Final Blog Post - Goodbye Belize...until next year

Blog writing has definitely been new to me, and I hope it’s been somewhat entertaining to follow. I’ve found it difficult to encapsulate the experiences we’ve had into words. I’m confronted with this same difficulty as I seek to wrap up this trip in one last blog post.

I’ll start by picking up where I had left off. We had just left the island of Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef Atoll headed for Belize City. In Belize City, we had a relatively condensed agenda with time to check in to our lodging at The Great House, have a quick lunch, and then travel to the Belize Chamber of Commerce to hear two speakers. The agenda became even tighter when we returned to find that one of our vans had a flat tire. Apparently, the incredibly bumpy roads had taken their toll. We managed to shuttle students to the Chamber of Commerce and stick to our original schedule with minor adjustments.

We were able to hear from the Executive Director of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Celene Cleland-Gomez about the extent to which sustainability is integrated into regular business practices in Belize. Following Mrs. Gomez, we learned about the great work of The Nature Conservancy in Belize from Mrs. Julie Stockbridge who discussed the challenges of preserving Belize’s marine environment. From there, we shuttled back and forth to The Great House, and the formal part of our course was over. After two of our students, Chris and Dave, put the spare on the second van, we made our way out for one last dinner together in Belize. The next day, we enjoyed breakfast, some shopping to support the Belizean economy and got everyone to the airport and made our way back home.

As I write this, I’ve been home for four days and am still adjusting. There are little adjustments like trying to remember that I don’t drive a stick shift at home to the large adjustments like the 60 degree drop in average temperature. Instead of being somewhat responsible for 15 students on the trip, I’m now responsible for the daily needs of my two precious children. I am no longer in an environment that compels me to be judicious in my use of natural resources. In our retreat center in the rainforest, it was impossible to take a shower that was longer than 60-90 seconds. All of us on the trip were so aware of the design of this center to minimally impact the environment that none of us dared stay in any longer than absolutely necessary. In the comfort of my bathroom at home, I find myself fighting the urge for the long, hot shower.

One of the largest adjustments for me has been leaving our group that made this class incredibly special. Going into the course, I knew most of the students taking part in the course. Yet, I had no idea how amazing a group had signed up as, dare I say, “pioneers” on this first course. You learn a lot about people when you spend 15 hours out of every day with them in a cramped van, hiking through the rainforest, sweating as you try to maintain focus listening to a cultural expert in a hot building or on a two hour boat ride that no one thinks will fit all of us upon first sight. I learned that we had an incredible group of really dedicated and adaptable students, and if our world’s future is partially in your hands, then we’re going to be all right. I’m still adjusting to not being around all of you and I look forward to seeing you again next quarter.

Here’s the end of this post, so it’s likely the part where you’re expecting penetrating insight. I hope I can deliver. Through our eleven days in Belize we witnessed countless examples of individuals and leaders in Belize who are daily impacting sustainability. I think we will all remember Gliss who took a change in his job duties as an officer for a non-profit organization in stride. This change involved him wearing a camouflage uniform along with carrying a gun in order to protect the Chiquibul National Forest from illegal looting, farming, and hunting. Our stays in the rainforest at Jaguar Creek and on Long Caye at Calypso Beach Retreat will also be memorable in the efforts made there to be environmentally responsible including solar power, composting toilets, and preserving mangrove among many others. Learning about the efforts of an oil exploration company to go about their endeavors differently is another of these examples. Throughout the short history of this independent democracy, there are leaders who are choosing to look at the long-term impact of their choices. In a number of ways, Belize is a developing country and they have much progress to make. In significantly more ways, we have much to learn from them about the nature of “progress”. 

Last Day on the Island

We really had a marvelous stay on Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef Atoll, and today, we head back to the mainland for a few more presentations and then back to Denver tomorrow. 


