Day 10, Wednesday, March 4, 2009: Move to Blue Creek

We left South Water Caye, Belize about 9:00 AM to go to our last stop on our trip, Blue Creek Lodge, Belize. On the way to Dangriga, we made a short stop at Man O'War Caye to see the birds that inhabit this island. At Dangriga, Alvin picked us up with the bus, we picked up our boxed lunches and headed South to Blue Water Creek. After about 2 hours, we arrived at Lubaantun, a late Classical period, Mayan excavation site. We ate our lunch there and then explored the ruins. After our exploration, we continued again for about six miles to Blue Creek, where the villagers met us and helped us with our bags about half a mile up a trail along the river to where we would be staying. The setting is lovely and there is a main cabin where we have a kitchen where our food is prepared and facilities to use. There is also a deck overlooking the river. There are cabins for the boys, girls and teachers to use. The sounds from the river and local birds make for a very peaceful setting. For the evening, we just settled in and enjoyed listening to the sounds of the rainforest.

- Linda H.

Man O' War Caye

We traveled to Man O' War Caye in the morning on the way to Blue Creek. Getting closer to the island the smell of bird poop was over welling. The island was covered in birds, they flied around our boat and would catch sticks that we threw up. The island had Brown Footed Boobies and Frigate Birds. The female Frigate birds had these really funny red chests and would puff them out when a man came close. The two bird species lived off of each other. The Frigates couldn’t touch the water, not even for food, so they would eat the Boobies’ vomit. In return the Boobies were protected from other birds.

- Lorenzo A.

Visit to Lubaantun

Before we reached our destination of Blue Creek, we stopped in a Mayan village to visit some ancient Mayan ruins. They were amazing! The ruins were built in a stair formation and were very massive. The guide told us how structures were built on top of these ruins so the people would be closer to the gods. Each structure was built without plaster. The stones were carefully broke into pieces to fit together tightly. It is incredible how these ruins still exist today. Though some had collapsed, most of them were clearly displayed. We saw a large playing field where the Mayans would play a game called Maya Ball. When standing in the middle of all the ruins, you could almost feel the history seeping out of them. Witnessing this piece of history was phenomenal.

- Alia K.