A Visit to Crooked Tree Belize

by Ricky Burns

The month of May is a very busy productive month in Crooked Tree Village. It's the time when the birds flock the shallow waters in the almost dried up lagoons, ponds and streams that surround the beautiful village of Crooked Tree.

This is the time of the year when a person can go horseback riding and get within a close enough distance from the great Jabiru stork and observe its magnificent posture and beauty. But wait, lets go ashore on the village.

The baymen followed the Belize River cutting logwood that grew and still grows in abundance along the Belize River, Black Creek, Spanish Creek and all the waterways and savannahs surrounding Crooked Tree. The island of Crooked Tree was and still is the perfect place to live.

When you go to this little jewel, you will Be amazed at the huge mango trees, bread fruit and cashew, to name a few, old as the village itself. Soil testing in different parts of Belize show that Crooked Tree has the best soil for growing cashews. In freak storms when they are laden with fruits, they topple over and still keep growing. The cashew fruit comes in yellow, red, and some are even a cross between both, red and yellow. When it is properly ripe, it's very sweet and it's about 75% juice. The nut is attached on the outside of the fruit and has a toxic acid in its outer shell. From the fruit we make wine, jams, jellies, juices, vinegar, preserves and lately, pastries. The nut is roasted over a blazing fire of resinous Caribbean Pine, after which it is broken out of its outer shell and finally it's baked in an oven or on fire coals, in a baking drum. It is a very time consuming and tiresome job so cashews will never be cheap. Every year the village celebrates its "triple fest" on the first weekend in May, when we combine our agriculture show, village life and our cashew festival. All are welcome to visit Crooked Tree Village.

Courtesy San Pedro Sun

More Birding Links on this WebSite
Birds of Ambergris Caye- Elbert Greer and Bubba
More Birds of Ambergris Caye
Photos of Birds on the island

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