8 Days in Magical Morocco

 In early June 2012, Sharon and I joined a General Tours trip to Morocco.  We flew from JFK in NYC directly to Casablanca on Royal Air Moroc Airlines.  On our first tour of the city one of our first stops was at the impressive Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest mosques in the world. One could not help but be impressed by the immensity of the architecture, and by the gorgeous doors and portals and the intricate designs in the tile and plaster work.
  Later in the day we visited the Royal Palace in Casablanca.  There is more than one Royal Palace in Morocco, and this is not the main one, but this is where the current monarch, King Mohammed VI and members of the royal household stay when they are in Casablanca.  Again -- wonderful doors and intricately beautiful plaster and tile work.

  On the third day we left Casablanca and drove to Rabat, the capital of Morocco.  Our first stop was the Royal Palace -- the main Royal Palace.  A number of guards were stationed at the main entrance, and when looking into the front doorway one could see a series of doorways in the distance.

  Continuing our journey we passed Shallah Kasbah.  A kasbah is basically a fortified castle.  It is built on a square plan with fortified walls and towers at the four corners.

  We next visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the grandfather of the current king. At the entrance gate to the mausoleum there was a guard atop a horse.

  Next we visited Kasbah Oudaia.  Built on the top of a cliff, its gates and walls date to the 12th century.  As we walked through the narrow kasbah streets I was struck by the beauty of the houses, built in the 17th and 18th century, and lime-washed in blue and white.

  Before leaving Rabat we had lunch at a seaside restaurant.  Walking to the restaurant we passed through a vast Moslem graveyard.

  Leaving Rabat we drove to Fes, Morocco's third-largest city, and the oldest of its 4 imperial cities (Rabat, Meknes, and Marrakech are the other three).  Fes is the embodiment of the country's history and its spiritual and religious capital, and the city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.  Below is a view of part of the city from an overlook.

  Arriving in Fes we checked into our lodging for 3 night, the Riad Fes.  The term "riad" refers to large, old houses that have at least one central patio or courtyard.  These old-style Moroccon houses are located in the medinas [densely packed urban conglomerates enclosed by defensive walls]. A medina is a traditional Arab town enclosed by ramparts; the term "medina" comes from the city of  Medina in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Mohammed found refuge from persecution.  Riads provide lodging for a much smaller number of guests than do hotels.  We stayed in two riads during our visit to Morocco and the experience was far superior to staying in a large international hotel.  When we checked into Riad Fes we were welcomed by a member of the hotel staff with a plate of goodies and a glass of mint tea in the central lobby.  Our room overlooked the central open courtyard and pool and a complimentary bottle of wine was in our room at our arrival.

    One of our first introductions to the city of Fes was to spend several hours walking through the narrow streets of its medieval medina.  Colorful shops with interesting wares appeared at every turn.

    While in the medina we stopped for presentations at a variety of different cooperatives and shops -- a carpet shop, a tannery and leathergoods shop, a co-op where artisans were producing beautiful tile and plaster objects, a woodworking shop, an antique shop, and a metalsmith shop. The talks and demonstrations were all interesting and, of course, it was hoped that we would purchase something afterwards.
  Our next stop was at another Royal Palace -- the Royal Palace of Fes or the Dar el-Makhzen.  The palace is imposing, with a beautiful richly ornamented Moorish gateway and seven exquisitely engraved bronze doors.

  We next visited the Karaouiyine Mosque, one of the oldest and most illustrious mosques in the western Muslim world.  It was the site of the first university established in Morocco, in the year 859 AD.  We did not actually enter the main mosque but we did explore the teaching school and marvelled at the beauty of the intricate tile and plaster work and the Arabic calligraphy.

  As we explored the Fes medina we saw many gate entrances to the medina.  One of the most beautiful was the Baujouloud gate.

 The following day we drove to Meknes, another of Morocco's 4 imperial cities.  Before arriving in Meknes we stopped at Les Celleurs de Meknes, a very large and modern award-winning winery, where we sampled several of their wines.  In Meknes we explored part of the medina and saw several of its beautiful gates, such at the lovely Bab El Mansour.  After our explorations we entered our van and travelled out into the countryside, passing the sacred city of Moulay Idriss.  The bright white town clings to two rocky outcrops.  It is here that one of the most sacred sites in Morocco is located, the tomb of Idriss I, a descendent of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed.  It was Idriss I who founded the first Arab-Muslim dynasty in Morocco, before his death in 791 AD.

