It’s early morning at Naia. The fleeing darkness reveals that people may not be the only ones visiting the yoga studio at this hour. A male brown basilisk (basiliscus vittatus) crawls through the soft grass in search of food, and perhaps, a bit of company. It is not the first time our paths have crossed. His peaceful reverie, however, is short lived.
In the blink of an eye he is upright on his hind legs dashing across the calm surface of a nearby pond. He disappears into the safety of the foliage on the other side of the water. It is this ability to walk (or rather, run) on water that earned this species the nickname of ‘Jesus Christ Lizard’.
The reason for my reptilian friend’s abrupt exodus becomes clear after a few moments: a grey fox (urocyon cinereoargenteus) and her three kits stalk onto the grass, and, in the absence of possible prey, decide to frolic and play instead of hunt.
The whole unfolding of this scene put a big smile on my face, but it is far from being a rare occurrence here at Cocoplum, the larger residential community in which Naia is located. Nature lovers need not wander far to see a wide variety of animals living in their natural habitat.
The agouti (dasyprocta) or bush rabbit, is a common sight hopping along the roadside at dusk. We even encounter their larger cousin, the gibnut, from time to time.
Entire families of chachalacas (ortalis vetula) can be seen foraging during the day. These raucous birds, distant cousins of the turkey, are often in competition with parrots to see who can be loudest avian species on the block.
Iguanas, both the black spiny tailed and green thrive here (ctenosauro similis and iguana iguana respectively). Green iguana males change color, during mating season, metamorphosing into a deep orange hue (just to attract the ladies). These Jurassic Park fugitives can grow up to 6 feet long and weigh as much as 20 pounds!
No worries, these long term guests at our luxury Belize resort will be long gone before you can approach. But how fortunate are we to have a location for the perfect Placencia, Belize vacation so replete with wildlife.
