Green Iguana Conservatory in San Ignacio, Belize

Today I wen to an iguana reserve. It was at a very fancy hotel where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip went! I got to pet the iguanas. I got to hold  them and even got to feed them. All iguanas have natural camouflage. The babies are light green like the leaves in the rain forest. The adults have striped tails unless it gets cut off. It grows back but it becomes just brown without stripes. Green iguanas all have three eyes! The third eye only sees black and white. It is used to look out for birds and located on the top of their head.  Three iguanas I met are Stargazer, Ziggy, and Gnome. Stargazer is always on the ground because he is afraid of heights. He sleeps on his back like a dog! Something is wrong with his brain. Ziggy got her name because her body is zig-zaggy. She had a bone disease from not enough sunlight. Gnome is 9 years old. He gets to go to schools so kids can pet him. He is the nicest one. You should visit the Green Iguana Conservatory in San Ignacio, Belize. They are in danger! Some Belize people eat them but only the females.    -Riley

Ziggy is on top of my head and I am holding Gnome in this picture. My mom and dad are each holding babies that don’t have names yet.

 

 

 

 

Ziggy hanging on my head.
This is the dewlap of the iguana. It helps absorb sunlight.

 

Stargazer:

Gnome:

The conservatory is located at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. We had a great time at our visit.

Snorkeling trip to Hol Chan reserve, Belize

We decided to go on a sailboat ride and see animals by snorkeling. The first thing we saw were the manatees. They were so cool! They were round. They had a flat tail and they were gray. The next thing we saw were the nurse sharks! They were also amazing. They were red! To get the sharks around the boat, the captain threw pieces of fish at them. The last thing we saw was one eel. It was a green moray eel. Moray eels bite. I did not see it because it was beyond the reef and the waves were too big, but I got to see the video. We sailed with people from all around the world including Holland, Canada, Switzerland, England, and Australia.   -Riley

 

A couple of manatees sighted as part of the “bonus stop” on our way to Hol Chan.

Feeding the nurse sharks:

Feeding from below:

Hol Chan snorkel with green moray eel sighting:

 

Many thanks to the folks at E-Z Boy Tours for a great trip.