This post begins the retelling of my time in Belize. I recently spent six weeks there: participating in an archaeological field school and speaking to people about jaguar conservation. Some names have been changed, and some information has been left out. This has been done out of respect for the individuals involved.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
My trip to Belize did not begin well. I was supposed to leave on Sunday, May 21, because I had to be in Belize City on Monday. The Program for Belize (PfB) Archaeological Project, the field school I was to participate in, was scheduled around students arriving on that day. In other words, that is when they had arranged for us to be transported from the Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City to the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area in Orange Walk. So there was good reason to be on time.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. A few hours before my departure time, I received a call from the Arcata-Eureka airport. The flight had been cancelled, and no explanation was given as to why. My options were to find a way to the San Francisco in time to make my connection – without a car or public transportation – or to reschedule for the next day. Since I did not have magical powers, it was looking like I would have to take the latter option. That meant I would be a day late in Belize.
Panicking, I contacted a friend of mine who had previously taken part in the PfB Archaeological Project. He somehow managed to get ahold of my professor in Belize, who happened to be in an area with reliable phone service (never a guarantee where we stayed). She quickly gave me a call, and assured me that if I arrived on the 22nd they would be able to get me to camp.
Comforted by this knowledge, I rang up the Arcata-Eureka airport and rescheduled for the next day. Now I had an entire night to wonder if my next flight would be cancelled too.
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The Jaguar 
Looking forward to reading about your trip!
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Thanks Hev! I promise it gets more exciting than cancelled flights.
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Well, that must have been a little harrowing! Your perseverance is an admirable thing–good for you!
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It was harrowing at first, until I was able to speak with my professor. Luckily I was able to get to Belize…eventually.
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I look forward to more of the story, Josh!
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Thanks!
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So sorry for your misadventures. So looking forward to your arrival and future adventures.
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Thanks Jolie! I did get there eventually.
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Very cool. I wanted to see a child I sponsored in Bolivia, but I was told travel there was very unpredictable and seasonable. Is that how it is there as well?
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Belize doesn’t seem to be too hard to fly into and out of, at least in my experience. The main difficulty for me is that the weather where I currently live tends to be awful for flying, and the small planes that use our runway can’t tolerate much in terms of fog and/or rain. But on this particular day the skies were clear and sunny, so I have no idea what went wrong.
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Haha! It was a good start :D
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Haha, indeed! Very anti-climactic.
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I was looking forward to hearing about your trip, Josh! Looking forward to the next installment.
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Thanks Jacques! I certainly have a lot to write about.
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Its so disappointing for flights to get cancelled just before leaving. I’m sure the rest of the trip made up for it more than enough.
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It was incredibly disappointing! But I got there in the end, which is all that matters. The rest of the trip more than made up for the flight difficulties :)
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That we saw lol😃😃
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Lol, you did indeed :)
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😁😁
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