IGUANAS OF THE MARINA

I live on a boat in a marina. Under the boardwalk that borders the boat, ferry, and yacht moorings...live the iguanas.

This is a very busy place with the massive ferries that transport the tourists from the cruise ships to the tourist village at Belize City; big fishing boats for visitor big-game fishing, many yachts of all sizes. All of them, including the tour buses and vans come and go all day long with people for the beach or restaurant or museum. They all walk the boardwalks.

The iguanas are always there. Just under the greenery or flowering bushes, or close to the many drains that empty the parking from heavy rains. Each drain houses a large, alpha-iguana. The females and young ones have to take their chances under the heavy bushes that line the boardwalks. Most are quite bold and will not move until one is about six to eight feet away. If you approach slowly, they will move to safety slowly. When startled, they can move very fast. The biggest ones are about two feet from head to tail; muscular, with a wicked row of spikes running down their back. The oldest ones are quite craggy. They have the look of being very old. There are maybe five alphas and a communnity of about twelve+.

Also there are small, elegent chickens in the greenery and under the trees, maybe ten altogether. Now they occasionally lay eggs The chickens seem to ignore the iguanas, but there are never any eggs the next day. I think a lot of the boat people feed them table scraps and fruit.

Some tourists stop and take pictures, Once in a while a visitor is startled and we hear a yell or scream. The Iguana usually waddles off in disgust. There is a big rock beside the drive where one of the big ones suns himself in the morning. The buses stop and he poses for pictures until someone wants to get too close. Then he drops the four feet or so to the ground and dives into his hole.They don't like small children or dogs.

The sight of such ancient creatures living in the middle of a commercial-tourist facility with such calmness and assurance about their place in it all, is nice reminder that we don't have to control everything. The iguanas are part of my home...or I'm part of theirs.

The other place you see them are among the Mayan ruins and pyramids. I suppose they were there first...how many thousand of years ago?

Maybe we should take a lesson from the iguanas?
>>>iggy

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