Food

Food. Luscious food. Steaming, heaping piles of food.

Enchilada Plate from Las Vegas Cafe, Harlingen, Texas.

My high metabolism comes at a cost. So after a full day’s birding, walking, and talking in the hot Texas sun, I need food. And lots of it. 

On Saturday, after spending the morning at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (where my group racked up about 72 bird species), I asked my friend Shannon to join me at the Las Vegas Cafe in downtown Harlingen, Texas. I had a tip that it held some pretty good kibbles, and I wasn’t about to leave Texas without Mexican eats.

Shannon Schiner of Machaca Hill Lodge in southern Belize joins me for some grub.

We both ordered this humungous plate of three enchiladas, rice, and “smashed” beans topped with cheese and raw onions. I am no connisseur of Mexican food, but this delicious platter hit the gaping hole right in the center of my belly.

So I ate. Like a good girl, I cleaned my plate. Even the onions. And then wanted more! Shannon was like, “Go on without me. I’ll just slow you down.”

I was invited to Machaca Hill Lodge in southern Belize with Shannon in 2008 and wrote about that exhilarating adventure in Bird Watcher’s Digest. She told me about how the lodge has made dramatic improvements to attract bird watchers, such as the glass-walled showers where you can watch Keel-billed Toucans and Montezuma Oropendolas mash fruit while you shave, and the suite of Swarovski bins and spotting scopes placed on the deck for spotting Passerini’s and Blue-gray Tanagers in the rainforest below. The gourmet chef and the upscale spa they sited on the side of the hill sound fantabulous, as well.

View from the deck of Machaca Hill Lodge, Belize

With any luck, I will see and report on these improvements in the near future. For more information about Machaca Hill Lodge, visit www.machacahill.com. Or, check out my story of the Red-capped Manakin courtship display in the Mar/Apr 2009 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest.

Red-capped Manakin in midst of courtship display. Old Joe Taylor Creek, Toledo District, Belize.

Meanwhile, if you’re ever in Harlingen, TX, try the Las Vegas Cafe on Harrison Street.