8 May 2013
Today
was a day dedicated to travel. We were
all packed and waiting outside our cabins just after 7 o’clock and as much as I
didn’t want to leave Las Cuevas I had become comfortable with waking up at four
in the morning so anything after eight just seemed late. We ate our last delicious breakfast courtesy
of Angie and packed the school bus for our final trip out of the forest. I remembered my first trip in this school bus
and how terrified I was but now, after getting to know Alberto, I felt
completely safe on this final bus ride.
I used this time to reflect on my experiences on this trip thus
far. I realized that a trip out of the
country or someplace extremely different from your everyday life is essential
to refocus one’s life. It is so easy to
get caught up in unimportant details, worrying about what everyone thinks you
should do with your life instead of what you want to do with your life and in
the Chiquibul Forest I felt like I was able to catch my breath for the first
time in years.
Arriving
at Caye Caulker was a slight culture shock.
Suddenly, we had our choice of restaurants, bars, shops, and so many
people to talk to! We didn’t have much
time to really explore, just a few drinks by the beach and a dip in the water
and I was ready for bed.
9 May 2013
Our
first real day on Caye Caulker began with breakfast at Wish Willy’s, where we
would be eating three meals a day for the next five days. I was anxious to get out on the water and
couldn’t wait to snorkel at the reef. I
found it more difficult to work in the water, it was hard to talk to Ali, the
instructor, and I was being sloshed around and kept knocking into him. I was amazed by the biodiversity on the reef
compared to the forest though. We saw
tons of fish species, coral species, algae, and even a moray eel! We also visited shark and ray alley where we
had the chance to swim with and pet nurse sharks and humongous rays.
10 May 2013
Today
we headed out to the Marine Reserve Headquarters along with Helen McRae, the
biologist who has been working on this mangrove island for decades. They have a mangrove restoration project
which I found extremely interesting and relevant to the Florida environment. The Riley encasement method is used to create
a type of mangrove nursery, giving propagules a chance to grow and mature. I was surprised at how long it takes
mangroves to grow to a size where they have the ability to be completely stable
on their own, almost ten years!
After
taking some mangrove measurements on the island, we headed offshore to measure
the density of the sea grasses. Some
difficulties I found with this were the disturbance of sand created by our
movement, trying to stay in one place with waves moving all around us, and
trying to collect sea grass samples fully intact. On our way back to Caye Caulker we stopped by
a massive Tarpon hang out and Will almost lost his finger to the beasts! We made it back with all fingers intact though.
11 May 2013
This
day was more focused on the policy, regulations, and enforcement in Caye
Caulker in relation to the marine environment.
Seasons are pretty strict in this area and many fish and shellfish have
size, number, and species limitations.
It is one of Ali’s jobs to regularly inspect fish markets and restaurants
for any illegal catches but he was explaining that it can be very difficult to
charge these people for actually breaking the rules because it is so resource
intensive. At the fish market, our group
had the opportunity to see a fisherman filleting his catch of queen conch and
he even let us take a bite of one fresh out of the shell. It is an unexplainable bonding experience to
eat from the same queen conch.
Then we
got out on the boat to observe the activities of the tour guides on their boats
at the reef. On our watch, everyone was
following regulations as to how many people were allowed on the boats and the
proper way to anchor. Aldo was telling
us they maintain a regular presence out there and I believe that helps a lot
with efficient regulations.
12 May 2013
I feel
our time here in Belize is slowing down; we all kind of have that “go slow”
attitude about us. Today was Abbey’s
birthday so we spent much of the first day at the beach, enjoying some live
reggae music. In the evening though, we
met in the establishment of Friends of Swallow Caye for a presentation on their
work with the manatees in the area. It
was great to see a local community that is so dedicated to protecting their
natural environment and is mostly run by volunteers.
13 May 2013
This
will be our last full day on Caye Caulker and a free one at that. I opted to spend the time relaxing, going to
the beach with Abbey, and eating a delicious conch kebob lunch just before the
conch season ends. I took this time to
reflect on my time at Caye Caulker and although I had a great time, it was more
vacation-like than school-like. I also
realized that I was much more comfortable in the forest than I was in the water
where I often felt unproductive and incapable.
All in all, I got much more from the experience in the Chiquibul than I
did in Caye Caulker, although, I did get some good souvenirs to bring back to
my family!
14 May 2013
It’s
officially time to leave Belize and I’m actually very surprised at my emotions
right now. This is the longest I had
ever been away from my home at any one time and I don’t miss anything, like
nothing at all. I’m actually not even
ready to leave, I feel like I could just continue on to another country from
here but all good things must come to an end.
I’ve learned things on this trip about myself and what I am capable of
that will probably change my life forever, so for that I thank Dr. Alegria, Dr.
Dixon, and all of the amazing people that made this possible!
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