  A short distance from Moulay Idriss are the ruins of the ancient Roman town of Volubilis.  At the site one finds a forum, basilica, capitol, and the remains of private villas with tile floors, some still in excellent condition.  One mosaic floor showed Venus, another portrayed Atlas, and yet another villa had a tile floor showing the 12 labors of Hercules.  At one end of the site stands the Arch of Caracalla.

  Leaving Fes after 3 days we travelled to the exotic city of Marrakech.  We checked into another riad, the beautiful La Maison Arabe.  The following day our first stop was Le Jardin Majorelle, a lovely garden created by a Frenchman, and later purchased and maintained by Yves St. Laurent.

  Later we visited the tombs of the Saadian dynasty.  The tombs illustrate some of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in all of Morocco.  Under each rectangle of elaborate tilework there is a tomb.

    I especially enjoyed exploring the souks.  A souk is a market, typically laid out in a pattern according to the types of goods or services available.  The souks of Marrakech are fascinating and the narrow labyrinthine passages seem to go on forever.

  On another day we drove out of Marrakech and into the High Atlas Mountains, following the verdant Ourika Valley. Berber villages dotted the landscape, their brown walls blending into the brown mountainsides.  As we travelled along the valley we saw small houses, cafes, grocery stores and small hotels clinging to the hillsides. The highlight of this day was our opportunity to visit a traditional Berber home, where we were welcomed by grandmother Fatima.  As we snacked on a large flat slab of homemade bread, homemade butter, local olive oil and local honey, Fatima prepared us delicious mint tea in the traditional manner.

  Morocco is a country with a rich cultural history and beautiful scenery.  Moroccan people are friendly and welcoming.  It is a Moslem country on the move.  Everywhere we went we saw new construction as older sub-standard buildings gave way to fresh and modern development.  If you've not been there it's a country you should consider adding to your Bucket List.

6 Days on the Outer Banks of NC

On April 24, 2012 Sharon and I flew from Cedar Rapids to Raleigh/Durham airport in North Carolina, where we were met by Susan who has just finished her first year of graduate study at Duke University. We spent the night in Durham, consumed a fabulous meal at Dame's chicken and waffle house, and toured some of the Duke campus, including its lovely chapel.

The following day Susan drove us from Durham to Nags Head on the Outer Banks. Along the way we made several stops, including a farm where we picked a large bucket of fresh strawberries. We checked into the Nags Head Beach Inn B & B for a 6-night stay and then walked a short distance down to the beach to beachcomb.

The following day, after a very hearty breakfast, we got in the car and Susan drove South down the Outer Banks. For the most part the Outer Banks are insanely overdeveloped with vacation homes. Apparently, no one builds a modest little beachhouse anymore, as all of the homes were huge McMansions. Considering that no barrier islands remain stationary and that the Outer Banks are slowly moving towards the mainland, all of these very expensive homes, if not removed by hurricanes, will be in the ocean one day. It makes absolutely no sense, reminding me of the validity of the question: "Is there intelligent life on Earth?" Thankfully, between the areas of housing over-development there were sections of the Outer Banks left in their natural state, spared from human "progress". After about 70 miles we reached our destination, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on the Atlantic Coast. He climbed the lighthouse, enjoyed the view, then went to the nearby museum where we saw a film documentating the impressive feat which took place in 1999, when the lighthouse was slowly moved further inland from its original location, where it was threatened by the encroaching ocean.

Just a few miles North of Nags Head is Kittihawk, and the following day we drove there to see the actual location where Orville Wright, assisted by brother Wilbur, flew the first motorized airplane in 1903. We toured the museum, then went outside to see the field where Orville Wright flew the plane on 4 separate trials, each attempt resulting in a longer distance than the last.

