Tuesday, July 18–Wednesday July 26, 2006

Tuesday, July 18
Raleigh — Belize City — Macal River
The 17th annual Tropical Ecology Institute will begin in the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where we will board our flight to Miami. Upon arrival in Belize City, we will meet our naturalist guide as well as two Belizean teachers who will participate in the Institute with us. We will then travel to the Bermudian Landing Howler Monkey Sanctuary — a unique voluntary sanctuary established in 1985 by local farmers, the Belize Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund. Black howler monkeys — called baboons by locals — live in small, closely knit groups which are often quite accessible to researchers and visitors. After visiting the Sanctuary, we will get on the Western Highway and drive to Crystal Paradise Resort, a lovely, family-owned lodge located on a hillside above the Macal River in the Cayo District.

Belize Institute Google Earth Tour
  Link will open in Google Earth if you have it. (Free download)

Wednesday, July 19
Macal River — Caracol
After breakfast and early morning birding, we will travel through the Mountain Pine Ridge to the rainforests of the Vaca Plateau adjoining the Maya Mountains. We will continue on to the sprawling Mayan ruins of Caracol, located deep in the rainforest beyond the mountains. Caracol was once a rival of Tikal and there are Maya carvings on temples that commemorate Caracol’s victory and domination over Tikal, though no one is really sure if all the victories were in warfare or if some may have been in sporting events. The ruins of Caracol are truly spectacular but they are less often visited by tourists even though there is now an all-weather road leading to the site. On our return, we will stop and swim at Rio On Pools where a mountain river cascades over huge boulders. We will have a brief visit to Rio Frio Cave before returning to Crystal Paradise late in the afternoon — just in time to freshen up before enjoying a home-cooked dinner.

Thursday, July 20
Macal River
This morning we will travel to a location upstream on the Macal River where canoes will be waiting. From here we will paddle leisurely down this beautiful tropical river and will have the opportunity to observe a variety of birds and other animals, including huge iguanas sunning themselves on overhanging tree branches. When we reach the Panti Maya Medicine Trail, we will rest the canoes on the river bank and take a walk through the jungle to learn about the abundant medicinal plants that grow in Belize. Many of these plants have proven their worth in modern Western medicine, and the benefits of many more have yet to be discovered. (The New York Botanical Garden and the National Cancer Institute have been involved in research projects here.) We will have lunch at Chaa Creek Cottages and then return to our canoes and continue down the river all the way to Crystal Paradise, stopping often to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. We will quickly change out of our canoeing attire and head to the Slate Creek Preserve for a chance to visit one of the unique caves in the region. We will return to the lodge with time to work on journals or to enjoy the surroundings before our last home-cooked meal at Crystal Paradise.

Friday, July 21
Macal River — Caves Branch — Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve
After breakfast, we will take the Western Highway to the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center for a close-up look at native jungle animals and to learn about the conservation projects and environmental education work sponsored by the zoo. Lunch will be at a local restaurant and if time permits we will stop at the market in Belmopan, the capital of Belize. Then we will travel southeast across Belize on the Hummingbird Highway, the most scenic road in Belize. A quick dip at the Blue Hole will refresh us. We will drive out of the mountains and back into coastal savannahs on our way to the village of Maya Center, the access point for the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve. Created by the Belize government in 1984, the Jaguar Preserve was the first protected area to be managed specifically for this elusive cat. This unique sanctuary covers an area of about 150 square miles of tropical forest and is the culmination of many years of work and perseverance by individuals and organizations. Our accommodations will be simple and we will spend the next two nights here as our base so that we can fully explore the preserve and visit the southern part of Belize.

Saturday, July 22
Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve — Monkey River
This morning we will travel out of the preserve and down the Southern Highway to the Monkey River. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has been a supporter of the school here at Monkey River for many years and we will have the opportunity today to visit the school and learn about their current activities and future projects. Lunch will be prepared for us at Clive’s and then we will return to the Cockscomb Basin. Later in the afternoon we will explore the forest of the Jaguar Preserve. Four other wild cats roam the Southern Maya Mountains — margay, ocelot, jaguarondi and mountain lion. Though it is very unlikely to see jaguar because they are primarily nocturnal, we will certainly see evidence of their presence. We will try to have dinner at Ernesto’s near Maya Center. In the evening we will take a walk in the forest and search for nocturnal animals.

Sunday, July 23
Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve — Dangriga — South Water Caye
After a morning hike to a waterfall, we will leave the Jaguar Preserve and drive up the Caribbean coast to the town of Dangriga where our boat will be waiting to take us to the island of South Water Caye. South Water Caye is located directly on the Great Barrier Reef of Belize, which is the second largest coral reef in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. South Water Caye is a small island of white sands and coconut palms and our accommodations will be located right at the water’s edge (with great snorkeling right from the beach). Of course, our meals will feature fresh seafood along with home grown vegetables and fruits. In the afternoon we will have an orientation to the island and the barrier reef before practicing our snorkeling skills for as long as we like along the inner reef.

Monday, July 24
South Water Caye Marine Reserve
This morning we will board boats for a snorkeling excursion to some of the great sites in the calm, protected waters of South Water Caye Marine Reserve, the largest marine park in Belize. The coral is fabulous and some of the fascinating fish we will likely see include rainbow parrotfish, Nassau grouper and spotted eagle ray. In the afternoon we will be free to relax and enjoy more snorkeling right from the beach. After dinner we will snorkel from the beach with lights in order to see how the colors change as the coral opens up.

Tuesday, July 25
South Water Caye
After breakfast we will enjoy a great day on our tropical island as we go out snorkeling again by boat. In addition to more wonderful snorkeling sites we will visit Carrie Bow Caye, the location of the Smithsonian’s marine research facility, to learn about the work going on there. The afternoon will be completely free for more snorkeling. Tonight we will have entertainment planned as a special treat.

Wednesday, July 26
South Water Caye — Dangriga — Belize City — Raleigh
Breakfast will be early and then we will leave at 8 a.m. and travel again by boat to Dangriga where our vehicle will be waiting to take us overland to Belize International Airport to catch our flight to home to Raleigh.