August 1, 2006

Surprisingly enough, the 10-hour travel to Belize was not as bad as I had suspected. The time on the plane seemed to go by pretty fast, which was good. We finally arrived in the international airport near Belize City. The first thing that struck us was how hot and humid the environment was. The immigration officers were definitely not the friendliest bunch, but after getting through them, it was pretty mellow. After about a one hour bus ride, we arrived at Monkey Bay Camp. My first impressions of the camp and Belize in general were not good, for about the first two hours everyone was a bit on edge. We got over that though when we got to the kitchen. They served tostadas, banana bread, and freshly squeezed orange juice, and it was one of the best meals I have ever had. After dinner, we got a special tour of the only zoo in Belize. We got to see many different species of snakes, large cats, rodents, mountain cows (tapir), birds, and other stuff. The monkeys and the large cats were probably the most exciting. I am really looking forward to the rest of the trip, and hopefully we will all stay hydrated and lathered up with bug repellent.
- John Helfrich


Luke holds a boa constrictor during our night tour of the Belize Zoo