The highlights from our trip to the island included a SCUBA/snorkeling trip where we saw sharks, turtles, colorful fish, and a manta ray, watching the infinite number of stars each night as the wind blew hard (sometimes with rain), a bonfire on the beach, in addition to a great discussion of the course material with a group of incredibly dedicated students who managed to not let the view of the Caribbean distract them. The island has well documented eco-guidelines for anyone who develops property on the island. Property owners must use renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, have compostable toilets only, and must seek permission before removing any tree or bush. One interesting guideline was putting kayaks, canoes, etc. away from the shore as well to not interfere with turtles laying their eggs in the sand. There are a few others, and it's clear that all of the guidelines are not followed all the time, but it's definitely a worthwhile start.


We've had such fantastic hosts throughout our trip to Belize. On the island, we've had our host and chef Jennifer, our dive guide and Belizean expert who serenaded us at the bonfire, Mr. Reed, our captain and dive master Mr. Ish, and F (which stands for all things that F stands for), who was the first mate who helped with just about everything including making us laugh and starting the bonfire. We were fairly packed into our accommodations at Calypso Beach Retreat (www.calypsobeachretreat.com), which we knew going into it. We had a few visitors that were unexpected in the Noseeum's, bugs that gave some gifts to a number of the students as going away presents. All in all, it's hard to complain when you are 30 yards from some of the most beautiful water in the world, and a sting ray, octopus and glowing fish were spotted from our pier. 


We leave in about two hours and will arrive in Belize City to wrap up what has been an amazing adventure, one in which we hope continues in different forms for years to come. 

Rainforest in the morning, Caribbean in the afternoon

We left our home in the rainforest this morning. It was sad to leave. As I mentioned, we were well taken care of, and I already miss the sound of the howler monkeys.

As many of you who are following my blog from Colorado know, we have a saying that Colorado is often a place where you can ski in the morning, and drive to Denver and play golf in the afternoon. Well, Belize is a place where you can be in the rainforest in the morning, then drive and take a boat and be on an island in the Caribbean in the afternoon. After a 90 minute boat ride, we arrived at Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef Atoll (www.belizeisland.com). We are here because it's an island that is being developed as a model of environmental sustainability, and not a bad place to visit too. It's also quite an amazing place we can add to our destinations for this trip, and not just because it's an island in the Caribbean.

Tomorrow, we will spend some time in "our classroom" reviewing our course materials and the experiences we have had thus far. Tuesday, we will experience snorkeling and SCUBA diving at the Blue Hole, a remarkable site. I'll write more then.

A few more photos

A real life journey to the center of the Earth

With a really heavy, front loaded course, today was planned for an off day to explore the rainforest and allow for some down time. I guess we have an active group, as we all agreed that we wanted to go on a cave expedition. So, after another wonderful breakfast from our hosts at Jaguar Creek (special thanks to Fermin Oliveira and everyone here who makes it such a wonderful place to stay), we ventured to our neighbor Caves Branch (www.cavesbranch.com) where we were led on a tour of a magnificent cave system. We learned about a number of rituals led by the Ancient Maya people throughout the caves. It was an awesome feeling knowing that we were underneath the earth, or more specifically, under about 150 feet of limestone with the rainforest on top of that. I cannot imagine many other places in the world where you can have this same experience.

Afterwards, we returned to our launch point at the river and found some of our students jumping off a 25 foot cliff into a deep section of the river. All of us jumped at the chance to jump. What an exhilarating feeling jumping off, trusting that you weren’t going to crash into the ground because the students before you didn’t. The feeling of flying through the air was amazing. It seemed to take so long between the time that I jumped until the time that my feet splashed loudly in the water.

From there, we returned back to Jaguar Creek. It’s the first day we returned in the middle of the afternoon, instead of dusk or into the early evening. So, of course, we decided to rest up and recuperate, right? Well, not really. Instead, we went to Blue Hole National Park (the other blue hole in Belize). The park is down the road from Jaguar Creek and is a natural swimming hole and deep blue in color. So, we of course climbed up cliff next to it and jumped again.

Throughout this trip, we have probably put close to 1,000 miles on each of our two diesel vans, and the irony of leading a trip on sustainability is not lost on us, as we use many hydrocarbons to view all of these beautiful areas. My hope is that we are making a difference in the way that stories are told, not only in the lives of our students and those they will touch, but also in supporting the places like the Belize Zoo, Friends for Conservation and Development, The Nature Conservancy and others who are doing this great work.

