Central America Gap year expedition & volunteer project
| country: | Belize, Guatemala, Mexico |
| departures: | 2009: 19 Nov |
| price: | From £2320 (8 weeks) excluding flights. Local payment £485. Price includes all accommodation, food, transport, project donation and listed activities |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The narrow landmass of Central America sees many different vibrant cultures living in close proximity to one another. From Mayan and Aztec ruins to the gorgeous Caribbean beaches, from volcanoes to rainforests, this region matches a patchwork of varied terrains to a real mixture of local communities – plus some of the best diving in the world.
Your adventure begins with Spanish lessons in laid-back Oaxaca, Mexico which enjoys a sub-tropical climate and boasts classic colonial architecture. You will be staying with local families giving you the opportunity to participate in the culture of Central America, practice your Spanish and savour traditional home-cooked cuisine, such as chicken cooked in chocolate and chili, or toasted grasshoppers. Weekends are free to explore the area's hidden gems or, if you fancy it, try your hand at salsa dancing.
Get your hands dirty deep in the Belize jungle on a wildlife conservation project looking after manatees – or “sea–cows” – and their habitat. You'll stay in a self-contained jungle camp working alongside community members, helping to educate children about the benefits of conservation. This represents the perfect opportunity to practice your newly-acquired Spanish skills while making a meaningful, measurable contribution to the local environment.
You'll kick off the final phase of your venture with an exploration of the Sumidero Canyon, while in San Cristobel you should be able to detect the Spanish influence on local culture and make use of your language skills. Relax on the pristine beaches of idyllic Caribbean island Caye Caulker, and complete your time in Central America with a three day trek to the Mayan Pyramids at Tikal. There will be time during the exploration phase set aside for kayaking, abseiling and even – if you dare - swimming with sharks.
Your adventure begins with Spanish lessons in laid-back Oaxaca, Mexico which enjoys a sub-tropical climate and boasts classic colonial architecture. You will be staying with local families giving you the opportunity to participate in the culture of Central America, practice your Spanish and savour traditional home-cooked cuisine, such as chicken cooked in chocolate and chili, or toasted grasshoppers. Weekends are free to explore the area's hidden gems or, if you fancy it, try your hand at salsa dancing.
Get your hands dirty deep in the Belize jungle on a wildlife conservation project looking after manatees – or “sea–cows” – and their habitat. You'll stay in a self-contained jungle camp working alongside community members, helping to educate children about the benefits of conservation. This represents the perfect opportunity to practice your newly-acquired Spanish skills while making a meaningful, measurable contribution to the local environment.
You'll kick off the final phase of your venture with an exploration of the Sumidero Canyon, while in San Cristobel you should be able to detect the Spanish influence on local culture and make use of your language skills. Relax on the pristine beaches of idyllic Caribbean island Caye Caulker, and complete your time in Central America with a three day trek to the Mayan Pyramids at Tikal. There will be time during the exploration phase set aside for kayaking, abseiling and even – if you dare - swimming with sharks.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1-2: | Mexico City. Mexico City is the political, financial and cultural nerve centre of Mexico, and to understand the country some time here is essential. Perhaps more than any city on earth, it is at the intersection of the first and third worlds, with all the ills, thrills and surprises that suggests. One moment the city is all Latin beats, glamour and excitement; the next it's drabness, poverty, suffocating crowds and rancid smells. In spite of the negatives, Mexico City is a magnet for Mexicans and visitors alike. You certainly won't be bored in this complex, historic city. |
| Day 3: | Mexico City to Oaxaca. |
| Day 4-8: | Spanish School. The language school is held in the southern Mexico city of Oaxaca. We take a practical approach to the language and you'll soon move on from "dos cervezas por favor"! Learning Spanish with VentureCo is fun: morning tutorials are mostly conversational, afternoons are spent getting face to face with the local culture, and week-ends are free to explore the countryside or head down to the beach. Even after you have finished the language course, your involvement in daily life with the local people will continue to strengthen your oral skills. You'll find that living in a Latin country helps and it begins to come quite naturally. |
| Day 9-10: | Oaxaca (Free Weekend). Getting out and about at the weekend is an important part of your cultural orientation: In Oaxaca's Central Valley, in the interior of the state, the numerous small villages each have a different specialisation such as hand-woven rugs, black pottery, colourful, carved wooden figurines, shawls and other textiles. There is also a wealth of precolumbian archaeological sites and ceremonial centres such as Monte Alban and Mitla. The coastline meanwhile has miles of sandy beaches with excellent surfing for both novice and experienced surfers. |
| Day 11-15: | Language School. Your Spanish lessons continue as your first week |
