Belize Student Welcome Letter

Belize Student Welcome Letter

Welcome To The Belize Adventure For Students:

Belize is a small English speaking nation located south of the Yucatan with a population around 320,000 people. Despite its low population, this peaceful democracy is the home to a culturally diverse group of people. Garifuna (African and Carib Indian mix),

Spanish, Creole and Mayan Indians are among the ethnic groups represented in Belize.

Belize has extraordinary natural resources including the world’s only sanctuary established to protect the endangered jaguar and the longest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. The crystal clear water, cascading waterfalls, Mayan ruins draped with jungle flora and extensive cave system offers a wide variety of tropical habitats to explore.

Kim Powell, owner of Blue Water Ventures leads many of our tropical adventures. Kim has been organizing student expeditions to Belize since 1988. As naturalist, our area of expertise is coral reef ecology. However, of equal interest to our guides is sharing the cultural diversity of Belize. We have watched kids grow up in villages and eco-tourism shape the country’s economy.

Our contacts in Belize are dependable. We share years of friendship with our Belizean hosts.

For thirteen days you will be immersed into the cultural groups of Belize. Our accommodations are Belizean owned and operated. There is nothing flashy about them. If you are looking for a resort vacation with all the amenities, this trip is not for you. There are no swimming pools, facials or tropical sodas served with umbrellas!

If you are interested in rich cultural experiences and seeing the wild side of Belize, this may be the trip. We will meet a Mayan healer, dance with the children of Hopkins Village, kayak through an underground system of caves and live without electricity on a remote tropical island. Glovers Reef is one of our favorites places in the world.

We are very excited to introduce our Mayan friends, Aurora Saqui and Eulalia Pop. Aurora is an extraordinary woman, a renown Mayan healer and artist. Our guides met Eulalia Pop 24 years ago while on a scouting trip to Belize. We have been friends ever since. Eulalia and Merlene Castillo of Hopkins Village will join us on Glover’s Reef Atoll, providing our meals. Sharing one on one conversation with Eulalia and Merlene is time well spent. The Garifuna Women of Hopkins Village eagerly await our arrival each year. They will provide food, cultural presentations and laughter to our group.

For six nights, we will live on an island at Glover’s Reef Atoll, a marine sanctuary approximately thirty miles east of the mainland. Coral atolls, a circular ring of reef and islands formed around a shallow turquoise lagoon, are rare in the Western Hemisphere. We will be staying in rustic cabins on a coconut lined island with a spectacular coral reef system right off shore. Every brilliant shade of blue will surround us.

TRIP COST: The cost of your Belize field trip may vary by size of group. Price includes all lodging, meals, transportation in Belize, all planned activities, scheduled use of kayaks, guided snorkeling trips, entrance fees, permits and kayak instructional clinics.

The price does not include airfare, phone calls, unscheduled boating excursions, activities not described in the itinerary, $50 suggested tip for our cooks or the departure tax of $40. American dollars are accepted throughout Belize. The current exchange rate is two Belizean dollars to one American dollar.

ACTIVITIES: Our trip to Belize is a multi-cultural experience with a range of multi-sport activities including: snorkeling, sea kayaking, night snorkeling, fishing, hiking through jungles, cave tubing, spelunking and cave exploration by kayak. Naturalist-led activities and lectures on cultural and natural history topics are offered daily.

Very Sincerely,

Kim Powell, MRPA
Owner, Operator & Naturalist
Blue Water Ventures
phone & fax: 831-459-8548
www.bluewaterventures.org
email: bluewaterventuressc@gmail.com
127 Mason St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060

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