Wednesday I had the privilege to go on a field trip with my class and another Infant II class to the Belize Zoo right outside of Belize City on the mainland. We had to meet out in front of the school at 6:00 am which was pretty early for me, one of the earliest times I had to be up on this trip. One thing that I did enjoy about waking up that early was that the sun was just rising and it made for a beautiful walk on the beach. Here everyone jokes about “Belize time” which means that no one or nothing ever starts on time. So being there at 6:00 didn’t mean that was the time we were going to leave. Surprisingly though, we did leave no too long after, about 6:30 we boarded the boats. They were just small motor boats. When we got on them I thought that they were going to take us to a bigger boat so that we could all ride together but after about ten minutes of zipping through the water, I realized that this WAS the boat that we were taking all the way to Belize City.
It took us about 45 minutes to reach Belize City, it isn’t too far down the coastline on the mainland. We passed three HUGE cruise ships coming in. All of the students were very excited, some of them had never seen boats that big. After we all got off the boats, parents escorted children to the bathroom at the hotel in which we docked at. There was a charter bus waiting for us at the dock as well and after all bladders were relieved we boarded the bus and headed through the narrow streets of Belize City. I found it funny how excited all the children got when they saw street lights! They were shouting when they saw one and counting all the ones they saw until we got out of the city. Something they don’t have in San Pedro and I guess if this was some of their first times being inland it would also be their first time seeing street lights too. We only stopped once at a gas station so that the parents could all buy water and snacks for their children. I would say that healthy eating habits are not taught very well here, not to children or parents. Not just the kids, but the adults too were snacking on either chips, cookies, candies or other sweets throughout the entire trip.
We reached Belize Zoo in about an hour. It was a long straight road through very barren land. The only thing you saw were trees, mountains in the background, abandoned houses or businesses and random schools along the roadside. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t been in a moving vehicle in about 4 weeks but the bus driver seemed to be driving extremely fast and recklessly for having so many little lives on the bus. We were going so fast that we were passing other activity busses and regular cars too! I was slightly nervous. However, we did make it to the zoo safely and in good time and I was happy that we were finally at our first destination! We got out and mulled around in the parking lot allowing people time to use the bathroom and things and such like that. Then we ventured to the entrance of the zoo. We were able to go in for free because the Zoo had invited San Pedro Roman Catholic School to the zoo to celebrate April the Tapir’s 28th birthday. We were there around 9:30 am and the party didn’t start until 10:00 so everyone took a map and roamed the zoo on their own. I tagged along with one of my students, Emerita, and her family. Her mom was pretty much the one who was running the whole trip and knew what was going on and I didn’t want to get left behind or miss out on anything so I stuck close to her.
I saw some very interesting animals that I have never seen before – the tapir, the jaguar and a harpy eagle! I was very excited! At 10:00 our group along with a preschool group that was there was herded outside to watch “pre-birthday” festivities. There was a group of young boys who were doing flips in the parking lot! Everyone was cheering and clapping for them. Finally they were ready for us to go BACK into the zoo. My head was spinning with how much we were running around. Everyone gathered around the tapir cage. There was another tapir living with April that they had to lead away with a bucket of fruits and vegetables so that April could have her celebration by herself. They made this tapir a legit cake out of horse feed, fruits, vegetables and flowers. It was a pretty extravagant cake for a tapir. We all sang happy birthday to her, took pictures and cheered as she devoured her cake. Then we quickly retreated to the parking lot as to beat the huge group of preschoolers out. Before we boarded the bus we were each given a cupcake in commemoration of April’s birthday along with a cup of watermelon juice and the kids all got a coloring book and crayons.
The ride to Banana Bank was relatively short, besides getting pulled over by the Belizean police for 10 minutes! I’m not sure what was wrong, either we were going too fast (surprise surprise) or we had too many people on the bus or the license was expired, I’m not really sure. All I know is we had to pay a $50 dollar ticket and we were literally only 100 yards away from the entrance from Banana Bank. We took a wrong turn somewhere in the park though and got a point in which the bus could go no further. So we all got off the bus and walked to this little river where there was this small motor boat that would take us 20 feet across to the other side where the lodging and pool was. It may have been the shortest boat ride of my life but it was also the scariest. This boat was literally just boards nailed together with a motor slapped on the back of it and they were piling in groups of 20+ people into it. I almost had a panic attack going across … so glad when we reached the other side.
Oh and what was on the other side – PARADISE! It was the cutest little place I’ve ever seen! There were small little chateaus, cabanas and chalets across the beautiful green lawn that had gorgeous landscaping EVERYWHERE! Trees, flowers, shrubs … it was beautiful. The pool was between one of the chateaus and another building that was currently being renovated. There was a small snack bar and restaurant below that. On the grounds were horses, a resident jaguar, various birds and SPIDER MONKEYS! We were fed rice and beans, chicken and potato salad upon arrival and then all the kids made a mad dash to the pool. It was hot but I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to get into a pool full of children with their parents watching so I signed myself up for a 30 minute horseback ride through the jungle.
