It’s Liliana! We made it to Belize after a long time at the airport and a short flight. I was immediately slammed by the heat and humidity but we quickly piled into a van and went off to the dock, with a quick snack stop on the way.
The view from the boat was incredible, I spent most of the three-ish hour ride just staring out over the ocean completely entranced by the water and the reef break and the islands we passed. Some of it I spent staring out the window at the horizon trying to not be sick. Our water safety officer was telling us stories about Belize, the reef, the natural history, and his adventures the entire time and I just hope someday I live as interesting and cool of a life as he has.
When we made it to the island we were greeted by the people already there, and also by a ridiculous amount of hermit crabs. They’re much larger then any hermit crab I’ve seen in New England, and they’re on the land and scurry off into holes on the sides of the paths, and are somehow always in the way when you’re walking in the dark. We also saw about 8 larger crabs that were not hermit crabs, blue and green in color. I don’t know the exact species yet so tomorrow I’ll have to work on finding that out. They’re about the size of my hand, with much larger claws then I’ve ever seen before, but unlike the hermit crabs they scuttle out of the way when you walk towards them. They also tend to stay very still until you’re right up next to them, I can safely say that never before in my life have I walked out of a bathroom to be greeted by six large crabs all right outside that I didn’t even see until I was right up to them.
Someone said that the hermit crabs were the Glover’s equivalent of the Rice squirrels, and so far with the abundance and boldness of them both it seems to be an accurate comparison, we’ll have to wait and see if any of these hermit crabs try to steal food out of my hands like a squirrel.
Tomorrow we get to go in the water for the first time, and I can’t wait! Hopefully we will see a greater variety of crustaceans, as much as I love the hermit crabs here.
Tag Archives: Day 1
Day 1: I’ve seen so much already
Hello friends today was the big day! had an early start to the day, but a good kind of start since it’s the big day. Met everyone at 6 in the morning and we had a last minute check of our gear before heading to the airport.
Security at the airport was extremely fast. I don’t think I’ve ever gone through customs and security as fast as I did today. Had some potatoes for breakfast and a nice bottle of water. We sat in the plane for about an hour before we actually took off, but as soon as the plane left Houston, I was out.
We arrived in Belize at 11:58 and we quickly got out on to the road. As soon as we were on the road, I could see lots of epiphytes. As we made our way to lunch, I saw more epiphytes, and lots of observations were made in the car ride to lunch. I saw lots of pollution in the sides of the road, saw an Asian restaurant, and we all saw a wildfire firsthand. As we were eating at the restaurant, Scott also pointed out a termite mound that was above ground, on a tree branch! First taste of Belize was so good, and the soup sop juice i could drink for days!
Picture 1: You can see the roots of these epiphytes and how they stretch to the ground, characteristics of Hemi-epiphytes.
Picture 2: Ferns that were spotted at lunch.
Later in the day at the lodge, we went for a swim in the river. Along the trail to the river, we saw lots of ants, “mammals”, and plants that we all looked at prior to the trip! Being in Belize for only a few hours and seeing the diversity of epiphytes has made all the reading worth it. That’s a wrap for this blog! See you for day 2!
Day 1: I can’t Belize we made it!
5/14/19: We are finally here! Despite some early morning bumps in the road and a late takeoff for our flight, we made it! It feels so surreal to be here.
The majority of our day was spent traveling on bus rides and a plane ride. We have come approximately 1,679 miles. Upon arrival to Belize, let me be the first to say, the humidity hit me like a ton of bricks. But, I soon recovered, and we began our journey to Las Cuevas Research Station in a van. We stopped tonight at Crystal Paradise Lodge before we keep driving tomorrow.
While driving, I could not help be mesmerized by the difference in vegetation compared to Texas highways. Driving in Texas, we are constantly surrounded by cattle pasture or farms, so to be immersed on either side of the car in forest-like ecosystems, it was quite an experience.
I think I have been the most surprised today about how different it has been here compared to the U.S. I mean I always knew it would be different based on our readings and preparations, however, I had no idea it would be this different. The restaurant, Cheers, we ate at was also immersed in the vegatation. It makes me excited for the days to come.
