#727 critters we saw in Belize (and Guatemala)

I was thinking about it...we saw a lot of fauna or our vacation this year, probably more than I've seen anywhere. Usually we see lots of lizards and iguanas. There are usually birds, too, but they haven't been especially colorful or interesting. We did see a bunch of wild parrots in Aruba, but they were high up on a wire, so you couldn't really see any parrot features.

Here's a little sample of the birds and critters that we saw in Belize and Guatemala.

HOWLER MONKEYS

T and I saw a couple of families of howler monkeys when we visited Xunantunich. They were quiet families. When we were in Tikal we heard the howler monkeys, but we didn't see them. Have you ever heard a howler monkey sound? It's kinda creepy and sounds more like a growl. 

KINKAJOU

These little creatures seem like they would be related to a monkey, but they are really in the racoon family. (I just read that on Wikipedia.)

  We saw the kinkajous at duPlooy's Jungle Lodge. They came out just after dark the last two nights we were there. I want to say it was a mama, a daddy and a baby.  The baby is the one with the little bald spot on his head.

 The people would put chunks of banana on a stick of pasta and hold it up for the kinkajous to get. This photo makes me laugh because the baby worked so hard to get the banana and the fruit just slipped out of his little paws. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see that his paws are all clenched and I'm pretty sure he's thinking, "Dammit!!"

Here's T feeding the kinkajou.

CREEPY THINGS

 Giant iguana in a tree at duPlooy's

 MT holding a long green snake in Guatemala

 Our guide, Samuel, holding a big tarantula in Tikal, Guatemala

That's a little frog in Guatemala

SEA CREATURES

 This little crab came up to the bar at Pelican Reef Villas. Look at his eyes!

 This is a spotted eagle ray that I saw a couple of times off the pier at PRV.

We did see many other sea creatures, but I don't really have any good pics of them. 

BIRDS

 Look at all the colors on this little hummingbird that we saw at duPlooy's! I was amazed that he would sit so still on a branch long enough for me to take his picture.

 I was SO excited to see the toucans at duPlooy's. I only saw them on our last day there. They are much smaller than I thought they would be. The Froot Loops toucan seems much larger on the commercials! (haha) I loved their colors. If you click on the pictures, you can see the big flies that are on the fruit and buzzing around the head of the bird.
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 This cute little fella was flying around the palapa on the pier at PRV.

 This shorebird caught my eye as he was walking through the sea grass at low tide. He's obviously hunting. He looked like he was stalking his prey.

And was rewarded by catching his lunch. Love this picture!

That's all I've got for now. Hope you enjoyed the Belizean animal safari!