Day 2

Day 2 in Belize

We started off the day with an all you can eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We left at 8:30 to take a quick drive to the first sight of our trip. We got to Xunantunich at 9 and took a VERY quick hand cranked ferry over the Mopan river to drive to the site. The site was discovered in 1890 and opened to the public in 1954. We got a private tour by Jr. Jr. (Eder).

There were many buildings, but the star of the show would have to be El Castillo marking it the tallest man made structure in Belize thought to be built throughout 5 generations (approximately 52 years per layer for a total 420 years). There were many building we saw including where one of the ruling queens were buried, the ball court, the home of the royals, a trading post building, and accommodating rooms.

While we were waiting for the ferry to come back Jr. Jr. our tour guide told us the the road we were on was flooded for 2 months during the wet season and because of the Tropical Storm Sarah and just reopened 3 weeks ago cause the water levels got low enough. The photos below include a picture of the ferry featuring Alaina Cootes head “looking upon the majestically ferry”. And a picture of El Castillo taken by Emily Irvine.

#belizenavidad

-Cassey

We then hopped in the van and headed to Duplooys Botanical Gardens. At the gardens we ate at the Sweet Song Lodge, we had a variety of orders from traditional Belizean dishes, quesadillas, nachos and burgers. After lunch we walked down the hill to enter the 45 acre garden. From there our tour guide introduced us to the Duplooys Botanical Gardens. He told the group about 110 out of the 320 orchid species that are grown in Belize.There are two type of orchids one being a lithophytic orchids that grow on rocks and oncidium orchids that grow on other plants. The orchid is an important flower to the country since it is their national flower.

We then made our way back to the Orchid nursery. On the way back the tour guide stopped us at a nursery bench where he showed us a tattoo fern. When this plant is pressed onto your skin it leave white spores on your skin that resembles a tattoo in the shape of fern. After that we continued to go to the orchid nursery where he talked about how they’re trying to restore Orchid species from deforestation. Since Belize has a large lumber and logging industry Duplooys employees go in a remove any plants that are growing on the trees being removed.

After the orchid house we went and toured the ground to see all of the native species of plants to Belize. We first stopped at an annato tree, this tree produces burr like capsules that are soft to the touch and when cracked open has orange-red fruits inside that were used for dyes and lipstick for the Mayan peoples. We then headed over to the trail where our tour guide provided information on the importance of palm trees. The branches of the elongated palms are used for roofs and can last up to 5 years whereas the fan shape palms are also used for roofing material but last 10-15 years. One plant worth note of talking about is the All Spice Tree, this tree is used for spices for cooking, used for numbing in traditional Mayan culture, I think I can say that majority of the group agreed it had a cinnamon taste to it.

We then walked up a very steep hill to arrive at a tree that I’m sure no one can tell you the name of since we were all concentrated on the sensitive plant. This plant closes it leaves when touched. This is used for protection and for when it rains, it’s is a natural way to allow more water to reach the soil since it is a water loving plant. We then went to the vineyard which they use for a travel destination wedding venue where we the walked through the yard to get to the old orchid house. This is where they used to have a bunch of orchids but then is now under construction to become the new wedding venue. From here we walked through it as a group and we made our way back to the main building, but easily got distracted by the banana tree.

After we got into the van again and came back to the resort and enjoyed a freshly made meal prepared by the chefs at the resort.

#hortstudentsdream

-Maeve