Today we said goodbye to Belize and arrived back in Houston. Glover’s Reef is now a memory, as are our other experiences on our trip, but I’m sure we’ll all look back on them fondly. We had a long day today, and it all started when we met up at 5 a.m. We ate cinnamon rolls which the cooking staff had kindly prepared for us and then we hopped on a boat which took us back to Belize City. Once on land, we said goodbye to Herbi and Javier, two people I will definitely remember from our trip thanks to all they did for us.

We then took a van to the airport where we made our way through customs and security and boarded a plane which thankfully didn’t seem to have any problems with its trays. We were then in the air and finally going back home. We landed, said goodbye to a few people who had connecting flights and then were on a bus back to Rice. Once there, we unloaded and everyone said their final goodbyes. We went in our separate directions and everyone headed home to catch up on some air conditioning, sleep, and probably take a much-needed shower.

We didn’t see any echinoderms today, and that’s probably a good thing because I don’t think any of them can fly.

It’s crazy to think that we’re already back home, but the trip was full of experiences I’ll never forget. We had to get comfortable being uncomfortable and we learned a ton in a mere two weeks. Although I’m happy I’ll be able to sleep with blankets again, I’ll definitely miss the people I met, the friends I made, and the experiences we shared. Thanks for everything Belize, see you soon!