That’s it for today. I may try to post some new pictures tonight, but that may be what’s crashing our Internet, so I’m going to wait and see.

Past Two Days: Oil, Animals, and Mayans

Our Internet connection (in the rainforest) cut out the past two nights, so I was unable to get a blog post up either night. I wrote the post below just before the Internet went down last night. 

Tonight, I’m tired from being up at 5:00 in the morning, in order to get to and from Caracol today. So, I want to write an update, but it will be a bit brief. 

In short, the trip is going really well. Yesterday, we spent the morning and lunch at Belize Natural Energy (www.belizenaturalenergy.bz), the only company that has produced oil in Belize. Oil is obviously not considered by most to be a sustainable resource. However, this might be the best oil company you ever come across. They are making a lot of money with the newfound oil, but they are doing it in a socially responsible way and in a number of ways that are responsible environmentally. They have a great story, and convincing evidence that they are going about business in a different and exciting way.

We followed that visit with a trip to the Belize Zoo (www.belizezoo.org), which was amazing on a number of levels. Not only did each one of us get to feed a tapir and high five a jaguar, but we also got to meet Sharon Matola, the founder of the zoo. Sharon is an amazing woman who took in a few monkeys that were going to be discarded from a film she assisted with, and has built a tremendous zoo. She is a great example of a citizen leader that has made a tangible impact in the sustainability of wildlife in Belize.

We returned tonight from a long drive from Caracol, a Mayan city that thrived for over 1000 years and at one point was home to over 150,000 citizens (about half the current population of Belize).

Some amazing highlights indeed. I hope to write more tomorrow after our cave tubing adventure!

A few photos

A Most Dangerous People

We heard the howler monkeys for the first time this morning at 3:18 a.m. If I hadn’t watched a video clip with the sound of a howler monkey two days before, I would have been scared out of my mind. The sound they make to protect their territory is disturbing. It sounds nothing like a monkey, but more like a sound from the X Files or the sound a T Rex might make (thanks Nichole Parker for the reference). Actually, they are getting an early start tonight as they are going crazy right now at about 9:25 p.m. Just hearing them is worth the trip.

We spent the day today visiting Dangriga and the Gulisi Garifuna Museum (www.ngcbelize.org). We had the pleasure of talking with the Museum Director Peter Ciego. Mr. Ciego was so informative and shared the history of how the Garinagu, (plural of Garifuna), came to Belize and withstood efforts of genocide by the British and have managed to sustain and preserve their culture to this day. He presented a section of text from a British document stating that they were “a most dangerous people”. Yes, I think you will find that people who fight back when you try to take their land from them can and, perhaps, should be dangerous. The museum is just one of a number of steps that community leaders in Belize have created to sustain the Garifuna culture, in addition to a national holiday that is now celebrated by all Belizeans, whether they have Garifuna heritage or not. It was an important part of the course to see how culture can be sustained within a developing country.

We took the opportunity of being close to the Caribbean to jump in for the first time. Thank you so much to our gracious hosts at Jungle Jeanie’s by the Sea (www.junglebythesea.com). Then we returned to Jaguar Creek on the Hummingbird Highway. It is really hard to describe the beauty of the Hummingbird Highway. Surrounded by mountains and dense, lush rainforest, it was impossible to pay attention to all of the speed bumps on the road (there are many), so I’d like to make a public apology to all of the passengers in my van for the few times that we may have hit a bump a bit too fast.

That’s it for tonight. Tomorrow, we go to Belize Natural Energy and the Belize Zoo. More to come tomorrow night.  

Official Day One: Galen University, meeting the M A Y O R, and damaging a Budget rental van

(sorry, picture wouldn't load and I need to sleep :))

Today was the first official day of our course. We had the privilege of hearing about issues of sustainability in Belize from two professors at Galen University as well as a technical officer from a quasi-governmental organization called Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT). In addition, we met a number of Belizean students who joined us for two of the presentations. It was a great start to the day and I had a moment where it all seemed surreal that we were really here, in a classroom in a Belizean university hearing from local experts on sustainability issues.

