Belize, Sustainability, and Auburn Abroad

Day three (the second full day) was the most terrifying yet fantastic day I had had in a while. We had to wake up around 5:45 in the morning to go on a birdwatching tour which took us through the Belize Botanical Gardens. After about an hour, we came back to the hotel and ate breakfast which was really good (partly because we got a chocolate chip cookie and partly because we got really good bread). Then we sat around, played darts and later went on the actual botanical gardens tour. The best parts were eating the fruit straight from the tree and getting to go to the top of a platform that overlooked the rainforest. It was very cool to see the rolling hills of forest instead of civilization. We were in the middle of nowhere, completely immersed in the jungle. When we got back to the hotel, we had a delightful chicken (pesto) quesadilla lunch and a delicious desert: a chocolate chip cookie sandwich with strawberry and vanilla ice cream. Afterwards, we had the afternoon to relax so we sat and talked for a while then I went down to the “beach” (rocky sand on the edge of the river). After a couple locals left, I was the only one there for a few minutes and it was so peaceful to stand and listen to the sounds of nature while watching the current and observing the rocky bank and dense vegetation. My favorite part of the day was when everyone came down to the beach and we started canoeing. Caitlyn, Bridgette, and I started rowing upstream so we could float down without much effort. We had gone around a couple of bends, maybe a third of a mile up the river, when the wind picked up and the tree beside us started dropping its fruit into the water— it was like little bombs hitting all around us. We floated back downstream, met up with everyone else and continued down the river for a little bit — big mistake. We drifted down and found a dead spot in the current, waited there for a few minutes, and decided to row back to the beach which turned out to be an extremely hard task. We tried many many times to row through the current but it seemed impossible. We thought maybe if we stayed close to the bank it would be easier but we only got attacked by tree branches. Then, Caitlyn and Bridgette tried standing up and rowing which ended with Caitlyn falling in (twice). Eventually one of the guys in our group swam to us and helped us row back to the beach. Throughout the whole adventure, I could not stop laughing and smiling. Even though we were completely failing, it was so much fun. After we got done canoeing, we went up to the bar and played some card games and Mafia, then ate dinner. The most terrifying part of the day was the night hike. I expected to be a little scared because it was night in a foreign place with super dangerous animals, but I did not expect to be as frightened as I was. It started off fine because we were walking through areas we had been before, the office and gardens, and saw some frogs and leaf cutter ants, but then we ventured further into the gardens. At one point, our guide, Wilfred (who also did the birdwatching tour), told us to be quiet and have a buddy beside us at all times. Later he told us it was because they had seen jaguars on that part of the trail before. The trail ended at a place a couple of us had explored the day before so it was nice actually knowing where we were, but of course we continued to dive right in to the rainforest where there was no path, only mud and overgrown plants. This was when I wanted to be done with the tour but luckily it did not last too long. After a few minutes of hoping I would not step on a snake or one did not fall out of a tree on me, we came out at the beach and headed straight back up to our rooms. Even though it was scary, it was a fun and interesting tour to do because we were there, first hand in the jungle, where we could see anything.
The hotel was super fun because of all the nature that surrounded it and the people that worked there. They were all very laid back and friendly, like the other Belizeans we had met. They seemed to have a carefree lifestyle which is the opposite of most Americans. We stress a lot about silly things and the Belizeans appeared to be living their lives without any worry. We need more of that in our culture because people put so much pressure and stress on others which only creates more problems than solutions. The lodge had signs that read “duPlooy’s supports responsible use of resources” and “support the gardens” in the bar, and in the rooms, there were signs that said to do certain things, all of which were stated in order to protect and preserve the environment. The fruit in the botanical gardens was grown organically, another way to not harm the nature in the area; although, the orchid house was disappointing because all of the plants looked very dried out, like no one had taken care of it in a while. Aside from that, it was another exciting and adventurous day in Belize.