I was asked to help with a local scientific group in their quest to count, measure, and tag the turtle population of southern Belize, and of course I jumped at the chance! Three days of snorkeling and counting turtles while staying out on the cayes sounded like the job for me.... I was excited, but a bit intimidated, as we loaded up the boat and began to head out to the cayes that morning. I was the only rookie (and not native born) on the team, and besides that I didn't know most of the scientific turtle terms! For example, we were identifying the species, measuring the carapace three ways, and recording if they are male or female turtles. Well, now that I'm educated, let me share; there are four species of turtle in Belize- Green, ... read more

Lucky me! I sent out a message asking if anyone was going out to the cayes this week, and it turned out that Lisa was going to be returning to our coral reef restoration project at Laughing Bird to check on her nurseries and perform an overall bleaching survey. Volunteer here! Lisa, myself, and our captain Shane happily made a long day of snorkeling for science! In the last year, an army of volunteers has planted over 4,000 fragments and excited to see most of the new coral flourishing! It was so exciting to see the healthy coral growth and fish frolicking in these new gardens! While we took digital pictures to record the growth, I also made tally marks on a slate when I spotted coral that was bleaching. Coral bleaching results when the symbiotic ... read more

This weekend Cory and I visited a most charming Mexican town on the Yucatan peninsula with immense Mayan influence, Valladolid. Pronounced Valley-o-dally. Or Volley-doe-lolly. Or Valalalalada!  Only Cory can pronounce it correctly, so I kept him entertained with my tongue-twisted options! Valladolid is surrounded by dense flat jungle hiding Mayan ruins and dozens of cenotes. Cenotes are ancient collapsed cave systems filled with clear freshwater that are fed through an expansive underground river system. Their geologic formations go back to the meteorite that was believed to strike the Yucatan Peninsula over 65 million years ago and wipe out the dinosaurs. This impact dotted the soft limestone rock of the peninsula with fissures and cracks of varying sizes. Over millions of years, the porous limestone allowed water to seep through its numerous cracks forming gigantic cave ... read more

I originally came to Belize to volunteer and dive, and since day one I have been seeking an opportunity to do both simultaneously! I was finally introduced to the right person about a year ago, and an opening to help Lisa with her coral reef restoration project finally arose this month. Lisa is an independent scientist working by means of international grants who is studying and devising methods to repair the extensive damage to the coral reefs of Belize. The luminous colors and diversity of coral abound in the shallows of our seas, usually on continental shelves, islands, and atolls. Coral reefs are an impressive structure made up of living coral organisms stacked atop calcium carbonate deposits from previous coral inhabitants. I was surprised to learn this year that coral are not a type of plant, ... read more

<----Be sure to check out our video! Six weeks after my introduction to fire dancing, I was asked to showcase my skills at the annual Sidewalk Arts Festival in Placencia. I had an arsenal of four sweet moves and had lit myself on fire only once, so I figured I could at least be entertaining. After I agreed to perform, I found out there was a juggler, drummer, and fire dancer from Brazil that would be joining me, which definitely took some of the pressure off! The Brazilian troupe didn’t speak any English, but thankfully I had spent the last month in Guatemala and Mexico and my Spanish was at it’s sharpest. Yes, I know….Brazilians speak Portuguese…but it was close enough that we were able to communicate! They invited me back to their apartment and a ... read more