The first presentation was primarily on watershed management and ways that community leaders are partnering with the university to protect streamside forests. He also discussed the issues facing Belize including the huge national debt, and the huge foreign investment from the United States of America. It seems like there are a lot of people in the country committed to preserving the vast natural resources. At the same time, the highways we travel are often littered with trash, and in a couple instances, we witnessed large mounds of trash being burned.

We then heard about the Mayan culture and the ways in which space is being created for the Mayan culture to be embraced. The challenge presented is the way that development is seen as a linear process from underdeveloped to developed. Difference is not seen as a positive, nor even relevant. Rather, the Mayans are being judged by Western standards of development as underdeveloped and in need of help. Toledo is the district within Belize where the largest concentration of Mayans live and its poverty data compared with the rest of the country is staggering. One telling statistic is the percentage of child poverty in the country compared with the Toledo District. In Belize as a nation, the child poverty rate is an overwhelming 39%. However, that seems minuscule when compared with the poverty rate of the Toledo District which is 84.5%. The larger issue presented was the lack of the ability for Mayans to determine their own future. In a hopeful sign, a group of Mayans recently won a court ruling that settled a long existing dispute and granted them land rights. It was a victory and a hopeful sign for many Mayan people who are fearful of their way of being disappearing.

The final presentation was from a technical officer from PACT dedicated to funding grants throughout Belize to preserve protected areas. She told a great story about a women’s group that came together to fund efforts to maintain the howler monkey population within protected areas. In addition to their successful efforts in repopulating howler monkeys throughout Belize, they personally developed skills in marketing, and non-profit management and the funds opened new, more economically viable careers to them. On the other hand, the officer also spoke of the distribution of funds by district within the country and Toledo received far less funding than any of the other five districts in Belize. The reasoning was the lack of capacity for the organizations in Toledo, which came across as also neglecting the needs of a population for self determination.

The excitement of the afternoon happened when one of our vans was rear ended by another car. Some minor damage and it seems that everyone is all right. Having an accident in the U.S. is enough of an ordeal, but having to deal with it in Belize was another matter altogether. We were waiting in a parking lot for the Belmopan police to come when a car pulled up with a license plate that said “M A Y O R”. He happened to be shopping at an adjacent store, so I got to meet the Mayor of Belmopan, who seemed more than a bit disinterested in our accident and our leadership course. He did welcome us to Belize and share his best wishes for a good trip though.

We received a lot of rain last night and the local wisdom is the rain kept the howler monkeys away. It’s a clear night tonight, so I’ll let you know if we get the joy of being awoken in the wee hours of the morning. 

Students Arrive!!!

Our class adventure begins today...our fifteen students arrived in Belize, and I was quite amazed at how smooth it was. Fifteen students traveling from a few different destinations (mostly Denver) all to Belize. It helped that there were only two major U.S. airlines flying into Belize City and that their scheduled arrivals were within 6 minutes of one another. We quickly packed up all of our luggage and packed 9 people into each van (I'm not sure which was the tighter fit, the luggage or the people). We managed to make it to Jaguar Creek, our home in the rainforest for the next week, in a little under two hours. Our hosts had a wonderful, traditional Belizean meal ready for us: grilled chicken, rice and beans, and fried plantains with pineapple or papaya juice to drink. 


It was already dark when we arrived, so we did not get a chance to see much of our surroundings. I believe it's a full moon tonight, although my son Will would be quick to point out...


Sorry, have to take a pause here. It just started raining, the sound of rain pouring down suddenly in the rainforest...it's an amazing sound, so natural, so right, perfect. 


...Will would be quick to point out that the moon is technically never "full". So, it's a bit brighter out than it might be otherwise, but the splendor of the rainforest is still under dark cover until the morning. We were told that the full moon promises to bring out the howler monkeys more so than normal. For a sample of what we're in store for in the EARLY a.m., check out this link for a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV22Ua3zwN4. 


I need to get some sleep, so I can be wide awake to hear the sounds of the howler monkeys...I'm putting my headlamp on and walking to my cabana.  

