Schools Visiting

Our team will be in two schools: St. Benedict Roman Catholic School and San Felipe Government School.

Belize Trip Details

With its history as a British colony, Belize is perhaps one of the easiest tropical locations for Americans to visit. Yet it offers exotic experiences that rival the most unique, from its biodiversity to its deep roots in multiple cultures. You will fly into Belize City, spend one night at a nearby hotel, and then travel 4 hours to the seaside town of Punta Gorda. Along the way, you will have the opportunity to explore St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park, which contains stunning cave formations and a sapphire blue pond. You will partner with a Belizean teacher or teachers at one of two local schools for four days of coaching and relationship building. Because your visit will overlap with a national holiday, you will have the option on Monday of enjoying adventuresome activities (zip-line, tubing, hiking) or touring an organic cacao farm, where you will learn how to make chocolate using ancient Mayan methods.

 Itinerary

 Day 1: Saturday

• After arriving from the airport, you’ll make your way to the hotel in Belize City to settle in and gather with your teammates. The team will have dinner at a nearby restaurant.

 Day 2: Sunday

• After packing up, you will embark on the drive to Punta Gorda along the beautiful Hummingbird Highway. You will stop at St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park for lunch and hiking, cave rafting, tubing, and spelunking.
• Your accommodations for the week will be at the Tranquility Lodge, a collection of comfortable casitas on the edge of the rain forest. Some mornings you will be woken up by howler monkeys!
• The first on-location team meeting will be held over dinner at Gomier’s, a fantastic restaurant featuring locally grown, organic produce.

 Day 3: Monday – Retreat Day

• Since today is a national holiday, no school will be held.
• You will have a choice of activities for the day: Big Falls Extreme Adventure (zip-line course, tubing) or IXCACAO Maya Belizean Chocolatier.  
• The rest of the day can be spent relaxing in the hammock outside your casita, hiking the local trails, swimming in a nearby spring-fed creek, or playing games at the lodge (shuffleboard, ping pong, etc.)
• There will be a brief team-meeting during dinner which will be served at Tranquility Lodge.

Day 4: Tuesday

• Your first day at school will be full of excited greetings and introductions. You will be paired with a teacher or teachers and have the opportunity to observe her/his classroom.
• All teachers and team members will participate in an afternoon workshop.
• For dinner, “the Best Chef in Punta Gorda” will prepare a meal for the team back at Tranquility Lodge. A short meeting will follow.

Day 5: Wednesday

• Working at the school today will create further opportunities for collaboration and support.
• You will eat dinner with the team at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. A brief gathering to reflect on the day’s experience will follow.

Day 6: Thursday

• If possible, you will team-teach with your partner in the morning. 
• A final workshop and concluding celebration will constitute the afternoon.

Day 7: Friday

• In the morning, you will wrap up with your partner(s) and say your good-byes.
• The team will return to Belize City via the scenic Hummingbird Highway.
• You’ll eat dinner and have a closing team session in Belize City.

 Day 8: Saturday

• Sadly, today is for departures. You will make your way back to the US, knowing that you will bring a part of Belize home with you.