Sleep In A Tree-house!

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Tara

Everyone should spend the night in a tree-house at least once in their life! The Parrot Nest Lodge located in Bullet Tree Falls near San Ignacio, Belize gives you the chance to do exactly that at a very reasonable cost.

Any bus traveling between Belize City or Belmopan (location of Belize Bird Rescue) and either San Ignacio or the border town of Benque Viejo Del Carmen will get you to the San Ignacio bus stop. From there you will need a taxi to Bullet Tree Falls and you will probably have to bargain for it. They will quote $15 or even $20 if they think they can get away with it but you can usually get them down to $8-10. Or you can use their private shuttle from the airport and stop at Belize Zoo if you like-highly recommended!

They aren’t on any of the hotel aggregators such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Pointshound so you need to book by email. The other thing is they will ask for a credit card to secure the booking. I wasn’t comfortable having my credit card number being on record with me traveling in remote places where I can’t get online so I asked them to “pencil me in” and I would pay on arrival. Luckily we were there in August, low season so there was no problem with this and we got our tree house!

We arrived at dusk so we didn’t get to see the grounds that evening but the tree house was small but very cute! It kind of reminded me of a tree house I had as a kid only in a much nicer location and with a better view!

First thing, we went downstairs to the shared shower facilities to freshen up, then went to the dining room for dinner.

Soft drinks were very cheap, around $1 US or 2 Belize so we drank our fill. I can’t remember what we had for dinner, it was good though as I don’t remember having any complaints!

We did get a good night sleep and there were no mosquitoes! The next morning, I was eager to look out the window from up in the tree and be eye to eye with some birds. We could hear them all around us but not see them.

Now we could finally see the other treehouses, the grounds and the river.

We strolled around the grounds and down to the river hoping to see birds. No parrots but there were a few birds around, not as many as I would have hoped for but we only stayed the one night.

We had breakfast in the dining room, now we could see it a lot better. The drinks in the fridge are on an honor system where you write down what you take and pay it when you leave.

I’ve been a backpacker my whole life and am very comfortable in places like this, especially when it has such a beautiful setting! If you are used to Hyatts, Hiltons and Intercontinentals, this may not be the right choice for you unless you have a spirit of adventure. Tours can be organized here to the popular ATM – Actun Tunichil Mucnal, Caracol and for river rafting. We didn’t do any tours as we aren’t really into caves and wanted to see birds! You really can’t beat the prices and the staff were all very helpful and friendly. I loved it and would come back in a flash if we ever return to Belize.

Belize Bird Rescue

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Tara

One of the best things about eco-tourism is the chance to show local communities the value of keeping wild birds wild. In a perfect world, no bird would leave his home except as an image in a digital camera, the locals would have secure jobs in lodges, restaurants and as guides. But we all know this world isn’t perfect and many birds do end up being captured by poachers. Some of these poor birds will die in tiny cages, some will be shipped around the world and some will be recovered by the authorities before the poacher gets too far with them. Thanks to places like Belize Bird Rescue, these birds have a 2nd chance to go home, be free and hopefully tell all the other birds what happened so they can avoid capture.

Belize Bird Rescue goals for 2012 education campaigns

• To emphasise the link between Belize’s tourism industry and its wildlife

• To diminish or halt the trade in wild-caught parrots

• To improve living conditions and thereby prolong the lifespan of captive parrots

• To open the hearts and minds of young Belizeans to the plight of their indigenous avian species

Belize Bird Rescue is located on the outskirts of Belmopan, about an hour’s bus ride from Belize City or San Ignacio. They are not currently open to the public but as a fellow conservationist networking on social media, my husband and I were invited for a private visit to the facility. Nikki Buxton showed us around the facility, let me take photos of the birds, then we sat on the verandah chatting and watching some playful Amazon parrots frolic in the bushes. Rehabiliating a rescued bird isn’t as simple as just letting it go. The whole procedure is outlined on their website. Don’t miss this heart-wrenching video! Some birds are injured to the point where they can never be released and Belize Bird Rescue cares for them in lovely spacious aviaries with healthy diets and plenty of enrichment. If I were a few years younger and single, I would seriously think about being a volunteer there! Please help them with a donation if you can!

Here are some of the photos of our visit!

If you are ever in Belmopan, please consider staying at the Hibiscus Hotel and eating at their restaurant, it supports the rescue!

One of the more bizarre sights of Belmopan is this “witch’s house”!

Adopt An Acre To Help Trust

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Tara

The next time you take a hike through the Mastic Trail or visit the Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve, you could just find yourself standing on your own land.

Supporters of the Cayman islands National Trust can now adopt an acre of land, or more or less, to help protect endangered species and threatened sites in the Cayman Islands.

The new fundraising initiative, Adopt Nature, gives people a chance to assist with management and maintenance costs of their adopted area.

Under the scheme, members of the public can adopt a quarter-acre for $99 or a full acre for $350.

Full article here

HT: City Parrots

I really love the idea of (sort of) owning a small piece of rainforest so birds can fly there freely and safely!

The Mastic Reserve, Salina Reserve and Governor Gore’s Bird Sanctuary are among the areas available for adoption in Grand Cayman, along with the Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve and Brac Splits in Cayman Brac and Booby Pond Nature Reserve in Little Cayman, according to the National Trust.

