Saturday in San Pedro: A Farmers’ Market & Crocodile Hunting

Waking up to the height of the yellow sulphur butterfly migration, it was a gorgeous day.  Blue and sunny with hundreds of yellow-green butterflies flitting by.  Was I able to capture them on camera?  Hardly…

A cocoplum tree in the front yard seemed to be a quickly snacking stop…there were about 50 on the bush…maybe you can make out one or two?  ARRRGGGHHH.

Yesterday was a full day.  Family is in town – with teenage boys, there is actually a surprising amount to keep everyone busy.  The gorgeous weather and beach at X’tan Ha Resort works wonders but yesterday we did lots more.

We started our morning with a class in chocolate making at Belize Chocolate Factory.  Lots of tasting and then buying of souvenirs.  I JUST wrote about this super interesting morning class a few days ago.  You definitely should check it out.

We then headed up to The Truck Stop for some lunch, some ice cream and the bustling farmers’ market.  There were some additions to the vendors.

Like Brooklyn Brothers’ Bagels…

Amy and her gorgeous daughter Gabby from Wild Mango’s with cakes one might kill for.  The coconut lime cake is absolutely ridiculous.  At only $5bzd a slice, I thought I’d try three.  JUST THREE!

Marbuck’s Coffee shop made apple pies!  Yum…

Finn & Martini was there selling their famous chaya dip.  And even displaying a bit of the “local spinach” – chaya is SO tasty.  TOTALLY the next super food.

Swirly Head Wine was there…I wrote about them last year:  Wine in Belize-Why SO Expensive and An Exciting New Belizean Wine to Taste.

It’s not the sickly sweet local wine that many are used to…it’s a dry wine made from sorrel – or the bud of a certain type of hibiscus flower.  Super interesting…

Ian Anderson’s Farmhouse Deli had a full offering as usual.  And we got the last 3/4 pound of pastrami…and a pound of the smoked jack fish.  SOOOO good with cream cheese and…

Sue’s homemade boules.  She was out of the kalamata olive but I snagged a sunflower seed and a jalapeno cheddar to use for burgers tonight.  Mmmmmm….

You can find her on Facebook.

Delicious local sweets and hot sauce.

We had ice cream…some Asian noodles and satays and headed back home.  To get ready for our night time tour with Chris from ACES (the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary).

At 7pm, we met him at The Office, a bar on the lagoon side of town, and headed out in Swamp Thing (his boat) to try to find the American Crocodile.  Native to our island but in peril due to the rapidly increasing population and construction.

Out we headed, into the black, with the guides shining headlights into the mangroves looking for the signature red glow of crocodile eyes.

Soon we were onto one.  And Chris jumps into the shallows…EEEEEK.

The following awesome photos are by 10 year old Tejasvin Billa.

We learned so much about these animals and how few there are on the island.  Chris caught this one to two year old…and he/she was measured, tagged and named Lance Koaladon for the records.

We also relocated him from highly populated San Mateo area to a more quiet mangrove.

To learn more about ACES tours – which fully support their rescue efforts on the island and all of Belize – check out their website.