At the Edge of the Rainforest

Edge of Rainforest © 2008 Bo Mackison

Twenty miles south of Belize City, Belize, there exist ancient rain forests. At the edge of the forest, there are well spread out fir trees. A bit of the rain forest – think, tangled, jungly – is farther ahead, mounding in the distance, beckoning explorers to discover its mysteries.

The sun shone brightly as we entered the rain forest, but deeper within, it was quite dark in places, and the plants and trees were dripping from recent, steady rainfall. We were on a thick, muddy, and very narrow road where ruts were easily 6 inches deep and travel offered its own set of adventures.

With over 12 feet of annual rainfall, the highlands of the rain forest mountains provide the watershed to the lowlands through rivers and run-offs. Animals also frequent these water areas including jaguars, peccaries (wild boars) and ocelots. Other rain forest creatures are iguanas, black howler monkeys and 500 species of birds including the cinnamon hummingbirds and toucans. Many of the rain forest inhabitants are endangered.

Coconuts for Sale

Palm Trees © 2008 Bo Mackison

Palm trees offer such a magnificence of wonder: the horizontally striped bark; the giant fronds, dipping towards the earth; a peek-through of the sapphire sky through deep green slivers of windows; a shady spot to sip coconut milk from the real thing, if you’re lucky enough to find a guy willing to haggle a bit over the price of the coconut.

“Twenty bucks for a coconut? What? No way?” That’s more than half my spending money for the day, and I’m feeding two kids plus me. Then I feel guilty; I have so much. But at the same time, I sure didn’t have that much in my pocket. I found a boy selling his fruit for eight bucks which still seemed expensive, but a better deal nonetheless. I couldn’t resist the experience. And even if I did overpay, I still go home to luxury and money enough for what I need plus a lot more. Handing those dollars to this sweaty kid sure seemed like a good enough reason to drink the luscious milk of a just-picked coconut at least once in your life. Ah, the real thing was quite grand.

Photograph taken and coconut eaten at Tulum, Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. January 1, 2008.

Branching Abstract

Branches © 2008 Bo Mackison

Snow. Branches. Abstract.

We Interrupt this Vacation to Bring You…

While it is most likely sunny in Mexico – at least it was one week ago when the last several photos were taken – it is not sunny in Wisconsin. But it is quite beautiful with the city covered in layers of ice and snow from last night’s storm.

This frosty landscape was photographed in Owen Conservation Park, Madison, WI early this morning.

Back to the regularly scheduled Caribbean photos tomorrow.

Iguana Sky

Iguana Sky © 2008 Bo Mackison

Iguana checking the sky while perched on the top of the wall that surrounds the ancient city of Tulum, a Mayan ceremonial and residential community in Mexico.

The walls are 7 feet wide, plenty of stone to keep Mayan enemies at bay, and space enough for an extended family of iguanas to sun themselves.