Crooked Tree Travel Guide
Travel to Crooked Tree - Altun Ha and bird-watchers’ paradise
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Crooked Tree Village lies within the Crooked Tree Sanctuary, where a three and a half mile causeway separates the village from the Northern Highway. This sleepy Creole settlement of narrow sandy lanes, lined with cashew trees, is an unlikely tourist destination, but it has the distinction of being the centre of a natural habitat that plays host to some 275 species of bird over the course of the year.
The Mayan ruins of Altun Ha and the unique nature reserve of the Community Baboon Sanctuary are located nearby and bird watching very popular in Crooked Tree, but the village is also famous for its cashews.
Cashew trees grow in abundance here, yielding cashew nuts, cashew wine, and stewed cashew fruit. The village celebrates with an annual Cashew Fest in May. There is food, music, lots of dancing and celebration, and of course, lots of cashew.
Crooked Tree village whose main economic activities now are fishing and cattle raising is surrounded by the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary and its wetlands. The village covers roughly 2.5 square miles, out of the 19.3 sq. mile island.
Crooked Tree was once a logging camp, founded by the British logwood cutters in the 17th century. The Logwood forests in the area were used to produce 7 different colour dyes including haematoxylin for export to Europe. Crooked Tree Village was settled for this purpose in approximately 1750, making it perhaps the earliest inland European settlement in Belize. The logs were floated down Black Creek to the Belize River.
In the early days, this village, actually an island was only accessible by boat. This only changed in 1983 with the construction of a causeway.
Two stories seem to circulate about the origin of its name: it was either named after a large crooked tree (and there are many crooked trees in the village), or some say it was named after a notorious trio of bandits: “crooked three”!
Attractions in Crooked Tree
The principal attraction of Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary is the bird watching, but there is plenty of other wildlife here including howler monkeys, which can be seen more regularly at the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Bermudian Landing.
The Sanctuary also has a Mayan site, Chan Hiix, at the south western comer of Western Lagoon whose excavation has only recently started. For a more revealing Mayan ruin visit, one is not far from the extensively excavated Altun Ha site.
Activities in Crooked Tree
Bird watching is the dominant activity. Also, plenty of other wildlife spotting opportunities.
Relaxing
With a glass of cashew wine in Crooked Tree Village, after a rewarding day spotting bird species and exploring nearby Mayan ruins.
Getting Around
Buses going along the Northern Highway will leave you at the turning to Crooked Tree. From here, it is a 2 mile (3km) walk to the village.
There is one bus a day from Crooked Tree Village to Belize City and back.
Getting around the village, you can either walk or take a boat on the lagoon.
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