Leaving Kittihawk we drove North along the Outer Banks, past the rich and ritzy community of Duck, to the town of Corolla where we joined a tour offered by Jay's Adventure Company to see the Corolla wild horses, one of several populations of wild horses living on the Outer Banks. For several hours Jay drove us along the beach and into the dunes looking for horses. We came across several groups, each with 3 to 5 individuals, consisting of a stallion and several mares. The horses move freely in the dunes, amongst the houses being built seemingly everywhere, and often come down to the beach where they go close to the waters edge and stand looking out, much like equine philosophers, at the immensity of the ocean.

After the tour we returned to Corolla to see the Currituck lighthouse. Like all lighthouses it has a unique pattern of light flashing that allows ships at night to recognize it from all the other lighthouses on the Atlantic Coast, and like all lighthouses it is painted in a unique style so that it can also be identified in daylight from all other lighthouses by ships at sea. At Corolla we visited the Nature Museum where I bought 2 very nice hiking poles for only $17 each and saw the Whalehead Club which was built as a hunting lodge in the 1920's-1930's when Currituck Sound harbored huge populations of waterfowl. Returning back to Nags Head for the night we foolishly stopped in Duck for a hugely overpriced so-so supper.

The next day we journeyed to nearby Jockey's Ridge State Park where we climbed and explored the highest sand dunes on the Atlantic coast.

Later in the day we drove to historic Roanoke Island, location of the first English settlement in North America. There we visited Roanoke Island Festival Park and learned some of the history about the "Lost Colony". Queen Elizabeth I didn't want to let the French and Spanish have sole control of the New World; and so in 1584 armed with a charter from Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored England's first sustained exploration and settlement of the North American coast, in order to counter Spanish domination in the New World. Two vessels arrived off the North Carolina coast and the English established relations with the Algonquians on Roanoke Island. The ships departed after several weeks, taking with them 2 Alqonquians, Manteo and Wanchese, back to England. Seven ships returned in 1585 and an earthen fort was constructed. Then, in 1587, the first true colony was established. A group of 117 English colonists established the Roanoke colony and on August 18, 1587 the first English baby in the New World was born, a girl named Virginia Dare. The colonists experienced many difficulties in the New World -- disease, food shortages, conflict with the indians -- and when supply ships returned three years later they could find none of the original colonists, hence the designation "The Lost Colony". At the park we boarded the Elizabeth II, a reproduction of one of the English sailing vessels.

Afterwards, we walked to the nearby Elizabethan Gardens, which were built to memorialize the original colonists of the Roanoke Island voyages.

One day, while Susan and Sharon were enjoying the beach, I left the B & B with one of my newly purchased hiking poles and walked several miles North to the Nags Head Woods Preserve. Shielded from the ocean winds bya ridge of ancient sand dunes the preserve, which has been saved and protected by the Nature Conservancy, is a 1400 acre maritime forst featuring an incredible diversity of plant and animal life. During my hike I saw a young red fox outside its den, an osprey swooping over a pond, and many different song birds. The beauty and quietude of the preserve was a welcome change to the traffic and human dwellings that have now come to symbolize the Outer Banks.

To see all of my photo's of the trip to the Outer Banks just click on "Floyd's pictures" on the sidebar.

Hiking Hadrian's Wall

In October 2011 I travelled to England for 2 weeks. While there I visited with my penpal Dorothy in Kent, met my 3rd cousin Karen (who I contacted on Geneology.com) in Cornwall, and met my friend Clive (who was my roommate for an Earthwatch Expedition studying macaws in the Peruvian Amazon) in Chippenham. But the main focus of my trip was to take a 5-day solo hike of the Hadrian's Wall Path in N. England, something I've long wanted to do.

After arriving at Heathrow I activated my Britrail Flexipass and travelled to Redhill in Surrey. Once checked into my B & B I contacted my friend Dorothy and that evening we travelled to the nearby village of Horley where we dined at Ye Olde Six Bells pub, reportedly the oldest pub in England.

















During my 4-night stay in Redhill Dorothy and I saw a wonderful performance of "War Horse" in London. One day we travelled to three different villages in Kent: Sissinghurst, Cranbrook, and Goudhurst. On another mild and sunny day we visited Hever Castle, the legendary home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, who fell head over heels for the king and lost her head in the process. We toured the interior of the castle then spent much of the day exploring the grounds and lovely gardens.

















