Belize, Sustainability, and Auburn Abroad

After an easy and smooth flight, we arrived in Belize around eleven in the morning. We made it through immigration, got our bags, went through customs (rather quickly, surprisingly), met Emmitt who showed us to the bus, and got on our way. As soon as we went outside, we could feel the island-like atmosphere; there were no skyscrapers, and everyone was smiling and seemed very content. While traveling to the resort, we passed numerous shanty towns which reminded me of my travels in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Traveling to these places really made me realize how privileged Americans are and that we are spoiled and take things for granted. Places like these rely on the tourism industry to economically stay afloat and ecotourism is a very important factor because so many tourists come for the nature and wildlife. The way our hotel, the Black Orchid Resort, was set up and decorated allowed the tourists to get a little bit of Belizean culture; it was not one big hotel with abstract art on the walls—there was a picture of a toucan in my room, and in the restaurant there was artwork that (I assume) was locally made. All the people I saw working there were locals which I thought was good because it showed the profit made from the tourists at the hotel was going towards the local economy and their lives. It was very cool to stay at a place that seemed to embrace the nature surrounding it (I could hear the crickets and frogs outside my room and there was a river full of crocodiles 100 feet away). The people who worked there all seemed very nice and to like their jobs, especially Edmund, the boat tour guide who provided an educational yet interesting and fun tour. This hotel appeared very functional from a business standpoint because they were very busy—all the rooms were full the night before we got there—and the overall mood was happy, like the staff were working in this setting because they enjoyed it, not because they had to. Our first day in Belize was a success!