I just got back from another trip to Belize with Wofford College. The students came down to Belize to study the various aspects of eco-tourism and I have been fortunate enough to work as a guide for this trip for the past three years.
The first week of the trip involves exploring the main land of Belize while the second week takes us out camping on islands next to the barrier reef. Each activity is very different and allows the students to see how different eco-tours are run while also giving them to chance to really experience the country.
First up was the
Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour. This tour takes you deep into an old Maya Cave and allows you to see first hand the remains and remnants of the Maya culture. To get to the dry cavern however, you first have to swim up the cave and through some tight passageways.
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| Entering the ATM Cave |
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| Inside the Cave |
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| Ancient Maya pottery found inside the cave |
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| "The Crystal Maiden"- one highlight of the ATM tour |
Our next tour takes us to Tikal National Park in Guatemala, a UNESCO Heritage Site and one of the largest ancient Maya cities. Here we learn about the Maya culture, beliefs and social structure. It also involves climbing up many ancient ruins, with a few wildlife sighting thrown in as well.
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| The Maya Tree of Life |
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| The group enjoying the ruins |
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| Howler monkey mid jump |
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| Look familiar? This was the setting for one of the Star Wars films |
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Following Tikal we moved south in Belize to the Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve to get a little more in touch with nature. Unfortunately we didn't see any jaguars here, but we did get a number of good wildlife sighting along with jungle river tubing and a sunset hike up a local mountain.
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| Will and I getting ready to do some tubing |
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| Enjoying a lazy float through the jungle |
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| The students at the top of the mountain |
After this we moved even more south to the Toledo district where we visited a local Maya village and had a cultural experience learning how these people live and sustain themselves. Part of this tour involved visiting a local Cocoa farm and learning the traditional ways the Mayas made chocolate.
That completed our "mainland phase" of the trip, but we still had more to come. Next up was what we refer to as the "islands phase" of the trip. For this journey we chartered a sailboat (from Raggamuffin tours out of Caye Caulker) to take us 20 miles off the coast of Belize to remote islands located next to the barrier reef.
Our first day we sailed out to Pompion Caye, our own private deserted island. Along the way though we stopped off at the Laughing Bird National Marine Park to have lunch and do some snorkeling.
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| Loading up on the Ragga King |
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| That's Ish, one of our awesome crew members | | |
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| Snorkeling around Laughing Bird |
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| You may not be able to tell from the photo, but this is a HUGE lobster |
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| Sailing away... |
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| Captain Kimani teaching me to sail |
After arriving at Pompion, we started our island adventures, which involves giving the students a chance to rotate through a number of different island activities. This includes stand up paddle boarding, sea kayaking, fishing and snorkeling. Along with this we also spend some time watching our fishing guide Leslie try and catch us our dinner with his spear gun. That turns out to be one of the coolest activities we do, and man does that fresh fish, lobster and conch taste good!
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| A first glimpse at Pompion Caye |
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| Pompion living... |
Following a few days on Pompion we switched it up and stayed on a bit more developed island called Hatchet Caye for the final two days. This gives us another perspective on how tourists can visit the islands of Belize. On the sail over we stopped again for a visit to another National Marine Park called Queen Caye. Hatchet was a big hit with the students and really rounded out the trip well.
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| Queen Caye |
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| The ladies enjoying some sea kayaking |
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| Stand up paddle boarding around Hatchet |
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| Hobie Cat sailing at Hatchet |
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| Time to say goodbye to the Ragga King | | |
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| After a week sailing around on the Ragga King and enjoying the beautiful Belizean islands it was unfortunately time to say goodbye and head back to winter... | | | | | | | |
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