On touring the grounds I couldn't help but be impressed by the topiary. From the second floor of the castle, which had rooms with portraits of Anne Boleyn and other family members, I was able to look out a window and snap a photo of one of the most fantastical and whimsical bits of topiary -- a series of shrubs that had been intricately pruned to resemble a full chess set.





















Leaving Redhill in Southern England I travelled North by train to Newcastle, then got another train to Corbridge. It was in Corbridge that I began my hike of Hadrian's Wall. After checking into my B & B I walked into Corbridge to explore the town. I visited a Greengrocer's to buy apples and a deli to buy bread, cheese and yogurt. After puchasing a sandwich at a shop I sat on a bench outside the church and chatted with some of the locals who were enjoying the sunny and warm weather. Corbridge is a lovely town with an interesting history, built at the location of what was the ancient Roman town of Corstopitum, one of several Roman towns once located along the wall.




The following morning I got up early and had a full English breakfast in preparation for my hike. I was working with an adventure company called Mac's Adventures. They had made all the reservations for the 6 B & B's that would be my lodging for my 5-day hike. They also provided a delivery service which picked up my luggage by 9 am and delivered it to the next B & B where I would be spending the next night and where my luggage was awaiting me when I arrived. By using this delivery service all I had to take on the hike was a small daypack which contained some food, water, and other gear I might need for the day's hike. As I got out of bed and prepared to go down to breakfast I moved my body in just the wrong way and felt a sharp spasm of pain in my lower back, my anatomical weak link. I feared that my back might give me some problems during the hike, but I hadn't expected to experience problems before I even started! The owner of Fellcroft B & B was sympathetic to my situation and during breakfast brought me a vial of pain pills to take with me as I started out on my hike. Corbridge is located about 2 miles South of Hadrian's Wall Path so it took me over an hour to reach the path. The day was overcast and mild and as I walked the pains in my lower back eased.

Julius Ceasar first invaded Brittania in 55 BC but achieved little success. It was the 4th Roman emperor Claudius, in 43 AD, who more successfully invaded with a large force of 40,000 men. The Romans made successive invasions. Some were successful in expanding their occupation, but there were also terrible set-backs, such as in 60 AD when an amazing woman warrior by the name of Boudicca (Boadicea), led a revolt in which thousands of Romans were massacred.
When Trajan became emperor in initiated a line of fortification in the area that is now the border between England and Scotland. The line consisted of forts and watchtowers. Trajan's successor was the emperor Hadrian who ruled as emperor from AD 117-138. Hadrian embarked on a series of travels in order to see firsthand the extent of the Roman Empire. He travelled to Britain in AD 122 and witnessed the extent of the empire in Britain and the difficulties of subduing the tribes of Caledonia, which is now present-day Scotland. Hadrian seemed more interested in stabilizing and maintaining the currently existing empire than in further conquest and expansion. He made an eventful decision. Build a defensive wall along the length of England to keep the unruly Caledonian tribes (e.g. the Picts) out of the empire and to control their movements across the line. It took three Roman legions, a total of 18,000 trained soldiers, only 6 years to construct a wall that stretched the width of Britain, a distance of 73 miles. The wall was approximately 14-20 feet high and 10 feet thick -- and much of it is still in existence today. There is now a footpath that follows Hadrian's Wall, now a National Trail, and thousands of hikers from around the world make the trek each year. Approximately 14% of these hikers are Americans. Not only did the Romans build an imposing wall! At each mile they built a fortified gateway, a milecastle. Evenly spaced between the milecastles they built two turrets or observation posts, a total of 161 turrets in all. They also built a total of 16 forts along the wall, each fort large enough to house from 500-1000 soldiers. To the South of the wall the Romans constructed a deep and wide ditch called a vallum, which flanked by two high mounds of earth; and to the North of the wall they made a deep, wide ditch called a wall ditch.

My plan was to hike along approximately 48 miles of the central portion of the wall from Corbridge in the West to the large city of Carlisle in the East, the section of the hike usually called the "best of the wall". In addition to the hike on the path I would need to leave the path to reach my B & B lodging each night. When I totalled the distances from the wall to my B & B for each of the 5 nights and then back again the following morning I added another 7 miles of hiking to my total mileage.

