Belize, Sustainability, and Auburn Abroad

We did not do too much today besides travel, but it was still an enjoyable day. After we ate another delicious breakfast at the San Ignacio Resort, we met up with Shen-li and began our two-hour bumpy journey back to Belize City. We got dropped off at the port, where we waited for the ferry to San Pedro. When we got on, Dr. Wade, Caitlyn, and I decided to sit upstairs in the open air. Instead of being cooped up inside, I was having a blast getting sprayed by waves as we glided through beautiful bright blue and crystal-clear water. We made a stop at Caye Caulker before continuing to San Pedro where we picked up our bags and walked to the Sunbreeze Hotel, which was right on the water. We had some time when we got there before lunch so I did some exploring. I went down to the beach (not a real beach, just some sand on concrete), went up to the roof, and found a nice room with a couple hammocks and a pretty view. After lunch, we used golf carts to go (on a major detour) to Caye Coffee, a coffee roasting company. After learning about how the business got started, we heard about where the beans came from and how to roast them to get the desired result. Afterwards, we headed to the Mahogany Chocolate Factory (again after a detour) where we had to split into two groups. While the first group went, we explored the area and got ice cream. When it was our turn, we put on hair nets and aprons and learned about the chocolate making process which encompassed everything starting with where cocoa came from and ending with how to temper and package the chocolate. We made our own chocolate bars and headed back to the hotel on our golf carts. On the way back, and when we were coming in on the water taxi, I noticed how much construction was in progress on the island, much of which were new hotels. Every time I looked, it seemed as if a bigger hotel than the last had just begun to be built which meant they were destroying the environment and disrupting the locals. If hotels start to take over on the island, the local culture will take a hard hit because it will turn into a tourist culture and things will become more directed towards the people coming in, which might help the economy, but will still damage the local community. Also, it was interesting to see a big resort on one side of the road, and a shack house on the other. Maybe that meant the revenue created by tourism was going towards the big corporations/hotels that had established themselves there, instead of the locals. If that was the case, that is not how it should be. Tourists come to these areas to enjoy the natural beauty of the area, and seeing all of these locals living in poverty, many in dirty conditions, might deter some visitors so it makes sense for revenue to be put back into community in order to improve the locals lives and the environment around them. At the hotel I noticed they used paper straws which was environmentally beneficial because it breaks down quicker than plastic and also, the locals used clothes lines which cuts back on the electricity needed by using renewable energy.

In Belize, we had now been to the rain forest, the city, and the beach which was really cool to be able to do in one trip and I am sad that tomorrow is our last day, but I am looking forward to being a student at Auburn.

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Side Note: I was the last one at the bar so the worker said because I was doing homework I could stay and to turn the lights off when I was finished— kind of cool to be able to shut the place down.