\"Calvin Klein\'s Obsession,\" Roni said . \" He tilted back from the front seat of 4x4.
\"That\'s what they used in Guatemala.
They put it on the cotton strips and near the camera trap.
The car bumped on the pitted clay.
The Red Road, he turned and narrowed his eyes in the dust --
Windshield.
The scattered pine trees are pointed to the left and right, the flame-
The survivors of the forest fire and the southern pine beetle plague have darkened.
The vulture hovered above us. \"Seriously? \'\' I asked.
\"Seriously,\" he replied.
\"But I don\'t know if it works.
Roni Martinez is a conservation officer at Blancaneaux Lodge, a gracious tourist infrastructure in a particularly special place in Belize.
Take those pine trees for example.
Most people in this country are dressed in big clothes.
The rainforest, wet and exotic, is full of orchids and pineapple, strangled figs, vines and climbing trees.
Huge palms stretch up.
Fern shoot sail-
Like the leaves on the top of the tree.
Beneath all the dripping vegetation is soft limestone, full of caves and cenotes, which the ancient Maya once thought was the gateway to the underground world.
However, the area around brancano, known as the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, is a geologically strange place.
This is a huge granite plot that means acidic soil: not good for the rainforest, but perfect for the Honduras pine tree, which has long and elegant needles.
There is still a lot of water around, but the hard base bed sees the rain flowing directly into the river from the land: the Macar River, the Rio Frio River, the Rio River, and the private Creek, stream through the Whirlpool Brown waterfall.
Scotland appears to have been transferred to Central America, illuminated by the sun and hung by nests of termite hills and Swans. The off-
When you know that hiding between the pine trees, safely disguised in mottled shadows, the jaguar is the largest of the five wild animals in Belize --cat species.
Elusive, grand, uneven, they dine on aro and paca (
A rodent that holes in a hole).
According to Roni, they are also attracted by Calvin Klein\'s signature scent.
Of course not.
Now let\'s not do this: in the wilderness of Belize, I have not found a Jaguar, and if you go to visit it, it is very likely that it will be done and you will not be able to find the Jaguar either
Neil Rogers, a travel consultant who has long been in contact with Blancaneaux Lodge, has been in Belize since 1989.
He has never seen Jaguar in the wild.
However, he could find a trace of the big cat at some point, asking Roni to stop 4x4.
We were all crouching next to a rather large set of Minions, with a part of a disjointed Gray Fox nearby, whose chin sparkled on the red earth.
So, paw prints, but no claws: you will most likely see the email
When you see what\'s real, type the cave on these rough trails.
According to Roni, if you are keen to discover other wild cats in Belize: Puma (
Pale interesting)
Jaguar (
Like a Big Red Cat)
Tiger Cat leopard (
But smaller than the Jaguar. . On a cat-
Sweeping the Night walk near the cottage, the rain hissed on the canopy above, and we saw nothing bigger than butterflies and leaves --cutter ants.
However, when Belize hits between your ears, the situation is very different in the morning.
Here, at dawn, a group of creaking garden doors passed over the top of their heads.
Then some clicks, some whoops and free starts
Jazz noodles in form: clarinet vibrato, trumpet call. The local bird-
Life is sober, rich and needs your attention.
Coffee and the determination to see Belize\'s National Idol keel excited people
Billed toucan, I met with Geraldo Garcia, the hotel\'s guide, at the six o\'clock A. M. bird watching conference.
Geraldo made up for my mistake.
Existing twitching skills for ongoing reviews of what we see and hear.
Those squeaky doors? Red-
Parrot: Green with a bright red spot above the mouth. The jazz-player?
A melodious black bird, dressed in a low-key, frivolous with singing.
Serious birdwatchers have compiled a life list for all the species they encounter --
Belize is the best choice if you want to take the lead.
The names come from Geraldo, like the creatures in the children\'s story of Roald Dahl: Yellow --
Red flying wing tank
Black reptiles
The head of the ship, salt-
Red mouth fly trap.
We saw a yellow one.
Hole in the apricot tree of the cottage, golden
Sit in a giant cecropia Green-studded tank with a hat.
Rustling in the bushes near the pool, like little Turkey.
Hummingbird, Magnolia, tityra with mask. . .
Blink behind the telescope and you miss another exotic color.
The green birds are my favorite, along with their lemons. and-lime two-
Body and blue head.
But there are no toucans.
Geraldo apologized: He said he would find one for me. Just wait.
I found it easy to believe him.
After all, we saw dozens of birds an hour later, but we walked no more than a few hundred yards from my empty coffee cup.
As the sun rises, there is a chance to explore the cabin itself.
