Day 5
Day 5 in Belize
We had breakfast at the Nuuk che'il hotel, and then we left to visit the ya'akn butterfly farm. They primarily grow the Owl butterfly, and occasionally the Blue Morpho and Malachite. We learned what the caterpillars looked like at different stages (known as instars) from the egg up to the butterfly. They had boxes that they kept the caterpillars in to keep them safe and feed them, since the caterpillars only ate at night.
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| Caterpillars just after hatching |
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| Caterpillars at the last instar (stage) |
When they were ready to make a chrysalis they were moved to a different box, and then later laid in a different box so that the previous box could be used for the next batch. At this point they would get carefully packaged and sent off to buyers. any that they kept were moved to their butterfly enclosure to finish being in the chrysalis and emerge.
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| Caterpillars in their chrysalis |
When they were ready to make a chrysalis they were moved to a different box, and then later laid in a different box so that the previous box could be used for the next batch. At this point they would get carefully packaged and sent off to buyers. any that they kept were moved to their butterfly enclosure to finish being in the chrysalis and emerge.
We were able to enter that enclosure and have butterflies land on us, and watch them eat.
- Erin Schenk
As we strolled through the farm, one of the friendly workers who came with for the tour offered us fresh cacaos to taste. The pod, freshly picked, revealed the raw beans nestled inside. To add to the experience, we were also treated to fresh sweet lime and coconuts. The cool, refreshing coconut water and meat of the coconut provided a perfect complement to our tour, making the visit not only educational but also a delightful adventure trying new things.
-Stephan Brisco
After we left the farm we piled in the van and made our way back down the road into the village to have lunch and spend some time with Markus and his family, with whom we had brought a gift of a sewing machine for. Walking in the house his wife and daughters, already and a home cooked meal sitting on the table waiting for us, it consisted of a bowl of chicken broth with chicken leg right from the coop in the yard and some cooked squash from the garden, rice grown right in there field and corn tortillas made right on the fire pit flat stone. The lunch was very unique! Following that we sat at the kitchen table with Markus’s wife Maria and went hands in and made some handmade tortillas with her, some of us caught on to the technique some didn’t. (I am now a tortilla making professional). After chatting over some cooking we got a friendship bracelet making lessons from Maria and her daughters and weaved together some string to make our own as we all told stories and chatted around the room with the family for the rest of the afternoon. At the end Maria got out her hand weaved grass souvenirs that came in many shapes and sizes like turtles, baskets and placemats.
As our time with Markus’s family was up we piled back in the van again and headed back to the cottages to shower and have dinner. Some of us went for a cooking lesson in the kitchen with our favourite cook Marcia. She whipped us up some delicious lasagna with pull apart garlic bread and tostones (deep fried plantains) with some salsa, and to finish it off with banana bread for dessert. (My favourite meal so far). Then we all made our way to bed. - Emily Irvine
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