Our Itinerary in Belize

I’m sure it gets old for some, but for me, getting on a plane leaving the country is exhilarating. It was an overwhelming feeling just stepping onto the jetway and walking to seat 20E for my 3 hour flight from Dallas to Belize City. Compared to a number of my colleagues, friends, and students, I haven’t traveled a great deal internationally, so the excitement I feel in going to a different country and culture is palpable. Of course, I hope that feeling never goes away. All of the worries that went into the planning of this trip just melted away and were replaced by possibility.

I had a few questions on Facebook about where we were going, so I thought it would be worthwhile to share our itinerary, or at least the highlights. I am typing this on my flight to Belize City and will post when we arrive at our lodging at The Great House in Belize City (Picture above is the view from my room at The Great House). I am going with the director of our program a day early to get settled, before we greet 15 students and our program coordinator at the airport tomorrow.

So, we will spend one day in Belize City before we venture inland to a conference center called Jaguar Creek (www.jaguarcreek.org). That will be our home base for the majority of the trip, and is located south of Belmopan which is the capital of Belize. Jaguar Creek was originally founded as an environmental education center, and is now owned and operated by Pathlight Ministries. It is set on over 700 acres of rainforest, and is really a remarkable place.

From Jaguar Creek, we will visit a university in Belize called Galen University and our students will get to meet and learn with Belizean students. They will also get to hear from a few experts on issues of sustainability and leadership in Belize. Next we go to Belize Natural Energy (www.belizenaturalenergy.bz), the first and only oil company in Belize, to hear about their efforts to develop the oil industry in Belize in a sustainable manner. Other highlights include visiting the Mayan city of Caracol with EcoQuest (www.fcdbelize.org), the Belize Zoo (www.belizezoo.org), and the city of Dangriga to learn about the efforts to preserve the Garifuna culture (www.ngcbelize.org). Oh, yeah, we are also probably going cave tubing on our “off” day (www.cavesbranch.com).

From there, we cross back over the mainland to Belize City where we will board a boat or two to go to Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef (www.belizeisland.com). This is an island that is being developed and the owner of the island is going to great lengths to ensure that it is a model of sustainable development. From there, we will go snorkeling and SCUBA diving around Belize’s barrier reef, which is the second largest continuous reef in the world. Finally, we come back to Belize city to hear presentations from business leaders further exploring the concepts of sustainability (www.belize.org).

So, those are the details/plans for the trip, the content, if you will. I hope you follow my blog to hear the experience and the process of this trip. 

Planning the course

I'm not sure who is going to read this, but I'm guessing that's the nature of blogging, huh? As is often the case, I found myself inspired by the great work of my students...this time, to write a blog for our first interterm course through the Pioneer Leadership Program to Belize. A number of our students write blogs while studying abroad, and the students taking this course will have to write reflection journals (not quite a blog, but along the same lines). So, with their efforts as inspiration I have embarked on my own blog. My hope is to write at least once a day while in Belize. At some point, I should probably mention that the views contained herein are solely mine and do not reflect the opinions of the University of Denver. We're always good about making sure our risk is managed.

Right now, it is the middle of November and we leave for Belize in just under two weeks and the class will be 10 nights/11 days. I am in the throes of planning the final details for the course, and it is quite an ordeal. A few highlights: figuring out lodging for 15 students and 3 faculty/staff in the rainforest, on an island, and in a city that doesn't have a lot of hotels; finalizing time, place, topic for 8 speakers; coordinating trips to two museums, a zoo, Mayan ruins, and an oil company; and various other details like coordinating planes, boats and automobiles.

I keep telling myself that once I get 98% of the details finalized, I'll actually be able to relax and then be ready to enjoy the trip. I know, I know...I hear the sound of the world's smallest violin playing for me. After I get everything planned, I get to go to Belize. Not only do I get to learn from a number of experts and leaders about issues of environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability, but I also will be sleeping in the rainforest, tubing through caves, hiking and exploring the Mayan city of Caracol, and snorkeling the second largest Barrier Reef in the world.

It should be a fantastic trip and I look forward to telling you all about it. For now, I am looking outside at the snow still on the ground in Denver, getting ready for Thanksgiving, and then on to Belize.