My arrival in Belize

Trip Start May 01, 2008

Trip End Aug 24, 2008

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Where I stayed

Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

(Belize City hotels)

Flag of Belize Belize City, Belize District, Belize
Friday, May 2, 2008

I woke up bright and early and caught my 9:40 flight to Belize City. It was about a 2.5 hour flight. The plane was pretty empty so i had two first class seats all to myself! I couldnt keep my eyes off the ocean when we were close to landing. The sight of the blue waters and beaches of Mexico was pretty exciting. As expected when I stepped of the plane I was hit with very humid +30 temperatures, I had been waiting for a long time for that! As my bag came around the carosel I noticed that it and a few other bags around it were covered in soapy bubbles. I was worried that it came from my backpack as i had to bring biodegradable laundry soap with me as it is much cheaper to buy at home than here in Belize. Luckily though it wasnt from my bag and everything made the trip intact.

I had been warned by a few people about the Belize City bus station and how it is a bit rough. I was a bit concerned about this but it is much cheaper to take a bus (3.50BZ) than to take a cab which would have cost me about $40BZ. It wouldnt have been too bad if i had just a small bag but i did feel a bit vulnerable with my backpack and two smaller bags. I was the only traveler there apparently but I had no problems. I had one Belizean guy trying to do a portrait of me but it was actually good because no one else bothered me and he helped me to get to the right bus and told me how the busses work. He was harmless and I was happy to pay him a couple bucks for helping me out. The buses in Belize are old school busses so it wasnt the most luxurious trip but I only had to go about half an hour. The bus dropped me off at the entrance to Monkey Bay. By the time I walked in I was sweating buckets! Everyone was pretty much off doing things so i got a quick tour from Rafina who takes care of a lot of the jobs around Monkey Bay and was on my own to organize my stuff and look around.

Shortly after a group of teachers arrived from a swim at the river and lunch was served. I met Anna, who takes car of the administrative stuff and also works with groups and has a similar role as Rafina around Monkey Bay. She used to be an intern but returned and is now working here. Sam is my roomate and will likely be here for the same duration as me. Jimmy is the other intern, he is working primarily with the iguana project here and he leaves in a month. There are apparently about 20 iguana eggs incubating in the iguana enclosure right now and I am looking forward to seeing them hatch. Once they hatch they will be released to help replenish the iguana population around Monkey Bay.

A intern from the zoo (Stephen) and also a girl who is doing spider monkey research (Kayla) stopped by to use the wireless internet here to check mail and then they invited me to go with them to Amigos. Amigos is a bar and restaurant that is just a couple minute walk from Monkey Bay. It was a lot of fun. I had my first Belikin beer and stew chicken. The stew chicken is basically a national dish. The chicken is stewed in creole spices and served with rice and beans and a side of coleslaw. It was delish! All in all it was a great first day in Belize. The other interns are leaving today to meet a group of students from Kamloops in Cockscomb and wont be back until Monday so things will be fairly slow around here and I will have time to relax, check out the river for a swim, maybe do some slacklining and get used to this heat.