July 21, 2003 • Tropical Ecology Institute • NC Museum of Natural Sciences

After breakfast we headed by boat to the village of Monkey River home of our boat drivers, Clive and Terry. They expertly guided the boats through the mangroves to reach the village, which has a population of 216 people. We all enjoyed what happened next— we got to teach some of the children there! Avril, a Belizean member of our team who teaches at Monkey River, helped divide the kids into groups. We taught the kids about coral polyps, animal habitats, journaling, and number skills.

Eleanor Sandlin, the village council chairperson, showed us the progress on the school that will replace the one destroyed by Hurricane Iris two years ago. We headed to lunch at the Sunset Restaurant and then took a boat ride up Monkey River. We saw a bare-throated tiger heron, turkey vultures, sac-wing bats, a great white egret, slider turtles, pale-billed woodpeckers and mangrove swallows. We caught brief glimpses of manatee as we crossed the lagoon.

We shopped in Placencia (hammocks were very popular!) and returned to Kitty's Place to prepare for our final night in Belize. After our final meeting and dinner we returned to the bar near the beach, where we were treated to live punta music by a local band. They gave us a history lesson and taught us to dance. In turn, we entertained them with our final night skits and presentations. While we were sad to leave Belize and our new Belizean friends, we also were looking forward to coming home and sharing our adventures.

Question of the day: Have you learned any of the Maya language? Is it anything like Spanish? Answer