BYE, BYE, BYE

May 6, 2013

Cave Day

            Up again and it’s 4:30 am!  This is awesome!  Mist netting after a nice hot thermos filled with instant coffee.  This is awesome!  Boris takes us to set up two mist nets.  They are placed between bushes and the net catches birds, bugs and even small mammals.  So, the key to mist netting is waiting.  Yep, waiting and waiting and waiting.  After sitting and waiting and admiring the sunrise for over a half hour, our group goes and checks the results of both nets.  Nothing.  We sit back and watch the sun rise the rest of the way, the thermos is now empty and I am getting sleepy and hungry.  Another half hour goes by and we check again.  Nothing.  Again.  Clearly, the group is disappointed.  Borris leads the way back to the kitchen and breakfast is served.  Today is Cave Day, I have been looking forward to the caves in the Chiquibol Forest since I got here.  A side note, I am freaked out by small, dark spaces.  I will say the tiny hike downhill to the cave was like a preface to a new book.  It leads into the opening of the cave, it looks down into a wide mouth with man-made steps.  I can see my first bat, hanging upside down and waiting for the group to turn around and leave.  Borris informs us that many groups have gone through these caves, but due to visitors and guest of Belize, the cave walls have been defaced and vandalized.  Really?  Really, in a cave?  In Belize?  Apparently a Doctor has decided it would be “neat” to write on an ancient cave wall and let the world know that he has been to Belize!  Awesome!  I turn on my headlamp and start to walk down the steps into the cave.  I am officially freaked out.  The cave is very deep and we enter one room after the other.  One room is home to the biggest, nastiest spider ever.  It looks like Black Widow on steroids.  He was so gross.  A fellow traveler starts to panic and sheer terror settles in.  I feel like I’m going to be sick.  We make it all the way around to opening, only ten meters up.  Awesome!  So…..you’re telling me I have to go back?  I’m willing to jump.  I make it out, I only slip once on the bat dung and I’m ready to go.  The cave was pretty cool, and as we walk up in elevation the humid and hot air hits me.  Back to the main part of the station.  It is the now free time for most, but I am in a group of girls that have decided to do the project portion in LCRS.  We are given the assignment of measuring the density of tall trees in two specific plots.  Borris asks us to use two plots, 100 meters apart and different elevations.  Off we go!  We spend the rest of the day identifying and measuring trees.  I have to be honest; I thought there would be about five different tree species in each plot.   Turns out there were seventeen different species and over fifty trees in the plots.  After we are done, we head back to LCRS and I am ready to have a nice cold shower.  I have to admit, I am ready to head out to the coast.  I am missing the simple things in life.  Ice, a shower head and no tarantulas would suffice.  I’m ready.  Oh, how about some awesome coffee?  I know I am spoiled and love the instant life of the States, and for the fist time…..I long for these simple pleasures.

May 7, 2013

Project Day/Last Day

            Okay, I am done with some instant coffee.  I am not a Starbucks girl, I do love Dunkin’s and Tim Horton’s.  We have none of the above.  We have to go back into the forest and finsish the second plot for our project.  We are slightly weathered and worn down at this point.  Mr. Mesh accompanies us and helps us identify more trees.  He informs us of the local names.  I immediately feel that Google and the library are going to become very important in identifying these plants for their scientific names.  It doesn’t take nearly as long, only thirty plants are in this second plot.  A little relived and excited, we take all of our stuff back to Borris and start a working on the report.  Wait….I have to have a cold shower first.  Only because a warm shower is not an option.  I find it difficult to do research for the project, we have no internet connection except for at night.  The problem is there is a line that forms and the wait can be long.  It takes ten minutes to log onto the computer, which leaves five minutes of research.  I haven’t been able to upload any blogs due to the time limit.  Yes, I could have spent my fifteen minutes doing this every night, however, I have two babies at home that I want to hear.  There is very limited communication here with the outside world.  I am so blessed to have a cell phone and instant connection in the States.  I am spoiled.  Some people are able to use their fifteen minutes working diligently on their school work, however, by the seventh day, majority of the group wants to talk to loved ones.  I think I am broken.  It is our last night, we leave after breakfast tomorrow and there is a mix of pure excitement and some sadness.  I am…..excited.  I am ready for running water and the ocean.  We have a big dinner with all of the staff, the group gave them a token of our appreciation and inform them of how wonderful they are.  I love the staff, Mr. Mesh and his wife take such good care of the facility and the land.  I appreciate his local and scientific knowledge, it was nice to have a different set of eyes telling the story of the Chiquibol Forest.  Borris gives us a presentation he put together of the USF group and all his pictures.  It is a bittersweet moment and I realize that time really went by fast.  Oh man…..is that a tick on my ankle?

May 8, 2013

Bye, Bye, Bye…..Alright!

            We are off to see the ocean and I am so excited. Wait….I can’t find my departure ticket.  Hmmmm…I sense this could be a problem.  I am so tired, I will think about it on the four hour bus ride into Belize City.  After saying goodbye and hugging the staff, I load onto the bus and…..fall asleep.  I wake to the honking.  A lot of honking.  I sit up and look out the window to see a little boy holding his baby sisters hands through the streets of Belize City.  The bus weaves around corners and drops us off at the entrance to the water taxi port.  Caye Caulker is our next stop on the trip and it is a hour boat ride from the mainland.  I am ready for some amenities.  The excitement is building again.  We load onto the boat and it is exactly what it says it is.  A taxi.  Thirty or so people are below deck in plastic seats, some tourists, some locals.  Ready.  We pull up to a long wooden dock and we pour out of the boat.  Our luggage is carted off and brought to the mainland and the tag numbers are shouted out.  We walk our luggage to the Barefoot Caribo Hotel and I love it.  I love it.  I love it.  Abby and are put into the Sergeant Room.  Bottom floor, right up front.  I am slightly wishing I could have been up on the third floor.  There are hammocks on every balcony and the weather is perfect.  I am so happy to be here.  SHOWER TIME!  HOT SHOWER!!!!!! Bring it on!!!  I am clean.  Clean.  CLEAN!!!!!  It is a short day due to the traveling and we are tired and hungry.  We all truck down to Wish Willy’s for a group dinner and back to the room to unpack and get ready to walk around.  Some of us get a cocktail, some of us are excited that the internet is finally working.  It is very slow, but now we can blog.  Wait a minute….I can’t upload because it is in and out.  I’m getting irritated with a mixture of gratitude to be able to go back to the states.