Red eyes. Sailing down the lagoon, one of the guides told us to keep a look out for beaming red orbs in the darkness of the night. It was around 7:30 in the evening when Derrick, Nicco, Jasmine and I went on the Crocodile Safari Night Tour with
Lamanai Landings. Joining us were the captain, two guides and an employee of the resort. Although it wasn’t too late, the sun had already set into the horizon and the moon was already out, watching over us. The sky was beautiful. The vast, seemingly empty, space was filled with thousands of tiny bright specks of light, like diamonds in the sky. As I sat on the boat admiring the sky, the others were patiently waiting to catch a pair of red eyes lurking in the dark waters of the lagoon.
Everyone, well…from our team, was filled with excitement and an adventurous spirit. It would be our first time seeing a live crocodile up close. Although, each of the guides reassured to us that we were safe on the boat, I couldn’t help but to feel a bit scared. I thought to myself, "What if a crocodile came out of nowhere and attacked the boat?" or "What if the boat flipped over and a crocodile came hunting for us?" I didn’t know what to expect.
The lagoon was quiet and dark. Our only source of light on the boat was the flashlight that one of the guides was using to spot the crocodiles. Since it was pitch black, the guide said that it would be easy to spot a crocodile’s eyes. However, maybe I had some difficulties with my eyesight that night because I didn’t see anything. My team and I kept looking and looking, but saw no red eyes.
To our surprise, the captain was quick to spot a pair of red eyes. He quickly propelled the boat towards the crocodile, in attempts to capture the creature. We were all thrilled to see our first crocodile of the night. When we were able to get close enough, we grabbed the captain’s homemade crocodile catching tool, made from PVC pipe and rope, and handed it over to the two guides. Both guides rushed to the end of the boat in attempt to capture the crocodile. All of us jumped out of our seats and waited anxiously for the guides to turn around with the creature in hand. I was trying as hard as I could to peep at what was happening. Unfortunately, the guides turned around with empty hands. The crocodile had escaped and submerged in the water. Even though it was dark, disappointment was visible in our faces.
In spite of the fact that we didn’t get that crocodile, the captain was able to spot three more pairs of red eyes. But, to our disappointment again, all of them managed to escape the guides each time. It was a lot of work to spot crocodiles that night. The captain said that the crocs were probably shy and were hiding from us.
We continued on the boat for at least twenty minutes before we all started to give up on looking for crocodiles. Surrendering this hide and seek game with the crocodiles, we sat back and slouched on our seats. Enjoying the cool breeze and the incredible view of the night sky connecting with the growing trees and bushes on each side of the lagoon, our excitement had already dissolved into serenity.
Lost in my own world, I heard a sudden shout from the captain. “Look! There’s one!” He sped the boat forward and the excitement kicked in again. We all waited and watched as the captain grabbed his tool and dipped his arms into the water. All of a sudden, he dropped his tool behind him and then leaned over the boat to pick something up.
We were all confused. Did he catch a crocodile? Was it a long piece of wood or some trash? A few seconds later, he turned around and in his hands was the most adorable baby crocodile we had ever seen. Forget those massive crocs that we were anticipating, this little baby croc made our night out worthwhile. It was at least a foot and a half long in length. Before we were able to hold the crocodile, the captain quickly tied its mouth with a little rubber band to ensure that none of us left with crocodile bites.
We were astonished by the captain’s ability to spot such a little crocodile. We couldn’t even spot a big crocodile’s eyes, and he was able to see this little fellow? Wow! Everyone was excited to hold the creature. As we took turns to hold the baby crocodile, one of the guides explained some interesting facts about the little creature.
Our little friend was a Morelet’s crocodile, which is a specie of crocodile found only in fresh waters of Atlantic regions. He mentioned that their eyes are uniquely suited for lurking. In the case of crocodiles, the fovea is spread across the middle of the retina and it gives them maximum clarity all along the visual horizon. He also mentioned that most baby crocodiles, like the one we found, in this region only have a 20% chance of surviving. Since they are so small, other large specimens would normally feed on them, including adult Morelet's crocodiles.
The guide mentioned that the crocodiles are normally measured, checked and tagged and then given a name. After this process, they are gently returned to their habitat. However, this one was too small to tag. So, after admiring the little creature for a bit longer, the captain drove back to the location where we found him and the guide removed the rubber band from his mouth before releasing it.
After releasing the crocodile, we spent about ten more minutes trying to look for another crocodile before heading back to the hotel. Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky that night. We decided to retire into the night and have the captain take us back to the hotel. The boat ride back was about twenty minutes long. We didn’t mind the time because we were able to appreciate the peace and quiet of the lagoon.
When we arrived back at the hotel, everyone headed to their rooms and went to bed. This was around 10:00 p.m. and we were all exhausted after a morning of travelling and an evening of crocodile hunting. We had planned earlier to go and hangout by the bar for a little while, but the day had taken a toll on us and we had to recharge ourselves for an early
Lamanai Tour the next day.