Belize: Maya Ruins, Rainforests & Tropical Reefs

Bryn Mawr College

Including an Overnight at Tikal, Guatemala

January 02 - January 09, 2010

Cost: $3,695, plus air

This program took place in January 2010. Please check current listings for possible future trips.

Study Leader - Ignacio Gallup-Díaz

Ignacio Gallup-Díaz, Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department, earned his PhD from Princeton and specializes in the history of the early modern Atlantic World. His courses explore how European conquest and settlement of the Americas, coupled with the forced migration of Africansand the continued presence of Amerindian communities, ...more

Summary

Join Ignacio Gallup-Díaz, Bryn Mawr's Associate Professor of History, on this journey to fascinating Belize (for a READING LIST on Belize from Longitude Books, a specialty online travel bookstore, click here).

This program explores the biodiversity of the rainforest, the magnificent remains of the ancient Maya civilization and the rich marine life on the world’s second largest barrier reef.

Begin in the jungle-covered hills of western Belize and discover the secrets of the rainforest as we search for medicinal plants, monkeys, iguanas and exotic birds. You don’t have to be a birder to be amazed at your first sight of a Keel-billed Toucan, the national bird of Belize. We also float down jungle rivers and visit the ancient Maya site of Caracol.

Next, we travel into Guatemala, to the greatest of all the Maya ruins, Tikal, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Staying overnight close to the ruins, we are able to take in both the sunset and the sunrise over the massive stepped-pyramids, some towering more than two hundred feet.

Then, we travel to the coast on the Hummingbird Highway and by boat to South Water Caye, a secluded island right on the Barrier Reef. We explore the reef by boat, search for wildlife in the mangrove swamps, and visit the Smithsonian Research Center on an adjacent island. Of course, we also have a chance to swim and snorkel amid an astounding array of corals and tropical fish. In addition, Professor Gallup-Díaz will speak on the long and varied history of piracy on the Belize coast.