A Spring Visit to Chan Chich Lodge with the American Birding Association

In April, we took a short trip with a group from the American Birding Association to Chan Chich Lodge in Belize, a place we have long wanted to visit. The lodge is located in the middle of the forest, built on the plaza of an old Mayan ruin. The lodge is part of a bold experiment on the part of Barry Bowen, a seventh generation Belizean, to create a self-sustaining operation in the forest while preserving the environment. So far, it seems to be working.The Lodge is a wonder. Set on the main plaza of an ancient Mayan city, the lodge consists of several cabins , most with room for two people, but one large enough to sleep 4-6, and a main building containing bar, dining room, and a small gift shop. All structures are built with materials gleaned from the surrounding area when parts were cleared for agricultural operations.

The agricultural operations include a cattle ranch and plantations for shade-grown coffee and cocoa. This area, known by the curious name Gallon Jug, has a small landing strip in addition to several imposing residences for the manager and Bowen family on the top of nearby hills.

We flew from Austin to Belize by way of Houston, then transferred to a small charter plane for the trip to Gallon Jug. The trip takes about half an hour, most of it flying over trackless forest. From Gallon Jug, we hopped into a bus for the short trip to the lodge, spotting the first of many Ocellated Turkeys on the way. (The name refers to the eyespots in the tail feathers.)

Of course, we set off birding as soon as we arrived, even though it was late in the day by that time. We quickly identified a male Red-capped Manakin , a bird we were happy to discover was abundant on the grounds. Our only previous view of this species was a drab female we saw in Costa Rica. Linda also spotted a Snail Kite by the river, the only one seen on the trip, before darkness forced us to return to the lodge for dinner.

One of the pleasant surprises of the trip was the quality of the cuisine. We were expecting that the remoteness of the area would reduce the choices available, but instead we found gourmet meals the norm. Several spicy concoctions, such as Lizette's Secret Sauce, Jim's favorite, were available if needed to jazz up the offerings.

Starting before breakfast the next morning, we birded the area extensively, spurred on by competing with an earlier tour also sponsored by ABA. By the end of the week we had tallied about 176 species on our personal list, and other members of the tour group added several more. We were surprised to find that the list included 24 lifers, far more than we expected. In case you're interested, Jim's list is available online. Linda's was similar.

Photos from the trip are included in this year's Photo Gallery.