Crooked Tree Bird Sanctuary

After a leisurely breakfast of eggs, pancakes and fruit and some fun conversation with a fellow guest from California, we headed north again to a bird sanctuary we had read about.  It was that or the zoo, and I always have mixed feelings about zoos, even if it gives you a chance to see some animals that could be seen in the wild, but seldom are.

The road off the Northern Highway to Crooked Tree Village is a rough, rocky, packed clay 1–1/2 lane 3–mile road.  At the end it crosses a causeway that was built in 1981 so that the town was accessible by car rather than boat.

Wilhelm Tillet at the visitors’ center in Crooked Tree was a delight.  He explained that most of the trails were covered with water as the lake is very high.  We headed out anyway, and found we could walk partway — seeing a few rails, coots, termite nests, and iguana.  When we returned to the visitors’ center, Wilhelm took us on a short walk to identify a few of the local trees — in particular the cashew tree.  Cashews are a major source of income in this area.  In May, the town of 1000 people has a cashew festival where you can sample “everything cashew.”

Wilhelm gave us directions to Carrie’s Kitchen where he said we could get a nice lunch.  After driving about a mile on a rutted road with a number of bear rights and turns, we were amazed to come upon a simple restaurant with other customers.  For lunch we sampled four different kinds of Spanish inspired treats — empanadas, tostadas, granaches, and something I have forgotten.  All were amazing.  With tip our lunch came to $5US.  It was an ideal location: well-kept homes, horses grazing freely, chickens, and garden plots.  David commented that if he were to retire to Belize, this would be the place.

We returned to Belize City to shop for groceries for the house we are headed to tomorrow in Hopkins.  Groceries are a bit expensive here; but part of the problem is that prices are posted (obviously) in Belize dollars, so the posted price is misleading — $1US = $2BZ. 

We are looking forward to our family arriving tomorrow.  Hope they fly safely. 

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)