I was able to see only 1 arachnid today. I believe it was a wolf spider, but since it was dark outside, it was difficult to tell before it scurried away.
We were not able to do too much exploring today. However with all of the travel done today, we still encountered hummingbirds, termite nests, an Agouti, and leaf-cutter ants, so I have a feeling in the next few days we will definitely be able to see some more arachnids. I hope we will go walking out at night with our headlamps near tree bases or in foliage to have the best chances of catching a glimpse.
Wish me luck!
– Bella
First Day of Belize
Today after rushing around my house grabbing extra things that I had forgotten to pack the night before, we met on campus and took a bus to Hobby Airport to leave for Belize. We landed in Belize City, and Claire’s dad who piloted the flight even gave us a shout out:)
Once we got through customs we loaded our luggage onto another bus and started our journey to Las Cuevas. The ride wasn’t too bad, the windows were so tinted I fell asleep a couple times before we reached the ecolodge, Crystal Paradise.
We dropped our things off in our rooms and met back in the common area for an amazing dinner. It was really nice to able to have a nice “family” type dinner and get to know everyone a bit better on the way to the lodge. Scott and Adrienne talked a bit more about the plan for tomorrow and what it’s going to be like once we get to Las Cuevas (it’s going to be a lot less cushy than the lodge).
After dinner, we walked back to our room and saw two lizards above the door. It was pretty dark, so it was hard to see what type they were, but they looked a lot like typical geckos that sometimes get inside my house at home. I’m looking forward to the excursion tomorrow, I just have to keep reminding myself to put on sunscreen because the goal is to not get burnt during the whole trip (fingers crossed).
Day 1
Today was a day of travel, enjoyable conversations, and relative luxury at our tourist hotel.
Jeff Boschert, the father of one of the students on this trip, made a shout out to our class on the intercom before he performed take-off on the Southwest flight taking us from Houston to Belize City. Upon arrival, we went through the typical process of entering another country: declaration of goods, going through immigration, and packing and loading up on a bus. 
Edward, a local driver, takes us and our baggages (in an attached trailer) on the Western Highway, outside of Belize City, to the place we are staying at tonight, Crystal Paradise Hotel. Upon arrival and settling in to our rooms, we had delicious dinners of tostada, vegetable curry, rice, cooked plantain and chocolate cake.
As far as scientific endeavors go, we spotted cicadas, ants, moths, palm trees, a cartoon bee, cactus, and too much life to describe. As I am sitting inside right now, to avoid bug bites, I hear the sound of crickets, cicadas, and other animals I know not the name of. Still, I found a very obvious vinegery-smell in the pheromone of a large ant I saw working on devouring a beetle. I also learned that a cicada is a true bug because it is an arthropod with sharp sucking mouth parts. The next few days’ blog post, I can predict, will be heavier with species identification especially since that was not our focus today.
As I enter and exit from recollections of today, I am struck by the images of fires we saw, both from the airplane and in our van. Large clouds of smoke emanated from the distance, and sometimes they were up close. As far as I can tell, they all occurred in the Savannah ecosystem, some leaving blackened trunks on palm trees. I wonder what are the uses of these fires, whether they are wild or controlled, sparked by lightning, cigarettes, or a torch. Claire said that some people practice the slash and burn farming strategy, whereby plants are reduced to ashes so they may enter the soil as useful nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, quicker than they would if they had decomposed naturally. Whereas the rainforest can flourish on soils that are not rich in nutrients, human crops usually rely on rich soil for their growth.
Day 1: Arrival
I knew for sure that I had arrived in Belize before I even exited the plane or looked out the windows. As soon as the airplane doors opened, the warm air seeped in, smelling like forest, as much as forest can be said to have a smell.
My first impression upon stepping out of the plane was that Belize is hot and humid enough to make Houston seem positively air-conditioned. After the group passed through security and customs, we met our driver, Edward. He drove us about three hours across the country to an eco-lodge called Crystal Paradise Resort, where we would be staying the night. Along the way, we passed through fascinating savannah landscapes that were dotted with trees. Apparently, we’re arriving at the very end of the dry season, so wild fires are still a common sight. We even passed a section that had been recently burned – the blackened skeletons for the trees were still smoking.
