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Belize Outdoor Education and Science
Prepared for:
St. Margaret's School | Michael Jones and Lisa Ziebart
Proposal Date: February 22, 2024
Valid until: March 22, 2024
EMPOWERING STUDENTS THROUGH TRAVEL SINCE 2006
With one foot in the Central American jungles and the other in the Caribbean Sea, Belize may be small but it’s packed with adventure and culture. We look forward to travelling with you to Belize.
Activities & Attractions
- Participate in a meaningful multi- day biological scientific research project at our field station
- Project to be created under guidance of school teachers, executed by Evolve, managed by local scientists on site
- Additional activities available at research station include:
- Tour around the Smithsonian’s research station
- Mangrove snorkel
- Whale Shoal
- Swim with stingrays
- Night Snorkeling
- And More!
- Visit to the Mayan ruins of Carocol which is surrounded by lush rainforest
- Hike to swim in the pools at the bottom of rainforest waterfalls
Trip Details
Accommodations
- Triple – dorm accommodation for students
- Single – Double occupancy for staff
- Accommodations (pending availability):
- Night 1-3: Monkey Bay Nature Conservancy
- Nights 4-6: T.R.E.E.S Research and Education Station
- Nights 7-9: South Water Caye
Meals
- All meals are included while in Belize
Transportation
- Return coach airfare from Victoria to Belize City, Belize
- Private transportation as needed for duration of trip
Additional Personnel
- 1 Evolve Tour Director for duration of trip in Belize
- Local guides, staff, & scientists as needed
Exclusives
- Creative trip programming and leadership activities
- Optional Videography and Photography
- Forever Green by Evolve Tours- Carbon Offset this whole trip (ask for details)
Insurance
Mandatory Insurance: $123 for Manulife Youth All Inclusive Insurance which includes Medical, Cancellation, Interruption and Baggage coverage.
Package Price is based on
Students
22-25
Chaperones
3
Price per student
$4940
- Prices subject to availability and change until contract signed
- Total Package price may vary if number of paying customers changes
- Does not include airline baggage fees if applicable
- Tips for drivers and guides are appreciated
- Happy with what you see? Sign a 2-year contract with Evolve and pay the same rate for two years. Ask us for more information. *Based on same group size
TICO #: 50017336
Itinerary
Day 1:
Travel to Belize
| Morning | Depart on your international flight to Belize! |
| Afternoon | Arrive in Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize and meet your Evolve guide. We will Transfer via private transportation to our eco lodge. Upon arrival at the lodge we will enjoy a welcome community lunch and orientation for our whole trip. |
| Evening | Dinner as a group at Monkey Bay |
| Evening | Depart to the Belize Zoo for a special after-hours guided night tour to interact with Belize’s unique fauna when they are most active – after dark – in their natural surroundings. Black howler monkey, Kinkajou, Gibnut, Coatimundi, Jaguar, Harpy eagle, Tapir and Morlette’s crocodile to name a few. |
Day 2:
Belize
| Morning | After Breakfast, we will head out to a Nature Trail Hike through five distinct vegetation habitats within Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, a critical piece of the Maya Forest Corridor that connects the Southern and Northern protected areas. We will participate in a discussion on fire ecology, plant identification, traditional medicinal plant use, wildlife and conservation initiatives. |
| Afternoon | After lunch, we will have some downtime to journal, explore and connect over games and what we’ve learned so far.
We will then attend a traditional meal cooking class. Following two chefs in making our food and drinks for dinner. |
Day 3:
Carocol
| Morning | After Breakfast, We will head out by bus to the Mayan Ruins of Carocol. The Carocol ruins which at one time in history had a population of about 185,000, cover an area of 75 square miles. The highlight of the stay in Pine Ridge is the Big Rock Falls. |
| Afternoon | Sometime after lunch, we’ll head back to the lodge and go for a short hike & nature tour, ending with a swim in the pools at the bottom of the waterfalls. Cool water rushes down, flies over smooth granite boulders, and then drops 150-feet straight into a crystal clear pool suitable for swimming. |
| Evening | We will have dinner as a group. |
Day 4:
T.R.E.E.S. Research and Education Station
| Morning | After breakfast, we will enjoy a morning hike and swim at the Sibun River. |
| Mid Morning | We will pack up and transfer to the T.R.E.E.S Hosting Center on the Hummingbird Highway to arrive in time for lunch. |
| Afternoon | After lunch, we will participate in their Stream Ecology Lecture & workshop. |
| Evening | Dinner as a group at T.R.E.E.S |
| After dinner, we will participate in a Talk about the Herpetofauna of Belize & go on a Herp Night Walk. |
Day 5:
T.R.E.E.S. Research and Education Station
| Morning | Early morning pre-breakfast we will participate in a Bird Banding Workshop. |
| We will enjoy breakfast as a group | |
After breakfast, we will select our independent projects and we encourage our explorer’s to engage in different projects around the complex. You will have some free time right before lunch. Some activities include:
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| Afternoon | After lunch, there will be a Talk on the neotropical bat diversity of the area & Bat Mist-Netting Workshop. |
| Evening | Dinner as a group |
Day 6:
INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
| Morning & Afternoon | After breakfast, you can select new individual projects you would like to take part in from the various workshops and lectures they have going on daily. With a home made lunch in between, we will spend our day selecting from the variety of activities.
Students will also get to design their own research project using the scientific method and field equipment available at T.R.E.E.S., with the help of T.R.E.E.S biologists on a topic of their choosing (example topics will be provided, including for ex. hummingbird behavior studies, leaf-cutter behavior/movement studies, orchid abundance counts, turtle movement and habitat use, etc.) |
Day 7:
SOUTH WATER CAYE
| Morning | After breakfast, we depart towards The Belize Barrier Reef, which has been named by U.N.E.S.C.O. as a “World Heritage Site”. |
| We will arrive at the Dangriga dock to take a private boat to our next accommodations. We will do orientation at the station and lunch. | |
| Afternoon | After Lunch, we will do an Introduction to snorkeling and activity snorkeling. |
| Before dinner we will do a classroom/journal time exercise together. | |
| Evening | In the evening we will have dinner together and enjoy our time on island time and the shoreline of the island to take advantage of the cooling trade winds.
We will turn in for the night to the sound of the ocean and will awaken to a view of the barrier reef and the sound of waves gently lapping the shore beneath the elevated cabins among the mangroves. |
Day 8:
SNORKELING
| Morning | We will enjoy breakfast together and participate in a classroom activity. |
| Lunch | After, we will go out to sea and enjoy what we learned in snorkeling class in the open sea, exploring and enjoying the colorful schools of different fish and learning from our hosts at the marine station. |
| Evening | In the evening, we will do a classroom/ journal time exercise before dinner. |
| Dinner as a group. |
Day 9:
CARRIE BOWE CAYE
| Morning | We will enjoy breakfast together and participate in a classroom activity. |
| Afternoon | After lunch, we will take a boat over to Carrie Bow Caye and enjoy a guided tour around the Smithsonian’s research station. Visits to Carrie Bow Caye include a shallow depth snorkel around the island’s reef where wrasses, octopus, and angelfish can regularly be found. |
| Evening | In the evening, we will do a classroom/ journal time exercise before dinner.
Dinner as a group. |
Day 10:
Belize>Toronto
| Morning | Boat transfer to the mainland, and then bus transfer to the airport. |
| Arrive at the airport | |
| Afternoon | Flight departure |
| Evening | Arrival in Ottawa. End trip |