The property is owned by Francis Ford Coppola Resort, part of the empire built by the film --
Through literary magazines and a range of pasta sauces, the winery from Napa Valley extends to hotels in Italy.
Director of revelation!
The Godfather trilogy also owns the Turtle Inn, bringing barefoot luxury to the coast of Belize and La Lancha in Guatemala for those who are eager to get close contact
Tikal is one of the largest Mayan sites in Central America.
Blancaneaux is a charming resort: 20 thatched houses
Villa and single room
The room cottage was built on stilts and spread along the river bank, next to a tumbling waterfall.
For those eager to avoid suspicious roads nearby, the resort has its own easy airport.
Most of the electricity comes from hydropower plants.
Power system directly below the property.
In the room, the emphasis is on simplicity: dark mahogany floors and hand-made
Tiles in the bathroom;
Small trinkets purchased by Coppola and his wife while traveling in the Philippines, Mexico and Bali.
No TV, no phone, Wi-Fi is sporadic.
But you\'re not here to keep in touch with the outside world. (
If you are desperate, there is always a \"shell phone\" in your room, a large conch connected to the reception.
Order coffee from your riverside balcony immediately, adding to the appeal of the comics. )
It seems strange to recommend pizza, but seriously: try pizza. The wood-
The lined-up Montania restaurant features the traditional Italian dishes that Coppola\'s family likes best.
He is very picky about his wood. fired, thin-
It\'s obviously a hard-shell magritas.
The rustic atmosphere, as well as the swimming pool of Guatemaltecqua restaurant, the dishes of Guatemala, such as salpicon (
Shredded beef salad)and jocon (
Chicken cooked with herbs and spices).
Everything is made with two products.
An acre of organic garden with plenty of fruits and vegetables, ripe frantically in hot tropical weather.
Blancaneaux seems to be interested in stripping off the decoration of the luxury hotel and focusing on the important things: very comfortable bed, hot bed
Water bottles for the evening, things from local sources placed on palm leaves in the bathroom.
Every night, guests choose the preferred activity for the next day: Ma
Ride a horse, maybe Blancaneaux has his own stable, or take a free mountain bike to the great stone falls, where you can swim in the deep and dark pool.
Protection is also important.
During my visit, Roni was conducting an annual audit of the local jaguar population, checking over 80 camera traps (Automatic infrared
Red device to take pictures when they feel nearby Sports).
Neil and I joined him and our 4x4 often struggled on old logging roads that were left to dissolve back into the landscape.
\"There are no other places like this,\" Neil said . \".
\"It\'s you and the environment.
It is very unusual for tourists to come here.
Camera traps show their prizes.
There is no Jaguar today, only Puma. .
Close several times
Ups at the bottom of Tapirs.
Belize is a cultural and historical strange phenomenon: the only region in Central America that has English as its national language is its remains as a relic of the British era of Honduras.
After independence in 1981, British troops were trained in the jungle here.
Their shell is easy to find, scattered on the jungle floor.
However, Belize now manages its security alone, the ruler --
The border with Guatemala is not far away.
Belize has an unstable relationship with a larger neighbor who has long coveted its coastline and rich rainforest.
According to Roni, Guatemala\'s xateros fish across the border
The last Palm of the flower shop, but also here to harvest rare bird eggs.
Under the surveillance of Roni and his colleagues, the Endangered scarlet red macaws nest near Chiquibul National Park.
However, for tourists, the days in the jungle are occupied by more leisurely bird watching.
Later, I found a pair of white eagles on the cliff overlooking Rio, whose feathers were wide and black.
On the side of the road, all kinds of Raptors inhabit the lightning --
Fried stumps, or wire poles that never string, watch without fear.
Near Blancaneaux, Thousand Foot Falls are considered the longest in Central America, although in fact they are understatement victims at 1, 600ft.
On the day of my visit, a sparkling water poured out of the fog, occasionally covered by clouds.
Even more impressive is calacol, Belize\'s largest Mayan archaeological site, which used to be a rival to Tikal.
The main temple is 136ft from the jungle floor;
It\'s still the highest man.
Structure made in Belize.
However, the data do not reflect the history here fairly.
The elegant kapok trees pull up from the crumbling terraces, and their pillar roots stretch on the stone like fingers;
The monkey growled nearby.
Tourists are also surprisingly small. Half-
Close your eyes and kalakol is alive again.
Then, in the last hour of my last day in the rainforest, Geraldo stepped on the brakes and pulled me out of 4x4, pointing to a cecropia tree on the side of the road: Finally the keel-
Its bright mouth is amazing on the green leaves.
It\'s time to start a life list. -