We enjoyed a nature walk during our first week. We learned Belize’s national bird is the keel billed toucan and the national tree is mahogany. What I found really cool is the poison wood tree. This tree causes head-to-toe painful itching, rashes and blisters and can cause leg-swelling followed by infected lesions. The place we stayed had signs on these trees so we can avoid touching them. If someone did touch them by accident, the remedy grows close by. It’s a tree called gumbo limbo. This tree is brown with thin reddish strips of bark flaking off. This tree is called the tourist tree because the barks color resembles tourists sunburns. You can use the gumbo limbo tree as an antidote for the poison wood tree. We had a very interesting time learning about the Belize zoo, we had a personal tour of the jaguar project and learned about the crocs of Belize. I love our visits to the zoo. We had to choose an animal for observation and write our findings on it. Some people might think this is boring but I learned a lot about the animal I selected. We also learned about mapping and how to find coordinates. We visited the runaway caves and took down our coordinates at the places we placed camera traps. With our camera traps we are able to see what kind of animals are going through that area. At the end of the class, we will get to see what was captured on camera. I cant wait to see what travels through that area.
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