The travel to Belize City was very smooth. As we walked off the plane in Belize we were met by the hot and humid weather that we had expected in Belize. Outside of the airport Vladimir, the manager of La Milpa, greeted us and invited us into an air-conditioned van. Vladimir is an incredibly friendly man and he seemed very excited to have us working with Programme for Belize.
Our two and a half hour drive to the field station gave us our first glimpse into the Belizean lifestyle and culture. I was stunned to see that the roads (nearly all dirt) were used by cars, as well as cows and other livestock. The drive took us through large savannas that appeared to be very dry since the rainy season was only beginning. We ate lunch in the town of Orange Walk at a small restaurant. Our lunch was a classic Belizean meal of chicken, rice and beans. Our drive continued northwest and followed the border with Mexico for a while. A simple swim across a small river, and we could have been in Mexico. The ease with which we could get into a different country seemed to stun us all.
After driving along a smaller dirt road for six miles we arrived at our home for the next 15 days. The place is beautiful! All of the buildings have thatched roofs and hammocks hanging around the porches. This is quite the way to live in the rainforest. We all took the rest of the day to enjoy our new home and get settled in to our cabanas. A small basketball court quickly became a favorite hangout as ours.
I was just as excited about being in Belize as the rest of the group, however, the day of our departure from the US could not have come at a more unfortunate time—Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. BUT what I thought would be one of my greatest disappointments, became an instant highlight when I learned that we would be able to watch the game on a small TV. What a way to watch the game! In the rainforest huddled around a small TV and with the intermission reports in Spanish! After an exciting win, we all went to sleep newly crowned champions and looking forward to our upcoming weeks in Belize!
0 comments:
Post a Comment