Day 1 January 3rd 2019 - Boston to Atlanta to Belize City to San Pedro

Greetings from San Pedro, Belize! I am writing this blog post after dinner at our destination. It took us about 13 hours to travel from snowy New Hampshire to sunny Belize.

We met at New England College at 4:15AM and divided into two vans. Thanks to the kindness of our volunteer drivers (thanks MarkM and DanF!) we headed onto the snowy highway. We arrived at Logan, checked 16 bags between us, navigated security, and boarded our first flight just in time.

About 2.5 hours later we arrived in Atlanta and had just enough time to transfer terminals, get a bite to eat, and board our next flight:

(Editor's note: You can click on any image on this blog to see a larger version)

We were all pretty excited when our wheels lifted, knowing that we were after all this time finally one stop away! After about 2:45, we landed at Belize International Airport in Belize City on the mainland. We were immediately struck by the warm moist tropical air as we deplaned. We worked our way through immigration, customs, etc. and into the domestic terminal. We split into two groups because our group of 16 was too big for just one plane! We boarded our Maya Island Air flights, which hold a maximum of 13 (with one student sitting in the co-pilot's seat):

It's interesting to note that several students mentioned this small plane ride as the aspect of the trip about which they were most nervous, but everyone seemed to enjoy it once we were in the air. Our 15 minute flight brought us from the mainland to the island of Ambergris Caye and the town of San Pedro. We gathered our bags, loaded into 3 vans, and drove a short way to our home for the next week: TREC (the Tropical Research and Education Center). We split into rooms (generally four students to a room with two bunk beds and a bathroom):

All the students checked out their snorkel gear and practiced in the pool (while also enjoying the opportunity to cool off and rinse off):

Afterward, the students were encouraged to begin working on their journals by recording their experiences and impressions so far:

At 6:30PM, we gathered for dinner at TREC. Maggie, our cook, prepared Central American cuisine that is familiar to us, usually complemented with an American-style cake for dessert. The addition of the local hot sauce Marie Sharp's always helps! Everyone seemed to get their fill of dinner.

After dinner, we gathered for an orientation by the Director of TREC, Ken Mattes, Ph.D. Ken taught us about the center, what we'll be doing, boat safety, how to properly respect our surroundings, and how to stay safe.

By the end of the orientation, we were all pretty tired from a long and exciting day. I think most of us were happy to retire and dream of our first day on the water tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave Comments below, and I will make sure the class sees them. Rest assured that everyone is happy and healthy and doing well. Internet on the island can be quite spotty, so never take a lack of communication to indicate a problem - no news really is good news! I will do my best to update the blog each night.

- Eric J. Simon, Ph.D., Professor, Biology & Health Science, New England College