As I started my hike along the path heading West from Corbridge I saw no evidence of the wall. But it was apparent that I was following the location of the original Roman wall because the remains of the wall ditch was visible, even though the wall was no longer in evidence. Finally, after a while I came across the first bit of the actual original Roman Wall, a 50 yard section of isolated wall located in a section of pasture.

Continuing to hike I began to see, in addition to the wall itself, other evidences of the Roman occupation, such as the base of the Brunton Turret and the remains of Chester's Fort at Chollerford, where the Roman Wall crossed the River Tyne.

On Day 2 I hiked from my B & B in Humshaugh to Vallum Lodge in Once Brewed. It was a long and difficult day. The morning went well as there was good weather, overcast with occasional sun. But then the sky darkened and I was soon battling fierce winds and bouts of driving rain. By the time I reached Once Brewed after 8 hours of hiking my thighs and calves were cramping, and when I removed my boots and socks I discovered that the entire nail on the second toe of my right foot had nearly disengaged from the underlying skin. However, the discomfort from the rain and fighting the brutal winds high up on the crags was balanced by the gorgeous scenery and the fact that I was now following long stretchs of intact wall.

High on the crags near Bromlee Lough I had panoramic views of the countryside and there were well preserved sections of wall as I approached the ruins of the large Roman fort at Housesteads, built in 122 AD, one of the first forts the Romans built along the wall.

Hiking westward from the Roman fort of Housesteads I followed long unbroken stretchs of wall, winding across the countryside like some gigantic serpent.

On Day 3 I hiked from Once Brewed to Gilsland. For those seeking solitude October is a good time to hike Hadrians Wall, as during the entire 5-day hike I encountered fewer than a dozen hikers who were hiking the entire wall. On Day 4 I hiked from Gilsland to Brampton. Leaving Gilsland I encountered the ruins of the original Roman bridge over the River Irthing, and shortly afterwards crossed the present-day bridge over the same river.

Hiking further Westward I eventually left Northumberland and entered Cumbria. The landscape became flatter with more trees, less rugged and desolate, there were more cows and fewer sheep. When I reached Birdoswald Fort, one of the best preserved of the 16 forts along the wall, I finally encountered two fellow hikers, and was able to get my picture taken next to a section of Wall.

That evening I checked into the Oakwood Park Hotel outside Brampton. The following morning, beginning my hike with a bit of frost on the ground, I walked across the farmland of the Cumbrian countryside, seeing no remains of the wall. When I got to the little town of Crosby-on-Eden the path followed along the banks of the Eden River which led me the Carlisle, the last stop on my hike. Before checking into my B and B I visited several locations in Carlisle (e.g. train station, ATM, McDonald's, public library, park bench to rest) and at one of those locations I walked off without my trusty hiking pole which had been so useful in negotiating the hilly terrain on the hike. The next morning I walked to the rail station and took a train from Carlisle to Liskeard in Cornwall, a 9 hour journey. At Liskeard I was met by my 3rd cousin Karen. We chatted and got to know one another better over dinner at her home, and then she took me to Tremaine Farm, the B & B where I stayed for 4 nights during my time in Cornwall. The following morning she picked me up at Tremaine Farm and we drove to Tintagel on the North Cornish coast, where we explored the ruins of the castle there -- as legend would have it the supposed location of King Arthur's court -- and enjoyed the spectacular Cornish coastline.

During our time together Karen did a lot of driving to/from my B & B to fetch me each morning and return me each evening. The day after our trip to Tintagel we spent much of the day at Lanhydrock House, one of the most magnificent estates in all or Cornwall, and now part of the National Trust. On the next day, a very gloomy and rainy one, we spent most of our time inside the giant biodomes of the Eden Project, the largest greenhouse in the world. On my 4th day in Cornwall Karen and I had "just one more cup of tea" together and then I was on the train heading back to London. I stopped for half a day in Chippenham where my friend Clive met me at the train station. Together we visited Bowood House, another large estate with a magnificent house and spacious gardens and grounds. It was in Bowood House that James Priestly, working as a tutor for the owners children, discovered oxygen. Clive and I toured the house, walked parts of the estate, then sat by the pavilion and observed the house from a distance across the lake.

