Great feedback from our student “Jungle and Reef trip”

June 25, 2013

The students and I learned so much when we stayed with Reef CI on the island. I am a chemistry professor so left the coral reef ecology to the folks at Reef CI. They are very knowledgable and incorporated the lessons with the dives. Not only did the students learn, but then they got to see what they had learned about. More than one student told me they learned a lot, more than they expected. As a professor, that was music to my ears. They are now excited about what lies beneath the ocean and many will be life-long divers due to this experience.

Our time on the mainland seemed like a completely different trip. I think making the mainland first and the island last was the perfect set-up. While we did learn quite a bit at the zoo the first part of our trip was more about the people, customs, and geography of Belize. Roberto was the perfect guide!! Please, keep him as the guide in Belize. He’s a local with a passion for his country and he had the answers to all of our questions. While we were learning we also had fun, which is pretty much how the entire trip played out. The country and culture are both beautiful.

The food throughout the trip was fantastic. I’m a vegetarian and was a little worried before we left, but was more than happy the entire time we were there.

All in all, I would highly recommend this trip to other schools. We had such an amazing time, a very memorable trip. The experience convinced the younger students that they want to do more school-led trips before they graduate and made me, this being my first trip, want to lead many, many more. Thank you for a wonderful job! We were taken care of and worry free from the time we got on the plane until we landed in the US. Two thumbs up!!

Chrissie

Chrissie A. Carpenter, PhD