We’re well into the project now, the main frame on the monkey enclosure is in place and the wiring is being pinned in place as I type. We are planning to spend most our time on the project this week, before heading off for some cave tubing and a trip to Fireburn next week (with a few smaller projects thrown in for good measure).

We celebrated Clare’s birthday on Sunday, and the local cake baker in the village produced a fantastic cake. Looking forward to Charlotte’s birthday, just so we can order another!

Raining here today, but sure it’ll pass soon. Hope all is well back home, and it’s not too cold!

Ian

We are limited on upload bandwidth here, so limited on how many pics we can share with you each day. Please check out the Wildtracks facebook page for the latest uploads from Zoe.

It’s been a full week here in Belize and after decimating carefully managing the environment to clear around an acre of land for the new primate enclosures. But it hasn’t all been hard work:

On Friday we had a day off travelling to Lamanai, an ancient Mayan city with the highest Mayan temple in Belize which is suitably named the ‘High Temple’. This was our first day outside of our jungle home since we arrived. On our trip we encountered three crocodiles, a wide variety of birds and bats, howler monkeys and two spider monkeys which were, unbeknownst to us, illegally placed there and are going to be the first monkeys in the new enclosure we’re building.

Clearing the area for the monkeys took a good few days and the site we were working on was a Mayan ruin itself although we haven’t found anything but a few pieces of pottery. Building the cage has finally begun, the idea is that it’s around four times the volume of the cage it’s replacing.

Adrian and Zach

Hi all. Just coming to the end of our 3rd full day here already. Spent Monday cleaning down our new home and moved in. We are staying in the original hut built by HSX on their first visit here back in 94(ish). Some great construction, it’s still standing strong. Found lots of mice, scorpions, bats and other crawlies but hopefully they have moved out now!

Tuesday was great, we were shown the Manati here (Twiggy) and the 10 monkeys in various cages. Was good to hear more detail about what we will be working on and what help we can be. As soon as we have the pre-release enclosure set up some of the howlers will be introduced to it, as they progress to full release next year.

Today the bulk of the work started; clearing jungle for the new cages and painting the hut white. I’m sure everyone will sleep well!

Apologies for the lack of pics, my camera phone has died so can’t upload via wifi. Will try to transfer some from a camera next time.

Ian

So after a very long day travelling (up at 4am, arrived 830pm) we reached Wildtracks. Below is the view from our back garden this morning, not bad huh?

Everyone in good spirits and looking forward to setting up our camping area today.

Up at 4am.

Just boarding now, next stop cancun!

With just a few days to go before we head off on our expedition, I thought I’d give you a quick overview of who is going and what we are planning to do on our 4 week expedition to Central America.

The team consits of 11 members including 3 leaders, 3 network and 5 explorers. The team is as follows:

• Ian
• Mark
• Charlotte
• Max
• Tom
• James
• Clare
• Adrian
• Zach
• Aaron
• Colm

We are going to be based at a conservation charity called Wildtracks, on the North-Eastern tip of mainland Belize in a village called Sarteneja.

View Larger Map

teamHSX on Atacama recieved emails today with details on the course…

It makes for interesting reading..

Distance of Each Stage
The approximate distances of each stage are detailed below.  There are checkpoints approximately every 10 kilometers / 6 miles along the course where volunteers and a medical doctor are stationed to give you water and support.  Each checkpoint also has a tent providing shade.
 
Stage 1 – 35.2 km / 21.9 miles
Stage 2 – 41.8 km / 26.0 miles
Stage 3 – 40.0 km / 24.9 miles
Stage 4 – 42.8 km / 26.6 miles
Stage 5 – 73.6 km / 45.7 miles
Stage 6 – 16.0 km / 9.9 miles

 
Terrain
The terrain is varied.  You can expect salt flats, sand dunes, loose rock and dirt, grassy plains, canyons and hard-packed dirt tracks.  There are also a few water crossings throughout the week.
 
Altitude
The course starts at its highest altitude.  Camp 1 is just over 3,000 meters / 10,000 feet.  Each Stage takes competitors to a lower level, with the week finishing in San Pedro de Atacama at 2,443 meters / 7,780 feet.
 
Climate
The climate of the Atacama Desert is hot and dry.  Course temperatures can reach higher than 40°C / 104°F (with lows of 5°C / 41°F at night).

Good luck to us…..

The Belize team will be hosting the annual HSX Christmas dinner this weekend.