Belize 2007


Wildlife, page 1 of 2	page 1 2


Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary
Less than an hour's drive north of Belize City, Crooked Tree is an island surrounded by a network of inland lagoons. The wildlife sanctuary encompasses 16,400 acres of waterways, logwood swamps, and lagoons providing habitat for over 285 bird species, including the famous Jabiru Stork. The Belize Audubon Society does a fine job of managing the sanctuary and shares the entry fee proceeds with the village of Crooked Tree, which is located within the sanctuary. We spent a good part of a day hiking the paths on the island and exploring the village. In addition to seeing a lot of good birds, we were impressed with the villagers who were very friendly and must be used to strangers peering into their yards looking at birds.


Map of the sanctuary indicating the hiking trails	The Audubon office whose staff was most helpful


Fresh water lagoons surround the sanctuary	Our first good bird, a Northern Jacana


Village of Crooked Tree, home to 800 friendly folks	Hmmm, the sign on the far building says Police Station, but we didn't see a soul


Sam Tillett is a famous local birding guide	The Museum door was painted with folk art scenes


A couple of the door panel scenes


A typical village home	A strange sign? We later learned it's a preventative for bed-wetting


A couple odd plants


We hiked the Kiskdadee Trail but got lost sometimes


Encountering village kids returning from school -- seems like all kids bike to school


Gathering firewood with child	This beater bike can use a new saddle and some oil on the chain

Crooked Tree Wildlife slide show (9 pics): Click Play to advance the pics automatically. Click Stop to stop the slide show. You can also click the arrow buttons to advance the slides manually.

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