Last night’s rain was twice as hard as the one before and lasted about 7 hours straight. By the time morning arrived we were glad to see the mist floating over the mountains and the sky lightening up. We went to breakfast not sure what the weather held for the day. Our “adventure” for the day was still on so after breakfast we loaded up on a more modern van with another family and our 2 guides. We chatted during the 45 minute drive out of the jungle and through Belmopan (the capital city) to the Belize Zoo. The zoo was a charming place with stone walkways winding through the jungle with large fenced enclosures for all the animals. The animals were all native to Belize and our guide educated and entertained us with information and his own personal stories of encounters in the wild with many of the species. Mallory decided the tapirs (the national animal of Belize) was her favorite. The skies had cleared and at about 80 degrees it was not a hot day for Belize so most of the animals were out. A young, playful ocelot came to the fence and would jump at leaves the guide was would poke through the fence. So of course Christian decided he’d like to do the same thing. The fence near the bottom was a larger mesh perfect for getting your leaf through to lure the cat into a game. Christian, however, did not realize the cat’s paw (or at least an extended claw) would fit through the mesh and he got a good scratch from the ocelot. The cats speed surprised him, but in the end he was proud of his ocelot scratch. We continued through the zoo seeing other native species: toucans, parrots, macaws, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, kinkajous, snakes, Pumas,a black panther and finally the most beautiful jaguar I’ve ever seen. He was born at the zoo and friendlier than most of the other animals (who had been brought there as injured or sick wild animals for rehabilitation). When Christian heard about the jaguar encounter, he signed us up without hesitation. One keeper moved “Junior” the jaguar to another cage and we walked right into his enclosure and entered another small cage (for humans) with Junior’s trainer. After he locked us in Junior was released and came immediately over to us knowing there were treats in store for him. He did tricks, Mallory fed him some chicken, he jumped on top of the cage and licked Christian’s forehead through the cage, and we got to rub his legs and belly while the trainer fed him a treat. It’s doubtful we would ever have the chance to do that in the states, so Christian jumped at the chance. And although I may have been reluctant at first, I must say it was incredible. After the zoo we went to an outpost and had a traditional Belizian lunch of stewed chicken with rice and beans (not to be confused with beans and rice which is actually a different local favorite). After lunch we suited up for a zip line course through the jungle canopy on the mountainside. The hike up was tiring but the long, fast zip line rides were well worth it. We zipped over the raging caves branch river and between trees. It really was thrilling. We finished exhausted but excited from the day. The long bumpy van ride back proved a good rest after the activity. After the long trek back up to our treehouse, relaxation on the rooftop deck was very welcome. A quick shower in the outdoor shower refreshed us for dinner. The outdoor shower actually had a metal bucket with holes in the bottom for the shower head. The walls were about chest high and you were actually in the jungle canopy. Once we convinced ourselves no one could see us, it was amazing. The dinner that night was probably the best so far. Every night each treehouse is assigned to a different table and its a little treasure hunt to find your table for the night. There were different families at our table each night and the people we met made an already great stay complete. We made it back to out treehouse just before the rain started. One more night in the moist sheets! Tomorrow we are off to San Pedro on The island of Ambergris Caye.