Far From the Maddening Crowd

When I saw retirement on the horizon, I decided to pursue one of my lifelong dreams -- to have a place in the country that I could manage for sustainability and increased biodiversity, a sanctuary for wild things, many of which are persecuted and pushed aside by humanity in our headlong rush to "progress". I began searching for land in NE Iowa, not to far from Cedar Rapids, that wouldn't take me half and day and many gallons of gasoline to get to. The counties comprising NE Iowa are very unlike the rest of the state, much of which has been altered from its original state, and converted into a monoculture of endless fields of corn. NE Iowa, the so-called "driftless area", was never covered and eroded level by the last glacier, and is characterized by lovely rolling tree-covered and limestone out-croppings. After several months of searching I settled on 30 acres, 23 acres of which were woodland. I was able to make the purchase with money inherited from a very frugal person, my mother Dorothy, one of the finest mothers any man could hope for. One of the first things I did in 2003 was to purchase a log cabin, hand-crafted by the Amish. The bottom half of the cabin was built by Amish in Wisconsin and was delivered by a huge truck. I was taken aback when I saw the flatbed truck carrying the cabin coming down the road! The cabin was then lifted by a crane and carefully set on pilings. Then it was the turn of local Amish carpenters who constructed the top half of the cabin on site. Because I like to hear the sound of rain on a metal roof I opted for the slightly more expensive option of a metal roof. Once the cabin was in place, I could then think about my water and energy needs, and all the landscaping and tree planting that I knew would keep me busy for years to come.
I knew I wanted to be off-grid and to generate my own electricity, so one of my first decisions was to purchase 4 photovoltaic panels. I purchased an energy efficient DC refrigerator which runs directly off the batteries. For my lighting needs in the evening, I have an inverter which converts DC to AC to illuminate the compact flourescent bulbs in my lamps. At the same time I started a modest garden, which has grown bigger and bigger with every passing year. The photo below shows my PV panels and part of a bumper crop of butternut squash.

I considered the cost of putting in a well prohibitively expensive, and so I installed a 500-gallon tank which collects rainwater off the roof. I use this water to water the garden and to take bucket baths. My drinking water needs are met by water that I bring to the cabin from Cedar Rapids, less that 75 miles away. I enjoy long-distance hiking and when I am at the cabin I often hike the property, and so one of the first things I did was to establish several trails, many of which were already there thanks to the many deer that live on the property, and take more than their fair share of my garden and the young trees I plant. Below you see a photo of part of the Ridge Trail and some of the limestone bluffs on the property.

At the same time that I was exploring the woods I began an ambitious project of building rock walkways. Whenever I found flat rocks I would collect them. As I am a low-tech operation with my machinery, the rocks were hand-carried out of the woods. Other rocks, for either the walkways or for landscaping, were collected with my car from rockslides at the side of roads. As I was building the walkways I began planting trees, shrubs, and flowers. Every year I plant dozens of trees: pines, spruce, oaks, black walnut, chestnut, and many others. I planted dozens of serviceberries around the cabin: these produce lovely white flowers in the Spring, soon followed by berries which attract robins, cardinals, cedar waxwings, and other birds. One of my major tree-planting efforts involved hazelnuts. I have planted many hazelnut trees, located in a small grove next to my storage shed and very sturdy outhouse, and with others scattered around the property. The nuts are produced inside clusters which develop from small inconspicuous flowers. Because most of my hazelnut trees are hybrids they produce numerous clusters, some of which can contain up to as many as 10-12 nuts! I love flowers, especially lilies and lupines, and I planted many around the cabin. Some hazelnuts clusters from the hazelnut trees and some of the lupines I have planted by the porch of the cabin can be see in the photos below.