My guides name was William. When I asked him if he went by “Bill” he looked at me like I was crazy. I proceeded to explain to him that sometimes in America boys named William went by “Bill”. He asked me why they did that and I didn’t really have an answer for him, haha! He was very nice and very informative though. He was in high school and worked here at the lodge doing horseback riding tours. He had been riding since he was 6 years old and he did rodeos for fun. They had over 100 horses at Banana Bank and he took care of them and helped train them. He pointed out many things to me in the jungle and we talked about culture differences. I was informed that Banana Bank is has over 4,000 acres! It was a lovely ride.
When we returned my tour wasn’t quite over, we walked me to the back of the grounds, behind the chateaus to where two spider monkeys lived!! They had lived at Banana Bank since they were young. They used to be able to run around free and interact with all the guests there but they began to become interested in things that the guests had i.e. cameras, jewelry and other random items and would bite people to get these items from them! So they caged the two monkeys on the grounds. They both went into depression from being locked up, they never had been before so they decided to make a small area for them in the back of the grounds. They both have collars and are on extremely long leashes but for the most part can go where they want. The one was very friendly and jumped right up into William’s arms when he saw him. When William offered for me to hold him, he jumped right into my arms too, wrapping his arms around my neck and his tail was wrapped around my arm! I had never held a monkey before but he seemed so comfortable with me holding him. He held up my hand and put his tiny little monkey hand with no thumbs and extremely long fingers up to mine! It was precious. He was so curious just like a little kid. When I put him down he grabbed my hand and let me around, pointing at things and showing me. I could have spent hours with him. I never was too fond of monkeys before but this one was just adorable.
I left the monkeys and thanked William for a great tour around Banana Bank. I went to the pool where several of my little girls flocked towards me, hugging me with their wet bathing suits, begging me to get in. I just couldn’t resist. Emerita’s mom had rented a room in one of the chateaus for a few hours while we were there and let me go up and change. The pool wasn’t all that cool but being wet by something other than sweat did feel good and kind of refreshing. Many of my students couldn’t swim so I took turns taking them out into the deep end playing with them. I was only in for about half an hour before parents started pulling out kids to get them dried off and head back to the bus.
We took the scary boat ride across the river again and hiked back to the bus. On the bus I sat with two of my boys, both whom fell asleep on each other and in a domino effect ended up sleeping on my shoulder. Their sleepiness must have rubbed off on me because I took a short nap as well. Of course there was video taken of me snoozing on the bus ride. Emerita’s dad was very proud of his footage. At least my mouth wasn’t open! We made it back to the dock where our boats were waiting with bells and whistles. We got back on and in no time were zipping northeast back towards San Pedro. I was used as a pillow yet again by one of my little girls. She came on the trip with her aunt but her aunt brought her daughter with her that was less than one year old and I felt bad because she paid more attention to her baby than she did to her niece. So she ended up snuggling up to me for a little nap on the way back. The wind from the boat made for quite a chilly ride and most of the kids were exhausted and getting a little cranky. It had been a long day for all of us. I was worn out myself and had a slight headache once we docked back in San Pedro.
I am very glad I got the opportunity to go on the field trip with my students. There were a few differences than a field trip that would be taken in America. Not even half the students came, I think there were only about 12 kids from my class and the majority was from Teacher Helen’s class, the other Infant II class that came with us. Secondly, almost every student had an adult come on the trip with us. I think all the students except for 3 were chaperoned by at least one adult. There were several families in which the mom and the dad came and even brought along older and younger siblings. I was told that families here don’t take many vacations so when the students have field trips and they take advantage of using it as a “day trip” for the whole family. Several students had other extended family members come with them. One girl had her cousin come, another boy had his grandparents come, another girl had her aunt. Over all the trip was ran completely by Emerita’s mom. She called ahead to all the places to make sure that they were ready for us, organized the bus and got us the boats to take us to and from the mainland. Teacher Burnel was so funny, he was like a big kid on the trip. He wore his headphones the whole time and wondered around with the kids having to be told several times what to do and what he should be doing! I think he viewed it as a vacation too! While it seemed “unorganized” to me, everyone there seemed to be very calm and go with the flow. I guess it just isn’t as rigid as field trips in America where we are constantly counting heads and making sure the students are even two feet away from us. I think because parents were on the trip more of the responsibility was put on them rather than the teachers but it still stressed me out a bit trying to make sure everyone was together. Fun day over all J
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