India May Extend Visa On Arrival To More Nationalities

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Tara

After hastily throwing together a trip to India & Sri Lanka prompted by last week’s US Airways promo I have now turned my attention to the formalities. Both countries require visas of Australians, Americans, Canadians and most Europeans. A full list can be found on the new story. HT: The Wandering Aramean

I spent this morning filling out applications for me and my husband. Sri Lanka was easy. A short application that was approved less than 5 minutes after submitting it. The approval went to my spam folder but I eventually found it.

India is more difficult. This isn’t our first trip but the visas Australians get a visa valid for 6 months, double entry and there must be a gap of 2 months between entries. Our last visa issued and used in 2011 was long expired. I filled out the apps for both of us, uploaded passport photos and printed it out. India wants to know EVERYTHING about us, our parents, religion, employment, what countries we’ve been in the last 10 years – I ran out of room! Thankfully there is an Indian visa centre in Brisbane so we don’t have to mail our passports off.

So my prediction of when this new visa on arrival will happen? The day after I lodge our visa applications and pay the fee!

Eco-Lite: The Belize Zoo

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Tara

*Lots of photos are at the end of this post, some of which are actually in focus!

OVERVIEW

From their website: The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center was started in 1983, as a last ditch effort to provide a home for a collection of wild animals which had been used in making documentary films about tropical forests.

Shortly after the backyard “zoo” began, it was quickly realized that its Belizean visitors were unfamiliar with the different species of wildlife which shared their country. This very aspect fomented the commitment to develop the little zoo into a dynamic wildlife education center.

Today, The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center is settled upon 29 acres of tropical savanna and exhibits over 150 animals, representing over 45 species, all native to Belize. The zoo keeps animals which were orphaned, rescued, born at the zoo, rehabilitated animals, or sent to The Belize Zoo as donations from other zoological institutions.

I first became aware of the Belize Zoo by reading “The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird” about zoo owner Sharon Matola. This book is a great read and available now in Kindle form (my affiliate link below)!

HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

Belize Zoo is easily reached by bus from Belize City, Belmopan or San Ignacio. The Zoo is located at Mile 29 along the Western highway. The bus drivers are used to dropping off and picking people up there.

It is approximately an hour’s drive from the main cruise-ship terminal at the tourism village and about an hour driving from the international airport following through Belize City and onto the western highway.

HOW MUCH IS IT?

Normal Daily Fees are $15.00 US for adults and $5.00 US for children (non-Belizean). Fees for Belizean adults and children are $5.00 BZ and $1.00 BZ respectively.

The cafe is very reasonably priced for snacks and drinks.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU SPEND THERE AND WHAT SHOULD YOU SEE?

The Belize Zoo is easily worth a couple of hours just to see all the gorgeous birds in very attractive aviaries and read the info-plaques on the exhibits. I love how the zoo educates both Belizeans and tourists about how the birds and animals are part of their cultural heritage and should be protected and treasured!

VALUE TO CONSERVATION

THE BELIZE HARPY EAGLE RESTORATION PROGRAM (BHERP)
WORKING TO EMPOWER THE MESOAMERICA BIOLOGICAL CORRIDOR, MBC

You can support individual species by “adopting” an animal.

The scarlet macaw exhibit is designed to promote awareness of their need to keep their habitat free from destruction.

Conservation Camp is a great way for teenagers to experience the wild and learn more about how to preserve it.

WHERE TO STAY NEARBY ON POINTS

Hotel chains where points can be used are thin on the ground and covered in my general Belize post. Getting to Belize with airline miles is much easier!

PHOTOS

I think we went the wrong way on some of the paths so some of the signs may be after the species in that case. There are so many, I just did a bulk upload so enjoy!

Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Tara

Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)

The Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis) is a species of Amazon parrot, native to tropical regions of the Americas, from eastern Mexico south to Ecuador, with a disjunct population in central Brazil, where it occurs in humid evergreen to semi-deciduous forests up to 1,100 m altitude. It is absent from the Pacific side of Central America north of Costa Rica.

For those wishing to see them in the wild, there are several options. We saw a few at Crooked Tree Sanctuary in Belize, also a few at Tikal National Park, Laguna del Lagarto in Costa Rica and Soberania National Park in Panama. You can use your miles for a Central America award to all of these countries.

Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)

There are four subspecies:

Amazona autumnalis autumnalis (Linnaeus, 1758). Caribbean coasts from eastern Mexico south to northern Nicaragua.
Amazona autumnalis salvini (Salvadori, 1891). Northern Nicaragua south to Colombia and Venezuela.
Amazona autumnalis lilacina (Lesson, 1844), the Lilacine Amazon. Western Ecuador.
Amazona autumnalis diadema (Spix, 1824), the Diademed Amazon. Lower Rio Negro area, central Brazil.

In some areas, notably parts of Mexico and Venezuela, the Red-lored Amazon has become rare through trapping for the cagebird trade. On the other hand, it seems to be able to adapt to human-altered habitat to a considerable degree

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT

VIDEOS

They never pose like this for me!

Miles To The Wild

Create unforgettable eco-tourism and birding adventures using miles & points!