Belize Ecology

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on March 10, 2020

  It’s been an exciting week on Long Caye at Glover’s Atoll. We have many sea turtles that nest on the island and recently we’ve had a new cache of Hawksbill Turtle hatchlings come to life. We’re thrilled to be able to share with you the first photos of these sweet little turtles.  Hawksbill Turtles live their life in the sea, but they return to our sandy beaches to l

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on December 5, 2018

For fantastic birding and a trip back in time to a simpler era, plan a trip to Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary and Crooked Tree Village. Located on a large fresh-water lagoon, the village is surrounded by the wildlife sanctuary. There are four lodges and a few restaurants, all within walking distance of each other. Crooked Tree occupies a huge, natural area and has a population of only 1000 people

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on October 17, 2018

We just received the word that Belize will be phasing out single use plastic bags, styrofoam food containers, and plastic food utensils by April of 2019! This is fantastic news for us. When you have an island, you get to see first-hand the result of an over-abundance of plastic, specifically plastic from the Belize City dump, which is a mountain of stuff that blows out into the sea and eventually

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on September 19, 2018

Our island, Long Caye at Glover’s Reef, is 35 miles off the coast of Belize. Several years ago we had our first Sargassum seaweed invasion. Although we have been located at Glover’s Reef since 1991, we didn’t even know about Sargassum until just a few years ago. This season I guess the invasion is so pronounced that it is now in the news, and prospective tourists are avoiding par

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on January 5, 2018

Our guests on every trip on the island are fascinated by the amazing numbers of coconuts produced by our palm tree forest, many of which we simply throw away. However, we use coconut in many of our recipes, and we open coconuts for our guests to eat and drink every day. Since we have so much interest in the coconuts, we also give a talk about the many aspects of the nuts and how they are opened an

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on July 12, 2017

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to successfully raise coral and then “release” it into the wild? We just found out about a project that seeks to protect coral reefs by doing just that. Recently a good friend of ours, Jenette Settle, sent us a link to her friend Joanie Kleypas’ web page Raising Coral. In Jenette’s words: “Joanie has been funding her own c

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on April 5, 2017

Many of our guests arrive a day or two early for one of our week-long adventure packages. We often get questions about touring Belize on your own. I have a favorite one-day loop trip that takes in the Baboon Sanctuary, the Belize Zoo, and my favorite restaurant for lunch: Cheers. Because it’s a loop, you can start anywhere on the loop and circle around and end up back in the same place. I

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on February 1, 2017

I have written before about the trash that washes up on our beaches continuously out at Glover’s Reef. It’s endless. There are times of year when it’s worse, but not only does it wash up daily, but the overall volume has definitely increased as the years have progressed. We have been based out of Glover’s Reef since 1991 (!) We pay people to pick it up, we con our guests (p

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on December 27, 2016

[Sharon Columbus and her husband have joined us every single year since 2012. They are already scheduled for 2017. All photos are by Neil Columbus.] One activity on Slickrock’s Belize island that you should not to miss is the Low Tide Walk. Now this activity isn’t like the adrenaline-pumping kayaking surfing offered on the island (especially if the wind is just right). Nor will you experie