TRIP
BelizeBY: JOSHUA GAY ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
As the bell rang, signifying the last day of school, students exited their classes and began summer break. Some students went to resorts, some went to the beach, but junior Stewart Fussell decided to do something a little different. Fussell traveled all the way to Central America to go to Belize.
Belize is a country located on the northeastern coast of Central America close to Honduras, formerly known as New Honduras; it is the only english speaking country in Latin America. Fussell and her church go on an international mission trip every other year and this year they did vacation bible school with underprivileged children in Belize. Fussell and her church stayed at a campsite and every day they would go to a neighborhood called Mahogany Heights; they would do vacation Bible school and have crafts and do Bible stories. While Fussell and her church were there, they did many things for the children. “We would give snacks to the kids,” Fussell said. “We would have about a hundred kids in and out every day and after that we would go back to the camp and paint.” On their days off, Fussell and her church would do a bunch of activities such as cave tubing and tarantula hunting. With cave tubing you hike up a mountain until you get to a clearing on the side near the cliff. There you can get in your tube and go down the cliff; you come out at the end of the river. Fussel did many other things on the mountain. “After the cave tubing, we hiked up the mountain and zip-lined down it,” Fussell said “It's crazy; you're like hundreds of feet above the jungle.” The second day Fussell and her church took a boat out to a little island. The island was the size of the 300 hall and they just snorkeled around it. Fussell said that she had a great time and would return if she ever got the chance. “I wanted to go back to Belize in November with a different mission trip but I have school,” Fussell said. Junior Keeley Gay also went to Belize with her church. Gay said that she had a great time while she was there, doing things such as as zip lining, mission work with the kids, snorkeling and vacation Bible school. Gay said she enjoyed the time while she was there and would definitely go back again if she ever got the chance. “It was really cool to see the look on the kids’ faces when we did stuff with them,” Gay said. “They don't get much attention, but when we gave them attention it was so cool ‘cause they were so happy.” Assistant principal Richard Hutchinson last went to Belize a couple of years ago with his wife and some students. This was an educational trip; they learned about the different facts and areas of Belize. Hutchinson said they did many things, like seeing ancient mine ruins, one of the many attractions there, and going on a river cruise. On the cruise they saw all sorts of wildlife such as howler monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans and crocodiles. Also, they went to a place called Pook’s Hill which is near Actun Tunichil Muknal. This is where they took a nighttime hike through the jungle. “There are some animals that don’t come out [of] the jungle during the day,” Hutchinson said. “And that was a little creepy ‘cause you're hearing things and there are things like jaguars out there, that could crush a human skull with its mouth.” Hutchinson said that they had scorpions and tarantulas in their room, and had to have scorpion nets above the bed. On Hutchinson’s way back from Pook's Hill, they went to a zoo. The zoos in Belize are privately run and funded through donations and Hutchinson actually went into the jaguar cage. “You went into a cage inside the jaguar cage and they released the jaguar,” said Hutchinson. “ It would come out and there’s this little guy in there and he would give you a chicken foot to feed the jaguar, it was a truly an impressive animal.” Hutchinson also went to a jaguar preserve while they were there and toured it with four wheelers. Hutchinson said that he saw where the jaguars had been by analyzing their tracks. The jaguar track was the size of his hand. Hutchinson also went to Ambergris Caye, which is an island. They are basically barrier islands, right outside of them are coral reefs; it is the second largest coral reef in the world. “We went and swam with sharks and stingrays,” Hutchinson said. “[It was] very exciting; I got to swim with some sea turtles and we were just paddling along, it was fantastic.” Hutchinson said that the environment of Belize is very hot and he does not do so well with the warmer temperatures, but it was very nice. The people in Belize are very nice and Belize also has a Caribbean atmosphere. Even though it was a British colony, it has a very rich diverse culture. Hutchinson said that one of the reasons they went to Belize was to expose students to the country and how wonderful and great the people are there. Fussell, Gay and Hutch had great experiences while visiting Belize. Whether it was feeding the children, tubing down a mountain or even feeding a hungry jaguar, they all saw the virtues of living in such a beautiful place. All three said that they would definitely return to belize again if they ever got the chance. |
|