5.16.2017

Today started bright and early at 4:00 am to catch a flight from Miami to Houston without much of a break since. Needless to say, the lack of sleep and full day of traveling has left me completely exhausted. That’s why I am excited to report that I get to sleep in until 5:30 am tomorrow when breakfast starts! Note the hint of sarcasm?

All jokes aside, today has been really incredible. I am usually a proponent of aisle seating on planes, but I decided to take the window seat and I’m glad I did. I got a beautiful bird’s eye view of Belize and all the tree canopies that blanket its terrain.

After landing, we swiftly made it through customs and our driver met us outside to take us to the Tropical Education Center (TEC) where we are staying for the night. On the way, we stopped at a small store where I bought some snacks (I’m super excited that they had mariquitas, aka plantain chips) and much needed shampoo and conditioner. I do not need to come out of this trip sporting dreadlocks.

Spotting and identifying species of my taxonomic group has been quite challenging today as you can see from the picture below.

It was really neat that within minutes, I was able to come across members of a key species of my taxonomic group, leaf cutter ants (A. cephalotes),  doing what they do best –  foraging for leaves to take to the fungi in their nest. It was also nice that the type of ant was pointed out and identified for me. Can that be the case at Las Cuevas too, please?

Another key find while walking to dinner was a juvenile green iguana up in the branches of a tree alongside the gravel pathway. I hope that all these sightings in such a short amount of time are an indication of the diversity I will get to see in the rainforest part of the course.

For now, I am extremely excited to be making the boat ride to Glover’s Reef tomorrow. Time to rest up for an early wake up call and another busy (but hopefully incredible) day in Belize!