The Belize Blog - Table Rock Jungle Lodge

The one-hour ferry from Caye Caulker returned us to Belize City where we picked up a rental SUV we'd have for the rest of the trip.  Not a FWD, but adequate for the roads we would navigate.  

Unlike the compact Lamanai Lodge, Table Rock Jungle Lodge occupies quite a large area on the banks of the Macal River, which empties into the Belize River on its way to the sea.  It is not far from the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena as well as the Guatemalan border.

The developed part of the property includes the residential cabanas and a lovely dining and bar area beneath a thick tropical jungle canopy, a swimming pool, a large garden that supplies much of the fruits and vegetables the lodge serves, and an expansive grove of towering trees under which donkeys and other animals munched and lounged.  A second section along the river is more open and will become a new group of eco-residences.  

We had great experiences at Table Rock, from the great staff to the delicious food to the excellent tours and guides.  In fact, we agreed it would be a nice week-long getaway: a 5-hour direct flight from Seattle and a 2-hour drive would transport us to warmth and the healing power of the tropical forest.

The cabanas sat along wandering paths beneath the thick jungle canopy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our shaded balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had several outings, including tubing down the river and canoeing up the river to another lodge, where we visited a morpho butterfly breeding operation. 

 

Fine dining!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had an amazing visit to the el Pilar archeological site, led by Luis, who was not only a great birding guide but also had long experience with and deep knowledge of the archeological research being conducted at el Pilar as well as many other sites in Belize. 

El Pilar was a major Mayan population center for centuries; at 5000 acres it's about 5x the size of Lamanai.  Half the site is in Belize and half in Guatemala.  What was really interesting was that it has been left largely in the state archeologists first found it, with most buildings only hinted at by the mounds that cover them.  According the Luis, our guide, that's likely to change as local researchers are becoming more prominent in the work here, and they have a strong cultural incentive to uncover more about their heritage.  

It was no small feat to get to el Pilar ... thankfully, Luis drove us in his ancient but reliable Toyota 4x4, navigating a horrendously rocky and rut-pocked road; the 7 1/2 kilometer drive from San Ignacio took nearly 2 hours!

One of 25+ plazas surrounded by building mounds like the one in the back-right of this photo.

One of the few excavations, a tomb at the base of a building-mound (now populated by bats)

Luis was not only an expert about birds and archeology, but also local flora, like this "water tree" branch.  The water literally poured into my mouth when Luis tilted it up.

 In some ways, the most exciting experience we had at Table Rock was an early morning wildlife discovery.  We had been hearing Lesson's motmot every morning, a repetitive "woot-woot" that teased us as these birds are often difficult to find in the thick jungle foliage.  The morning of our trip to el Pilar, I woke to "woot-woots" that seemed close by.  So, I walked toward the sound, repeating my own version of the motmot's call, until I finally saw it, a beautiful creature:

Lesson's motmot

 

While I was taking photos, one of the staff came up and asked what I'd found.  I pointed to the motmot, proudly, and said I'd finally tracked it down.  As she looked up into the canopy, she said "Oh wow" and pointed not at the bird, but up an adjacent tree.  "It's a margay," she said ... "A what?"  It took me a few seconds, but then I spotted what looked like a cute house cat, but with a really, really long tail.  Apparently she had never seen a margay; indeed, many local people had not, because margays are nocturnal hunters and rarely show themselves in daylight.  So this was a real find!