One of the great things about staying at Black Rock Lodge was there was so much to explore just on the grounds themselves.

We could have hiked up the hill to see the cave, gone further to the scenic view, or climbed all the way to the top. We could have floated further down the river. We could have biked along the 6-mile gravel road that leads toward San Ignacio, looking at the birds and iguanas and, yes, the crocodile. There’s so much we didn’t do.

On our last full day in Belize, we decided to take advantage of some of the lodge activities. I’ll quote from Kris’s journal:

Thursday. Early morning bird hike with Elvis. Absolutely the best. 1-1/2 hours not very far from the lodge. Saw about 30 different species including the keel-billed toucan, national bird of Belize. Elvis was amazing at spotting the birds and locating them from their calls.

Then a quick breakfast and off to horseback ride with Louis. We rode Romeo and Mercedes. As usual, J.D. has the pokey horse, so we end up switching. 3-1/2 hours and I am so sore at the end! Right knee, especially, but a fun ride, very challenging, with trotting and cantering at the end. Saw a flock of ~20 montezuma oropendola flying up from the canopy.

Kris is right that I always seem to get the pokey horse. Worse, I’m the world’s worst horseman; I have no talent for it. Romeo and I were basically immobile. Kris was sad to have to give up Mercedes, and so was Mercedes. She and I didn’t really get along, though she did actually move for me.

It took me a long time to figure out how to trot properly. For an hour or more, I just sat in there and let my ass (and other parts) slam into the saddle. It was so painful! (I eventually had to cup my private parts with my hand when we trotted.) After some tips from our guide Louis, I managed to find a position that let me trot with a little less pain. (Thank goodness!)

We made our way along the road to town, then cut through the orange grove. As we took in the sweet scent of the blossoms (seriously, one of my favorite smells ever), Louis paused to pick an orange for each of us. Then we continued on our way up into the hills.

Eventually we came to Tipu, a small Mayan ruin. Leon (from Saskatchewan) and Louis chatted about the ruins (and about horses):

I posed in front of the gorgeous valley view (which a photo cannot do justice):

On our return trip, Louis stopped to ask the orchard’s caretaker if we could have some coconuts, and he agreed. Louis cut them down with his machete, hacked open an end, and gave us each one to drink. Kris loved the milk, but Leon hated it. I was somewhere inbetween.

Back at the lodge, Kris spent the afternoon roaming the grounds with the camera, photographing the birds of Belize. We’ve been saving up these bird photos all week. Rather than space them out, we’re going to give them to you all right now. Some things to note:

• We’re very amateur photographers, and we know that.
• Photo quality varies. In some cases, the birds were moving. In others, lighting was poor (dawn or dusk). And in many instances, the animals were far away, so we’ve had to crop tightly to get a photo of reasonable size.
• Also, we’re amateur birders. We’ve done our best to identify these, but in some cases, we’re sure to be wrong. (And in some cases, Kris and I disagree. That’s not a King Vulture, for example, no matter what Kris says.)

So, here you are. The birds of Belize…

Let’s start by looking at this handsome fellow, the keel-billed toucan, the national bird of Belize:

There were tons of cattle egrets all over the place. They particularly like to hang out with the dozen horses as they roamed the grounds of the lodge:

On our early morning bird hike, another guest (Andy) loved these violaceous trogans:

This little gray catbird is a cutie. She gets her name because she purportedly makes a noise like a cat, though it’s not like any cat I’ve ever heard:

Here are two birds with American names, the Baltimore oriole and the Kentucky warbler:

And here are two woodcreepers, the ivory-billed woodcreeper and the olivaceous woodcreeper (which is small, and photographed from a distance in dim light):

From woodcreepers to woodpeckers — here are the black-cheeked woodpecker and the pale-billed woodpecker:

There were so many hummingbirds around the lodge. We photographed tons, but most of the photos didn’t turn out, as you can imagine. This white-necked jacobin is quite nice, though:

Kris likes hawks, so was quite pleased to see this juvenile black hawk hanging around the lodge:

On our early morning bird-watching expedition, Elvis spotted this white-crowned parrot peeking out of his nest. We’re not sure how he saw it since it looks like just a nub on a tree. (Actually, Elvis has done this so often, that he knows where the birds live, so he probably knew to look here.) Eventually, this little guy came out for a snack.

Here’s a blue-crowned motmot and a cinnamon becard (no relation to the jean-luc picard):

Here’s a bird we could not identify:

There were lots of yellow birds in the jungle, including the kiskadee and the white-collared manakin:

At Tikal (in Guatemala), we saw a couple of birds we didn’t see in Belize, including the ocellated turkey (which is sort of iridescent blue and green) and the unidentified bird on the right:

Also at Tikal, we saw Kris’s favorite bird: the montezuma oropendola. While riding horses, we saw an entire flock of them moving through the jungle canopy. They’re beautiful. So beautiful that I’m including two photos (neither of which do them justice):

Here are two vultures: The common turkey vulture we see in Oregon, and another one that Kris is calling a King Vulture, but which I think is something else:

Here are two tanagers. The first is a yellow-winged tanager hanging out at the lodge’s compost pile. The second is a beautiful crimson-collared tanager.

And, finally, my favorites: The collared aracari from the lodge. They flew in every morning and afternoon to have a snack at the banana trees. They’re beautiful:

We saw lots more birds than just these, and took more photos than I’ve shared. Kris is sure to be cranky that these are the only birds I’ve posted, but not everyone is as into birds as she is. (As she left for work today, she paused at the doorway. She was doing something with the jays — I’m not sure what. “I’m trying to train them,” she said. I didn’t ask in what way, but don’t be surprised if the next time you see her, Kris is followed by a flock of scrub jays.)

“Was it worth it?” Kris asked at the end of our trip.

“What do you mean?” I said.

“The five months of writing? The book? Was all of that a fair trade for one week in Belize?” We used my advance on royalties to fund this trip.

“No,” I said. “It’s not a trade I’d make again. But if the book earns back the advance, it might be worth it. Besides, that’s not how I look at it. The book is one thing, and Belize is another. They both have their goods and their bads. I’m glad I did both.”

Tune in tomorrow for one last look at Belize, including a look at the lodge’s kitchen (and a couple of soup recipes)!