Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Dominical, Belize

Reviewed April 25th, 2006

Monkey Bay is a small wildlife sanctuary without monkeys in the middle of Belize run by Americans who cook with poo. Pine trees here mingle with palms and prairie to form a strange savanna-like environment that feels two parts northern Minnesota and one part jungle.

Jungle is certainly a feature of the outhouses, where I saw my first scorpian (who like pine) and nearly sat on a giant cockroach, making for not quite pleasant but not awful experiences.

So why the ten? Simply put, innovation. Monkey Bay uses a complex system of filtration and composting to collect and utilize the methane gas from the pit toilets, and they use it for cooking. I personally tried a meal in their summer camp-like dining hall cooked with poopgas (aka "bio" gas, heh, heh) by college kids. Its a great idea - although I would put that energy toward air conditioning rather than cooking. All joking aside, it seems like a very creative conservation idea but much more realistic than the infamous "big gulp" where all food scraps are mixed with water and devoured rather than chucked or buried.

Long ago we read that the monkeys left Monkey Bay because they had enough money to start up their only place.

- Justin Teerlinck

RESTROOM RATING: 10
Send this review to a friend