By Prashanti Limbu of Westminster College
Right after the midterms, the long-awaited break was finally here. Everyone was eager to spend some relaxing days in Punta Gorda, a town in southern Belize. Most importantly we wanted to go to the Cayes; islands located off the coast of Belize. As soon as we got to the hotel, everyone scurried away to go walk around town. For dinner we went to a family-owned restaurant that had Christmas lights, which lightened up everyone’s mood for Halloween. The hefty meal filled us with energy to get to the dance floor and for a while we sang and danced. For dessert the restaurant owner had made us Halloween themed cupcakes which we all enjoyed and thanked her for the sweet treat and her thoughtful gesture. The rest of the evening was well spent with board games and stargazing from the rooftop of the hotel.
The next day, we got up early to go to the boat dock where we met guides who took us to the cayes. Our small boat drifted off out into the Caribbean and 20 minutes later we arrived at the field station of Toledo Institute For Development And Environment (TIDE) which lies inside the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. This institute focuses on protecting marine health by enforcing policies to control illegal fishing. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a curious dog on the deck. At the field station, we learnt about the work of TIDE and saw skeletons of fish. The rangers gave us a detailed speech about the endangered species and how they have been working to provide sustainable means for fishing especially for local fishermen. Banning of the spear gear and fishing net was done to provide more protection for the vulnerable fish, eliminating bycatch which was a huge problem. At the heart of the reserve, this field station had a watch tower where we could see with the bird’s eye view of the clear and turquoise water that surrounded us. The rangers soon planned to introduce drones to oversee any illegal fishing ships in the reserve. At this point, everywhere we went was our classroom with many resourceful people who knew so much about their land and water.
Once again we were at the boat and this time we made our way to the cayes and stopped at a white sand beach. The beach was worth all the wait and the stressful midterms. Everyone changed into our swim suits and plunged into the water. Unlike the cold and running water of the rivers out in the field, this water was warm, salty, and still with beautiful shades of blue. We all started snorkeling and it was so fun to see different fishes with beautiful stripes and colors around the corals and seagrass. Some of the fish stayed close to the sea grass munching on them and around the corals which we had to avoid. The seemingly still water had many lives inside not readily visible but I loved the chase to look around for more fish and some of us even got a chance to see a shark.
We got out of the water for some refreshing fruit punch, juice and fruits that the tour guides had prepared for us. But that was when we realized we did not leave the bugs out in the field as the sandflies swarmed us. The guides used the broken branches from the mangrove trees to build a fire and we ate our lunch; traditional rice and beans, greens and meat. The rangers brought biodegradable and reusable utensils to use. We sat around and looked at the hermit crabs who liked eating the food scraps making them useful bio-degraders on the island. The island had mangroves and palm trees to house birds, geckos, snakes and so on. We were even able to see a Red-tailed Boa constrictor. To burn some calories and to clean the beach, we set out to grab plastic waste around us. I was surprised to see that a group of 12 people were not enough to clear all the beach on a small island.
Initially I thought that they could have been left by tourists but the things we collected varied from plastic bottles to coloring pencils. The tour guides expressed the need to control waste in the waterways as they eventually make their way to the oceans and get scattered everywhere. Since some of the waste from the recent research was from a neighboring country than Belize itself, a collective effort to keep the sea clean seemed essential. The rest of the time was spent in the town and we finally headed back to the field station to learn more.