We reached the beginning of the mountainous, hilly region of Belize just as the sun began to sink in the sky. Tall, dark swathes of trees stood against a salmon sky hazy with smoke. As the pavement transitioned to a dirt road, the 12 of us rattled around in the van with every bump. By the time we reached the resort, it was clearly nightfall, with lighting occasionally spreading across the sky.
Our rooms are super cute, and there was even a folded towel-swan decorated with hibiscus flowers waiting for us! There is, of course, no air conditioning, which we’ll all have to get used to. Dinner was fantastic as well, with some truly delicious veggie curry and chocolate cake! Like the sea urchins I will study on this trip, I’m an opportunistic feeder (HAHAHAHA sorry I had to) and stuffed myself while I still had access to this delicious food.
Lepidoptera count for today:
-1 unidentified, erratically flying large white moth
-2 unidentifiable micro-moths
-1 orange, fuzzy moth that got eaten by a gecko a few minutes after I found it :'(
-1 large green sphinx moth
I’ve inserted photos of these two specimens here!
It’s an early morning tomorrow (breakfast at 6am!!) so I’m calling it for today. Good night!
Day 1 in Belize!
(Crystal Paradise Ecolodge)
Today, we arrived at the airport in Belize City around mid-afternoon Belize time. Ironically, our pilot was the father of one of the attending students and greeted us both before we entered the plane and as we exited. Soon into driving, we stopped at a little market shop to stock up on snacks, water, and anything else we might have forgotten.
I wasn’t personally expecting to see much of anything besides Belizean scenery on the way to the ecolodge, where we’d be staying for the night; however, I was pleasantly surprised. I had prepared myself to identify several types of wild Belizean mammals, but what I hadn’t prepared myself for was the domesticated ones. We drove through the outskirts of Belize city and several small towns on the way to the Crystal Paradise Ecolodge, each of them with a variety of domesticated mammals. I sited several horses standing outside fences with riding collars on. One was even being ridden. We saw a variety of dogs, both what appeared to be strays and pets ranging from large pitbull-like dogs to a nursing female and puppies. I spotted a small white cat lurking outside of a house, but it was hard to tell if it was domesticated. Several farms with cattle were spotted, including one near the Mayan Mountain range with what was anywhere between 30 and 50 cattle.
I don’t think I’d be surprised to see any of these mammals if I were driving through the Texas countryside on a normal day; however, I was today. While preparing for the trip, I was so caught up in preparing to identify all of the wildlife, I almost forgot that people live here too and all of the things that come with that including domesticated animals. It sounds silly, to forget that people actually live in Belize, but when you are preparing for a trip like this, other people are the last thing on your mind. Instead you’re thinking ‘did I pack enough clothes?’, ‘did I forget anything?’, and ‘am I prepared for the work I’m about to do?’. Rather, I got so caught up in everything, that I was surprised to see so many familiar species.
After the drive, we arrived at the Ecolodge around 7, ate dinner, and got an introductory run down of the trip. It’s all quiet after that… except for the chorus of insects in the background.
HERE!!!
Wow, we’re finally here! It’s a whole lot warmer and sweaty here than I anticipated, but that’s not stopping my excitement. Within the first hour of being here, I had already seen views of the savannah, some goats, and of course some birds.
I saw two white birds with longer necks on the side of the road when we were traveling to the Tropical Education Center. They looked similar to Great Egrets, but this was in the tropical savannah and usually Egrets are found in marshlands or waterside. I also saw a glimpse of a parrot and Scott did an impression of its fast wingbeat that is so characteristic of parrots.
I keep hearing bird noises and wanting to find the source of them! I guess to see them well I’d really have to wake up early. I also saw a bird feather, but cannot identify what it is from.
Other cool highlights so far is that we saw an iguana and two toads, one of which was in my room. The iguana was feeding and I was surprised to see how agile it was on such a small branch.
The trip is only just getting started and I cannot wait to see what else it holds!