One of the features of the property that I found attractive when I first saw it was the fact that there was a small pond. The pond had no resident fish, so it was an ideal location for the breeding of amphibians. During the first year, as I went to bed at night, I could hear many different kinds of frogs calling from the pond. I also found a few Tiger salamanders near the cabin, so assume they are breeding in the pond as well. During the first year I installed a nest box for woodducks, and they soon began using it. I also saw a lone painted turtle, but over the years more turtles have miraculously made it to the pond from elsewhere, and now I have counted as many as 7 painted turtles sunning themselves on logs or on shore. Water attracts wildlife, and since my goal is to provide sanctuary and as much useful habitat for wild critters as possible, I also built a small Amphibian Pond next to the cabin, which collects some of the rainwater from off the roof of the cabin. Below is a photo of the pond and the small amphibian pond which I built, which is filled with American toad and Gray treefrog tadpoles each year.

Back in Iowa after a wonderful 2 weeks in Belize

I returned to Cedar Rapids on June 26, 2011 after spending 2 terrific weeks in Belize, one of my favorite destinations. On this trip, instead of going solo as I often do, I took a group of 12 adults, ranging in age from 60 or so to 76 or so. I organized the trip and made all the arrangements, and then served as a Group Leader of sorts; everything went off without a hitch. Nobody got sick, nobody sprained an ankle or fell down and broke a bone, no one got impaled by a Southern sting ray or nipped by a 5 foot barracuda.

And although it was hurricane season, we lucked out and missed any bad weather. We began by spending a week on lovely Tobacco Caye, about 12 miles off the coast due East of the coastal town of Dangriga. Tobacco Caye is a 5-acre paradise of an island, conveniently situated right next to the barrier reef. We stayed at Tobacco Caye Lodge, which had nice accomodations and terrific meals. From our rooms we were able to look out at the Caribbean with waves on the forereef breaking on the reef crest, about 100 yards away. A nearly constant comforting breeze off the ocean allowed for insect-free enjoyment. The island sports a variety of tropical vegetation, with lovely swaying palm trees. Most everyone in the group during our week stay tried their hand at opening the coconut fruit to get at the nut inside.

During our week on Tobacco Caye we were in the water snorkelling at least once -- and usually more often -- every day. At the end of the day we would gather to talk about the fish and other sea creatures we had seen. Although primarily a vacation trip, it was also an opportunity to learn about reef ecology and the many vertebrate and invertebrate animals inhabiting the Belizean barrier reef, the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most biodiverse reefs in the world. I have a personal interest in sponges and in the many animals, especially small shrimps, that live inside of them. There are many organisms on Planet Earth that have yet to be discovered and catalogued by researchers. A major reason for our ignorance of the totality of the planet's myriad life forms, is that many organisms are very small and easily overlooked and/or because of the fact that we often don't make the effort to look for them where they live -- like inside the canals and chambers of sponges! As we snorkeled in the sea grass beds surrounding the island we saw cushion sea stars, many kinds of fishes, including lionfish, an alien invader, sea cucumbers, and long-spined sea urchins, to name but a few. One day we found a giant red hermit crab, the largest marine hermit crab in the W. hemisphere. I mentioned to the group that there are other organisms that often live in close association with hermit crabs, a "living-together" relationship called symbiosis. Often there are small porcellanid crabs that live inside the Queen conch shell occupied by the hermit crab and -- sure enough -- when I looked I found a male-female pair of these brightly-colored porcellanid crabs living inside the conch shell, sharing the same shelter with the hermit crab.

Leaving Tobacco Caye we travelled inland to the capital city of Belmopan, where we visited the government buildings and explored the market. Then we travelled further west to the town of San Ignacio, close to the border of Guatamala. We checked into Martha's Hotel and spend several days exploring San Ignacio and the surrounding area. One of the highlights was a visit to the Mayan site at Xunantunich, one of the many Mayan sites in Belize, and one of the most impressive. Nearly everyone in the group climbed to the top of El Castillo, the largest structure at the site.
In addition to visiting Xunantunich, we visited Rio Frio cave, the Mayan site at Cahal Pech, and a conservation center where they were raising Blue Morpho butterflies. Our last day, before heading back to Belize City and then home, was spent at Banana Bank Lodge outside Belmopan, an eclectically interesting resort in the jungle with a wide variety of accomodations and a swimming pool. Most of the group opted to spent the night in one of the thatched roof cabanas.