Nov 28
Uaxactun, Guatemala - November 28, 2017
We woke up early to do the Savannah Walk because we splurged on one extra tour for our stay.
We went with Chris, Manuel our captain, and Abdul. It was very calm and there was mist along the banks as the sun was rising upon our departure.
As we were departing from the dock we saw a huge fish with a fin called Terrapin surface briefly.
During our short boat ride across the lagoon to the other bank we saw 4 Blue Winged Teal that were on the water and flew away before we could get close. We also saw an Osprey and Cattle Egret flying overhead (no not together, that would be weird). We saw a Black Headed Trogon on the bank, but it flew inland when we tried to get a closer look.
We coasted into a muddy bank and I stepped out of the boat onto a cinder block and immediately wiped out. I did not cut myself but was covered in mud. Good thing Bill had some wipes in the backpack so I could clean my arm and hands off.
During our walking Safari we saw some cool dewy plants and lots of birds:
Passion Flower
2 Plain Chachalaca
2 Yellow Throated Euphonias
Yellow Lored or Yucatan Parrot that had a yellow head and red beak. Several of them were just sitting on top of the trees eating leaves.
Vermillion Flycatcher female. It is distinguishable form the male that has a lot of red.
Black Throated Bobwhites flew up from the ground when we approached.
White Bellied Emerald Hummingbird was on a branch and then flitted away when Bill tried to take a photo.
Olive Throated Parakeet
Black and White Warbler walking down the tree
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Rufous Tailed Hummingbird like the ones at the lodge.
American Redstart Warbler. I think we were able to get a better shot than yesterday.
There may be a photo of a White Bellied Emerald Hummingbird, but probably not!
Acorn Woodpecker
Botteri’s Sparrow, which is not often seen on the other side of the lagoon.
Vermillion Flycatcher male. Gorgeous!
Brown Crested Flycatcher
Common Yellow Throat Warbler
A flash of yellow and black to the Social Flycatcher before heading down the path to the boat
As we cruised back we saw a Black Vulture and Muscovy Ducks.
After breakfast we headed to the room and saw 2 Yucatan Squirrels playing and at least one new bird. I will likely not be able to identify it without the assistance of our guides!
We really enjoyed our last meal at Bushy’s Place, then boarded the boat with Larry, Karen, Ben and Sylvie. They are heading to a resort to go fishing and snorkeling. Coincidently they are taking the same flight back to Chicago on Saturday.
We did not have a lot of time on the cruise back, but we did see:
Osprey
Anhinga
Snowy Egret
Jacana
Our drive back to the Belize City airport was a bit livelier. We saw a lot more traffic and lots of people along the side of the road. School was getting out at this time so we saw lots of little ones in their school uniforms walking home or boarding buses.
We boarded our Tropic Air flight with 2 other passengers. The passenger to pilot ratio is 2:1 today.
We flew low the entire time and really enjoyed the view. We were not sure when we crossed over into Guatemala and only knew for sure when we could see Flores. It looks like a pretty little city on either side of the lake, but we will not be spending any time here this go around.
Bill was happy that we were greeted with our name on a Goway sign. I wish I had taken our photo with it! We were told that driving into our camping area would taken an hour and 40 min by our guide Carlos and Jonathon our driver. Carlos explained that the community in the jungle was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The residents live in Uaxactun (sounds like Watch-a-Toon) with renewable resources. They do not have electricity or running water. People have lived in this area dating back to 1100 BC!
We also learned that Tikal was excavated dating back to 1950’s for 15 straight years. During that time they uncovered burial chambers, Mayan treasures and texts.
The only creature we saw on the way in other than a Common Pauraque was a little Grey Fox. It was around 5:30 when we landed, so most of the drive was in complete darkness.
Once we left the main highway and entered the site at Tikal we had to show our park passes since Uaxactun is 23km beyond Tikal. Of course because there were no lights it was pitch black and we had nothing to look at while enduring the bone shaking ride. To illustrate how rough the road was, it took us an hour to drive 23km. When I saw the 10km to Uaxactun sign I was thinking great, we are almost there. After a while I could see another sign and I was so excited because I thought it was the Welcome sign, but no, it showed that we had 5 more km to go. I was not happy! It had been 6 or 7 hours since my last meal and I was getting hangry!
After another 15 or 20 min we pulled up to the campsite in the middle of town. Our tent was set up onto a covered platform and there were shared toilets and showers at one end of the site. The tents were very spacious, but did not include double cots!
We then hiked over to the (what we learned later) astrological Mayan ruins so we could have our dinner at the site of one of the ruins of Uaxactun.
Marta and two helpers had our dinner prepared and the site was beautifully decorated with lots of candles and palms. She prepared some amazing guacamole and chips for us, a fantastic chicken dinner with rice, beans and tortillas and some really sweet pineapple for dessert. Carols had brought and chilled a lovely bottle of white white for us and had some grapes and Gouda to finish our meal off with.
It was really a special evening and was worth the torturous drive in!