| Day 16-17: | Sumidero Canyon. Leaving Oaxaca for the last time we turn south and head for the Cañón del Sumidero en route to San Cristobal. The canyon was created by the mighty Rio Grijalva and a boat journey up the river provides a spectacular view of the vertical canyon walls soaring 700m above us. For those in search of thrills and adventure there are kayaking and rapelling options available. |
| Day 18-20: | San Cristobal. The conquistadors travelled to Chiapas in 1520 and soon after, the Dominicans, Franciscans and other religious orders built the first permanent structures. Many of these historical churches still stand, relatively unchanged from their original form. Others stand in ruins, long abandoned reminders of the great ambitions of the friars. Today, the city of San Cristobal retains much of this colonial architecture which, combined with the strong indigenous culture, makes it one of the most beautiful and fascinating towns in Mexico. The ideal spot then for a couple of days R&R - enjoy!! |
| Day 21-22: | Palenque. Feeling refreshed after our "city break" we are on our way again following in the footsteps of the Mayans to their temple complex at Palenque. Set in the foothills of the Tumbalá mountains, Palenque is situated on a ledge overlooking the swampy plains that stretch to the north. Perhaps it is this positioning between two worlds that gives Palenque a mystical charm; the vista of the flat plains to the north, and the misty green of the lush mountain backdrop to the south, captures the imagination of modern explorers and most certainly inspired the ancient temples' artists and architects. |
| Day 23: | Palenque to Sarteneja. Sarteneja is a quiet seaside village in the northern region of Belize, situated on the Sarteneja Peninsula and the gateway to our volunteer project. |
| Day 24-43: | Volunteer Project. Wildtracks has an active interest in conservation, from providing care for Belize's orphan manatee to working towards the establishment of the Fireburn Reserve as a protected area. It also acts as a facilitator for communities wishing to become involved in conservation initiatives such as the Meso-American Biological Corridors and Climate Change programmes. On the ground, Wildtracks researchers are creating flora and fauna species maps of the Fireburn Reserve. Studies are also starting to focus on radio tracking of the Fer-de-Lance, one of Belize's venomous snakes, a technology that has developed from radio-tracking manatees. Venturers need to come prepared to get their hands (extremely) dirty and to learn to like living in basic (but pristine) jungle conditions. Accommodation is in a self-contained jungle Base Camp where all camp chores are carried out by the group, your culinary and house keeping skills will be put to the test too! Work is largely manual involving light building work and the use of shovels, bars and hand tools, local craftsmen will provide skilled labour on the project. Weekends on the project are free to relax at base camp in a hammock, looking out over the lagoon; or taking a relaxing swim in the “cenote”, which is a natural sinkhole in the limestone that forms the Yucatan Peninsular. Nearby villages and cayes (islands) provide other options for a mini-break and some snorkelling, fishing and sailing. |
| Day 44: | Bartons Creek. Barton Creek is a remote underground water cave system. It is believed that the Maya once used this cave for ritual ceremonies, while canoeing through the cave we’ll see large and colourful formations, skeletal remains and other cultural artefacts left behind by the Maya centuries ago. |
| Day 45-47: | Caye Caulker. After the project phase is completed we take a well-earned spot of R&R on Caye Caulker. This idyllic Caribbean island boasts white sandy beaches and the amazing experience of swimming with sharks! Back on dry land we travel west to Guatemala and the jungles of the Petén region. |
| Day 48-51: | Tikal Trek. Deep in the jungle are the pyramids and temples of Tikal, once the largest and most important of all the Mayan centres. It's a magical place, especially at sunset and sunrise because the tops of the temples stick out, above the jungle canopy. Over three days we explore the forest surrounded by the sounds of howler monkeys, with toucans flying overhead and it's easy to imagine how this area must have looked when inhabited by the ancient Mayans. We finish the trek at the nearby town of Flores and take the bus to Antigua in Guatemala to relax. |
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
This venture supports the Wildtracks Project. Project Aims: The aim of our project is to build a permanent intensive care pools, complete with water pump and heater, to care for sick baby manatees. 2 permanent lagoon enclosures with feeding platforms are also required. In the future, changing rooms and showers (for carers, often working through the day and night) and a second intensive care pool are planned. The project encompasses a range of tasks, which are “construction” in the widest sense of the word. Initially, access to the lagoon must be cleared, which is gutty machete work. After that building materials must be bought to site (using 4x4’s): Pens are made from concrete, so footing need to be dug, shuttering boards erected and cement mixed. The feeding platform and pathways connecting pens and the lagoon need to be built. Building the intensive care pool incorporates many skills from basic carpentry to metalwork and cement laying. Reducing the depth of the lagoon, to obtain a suitable depth for the manatees, is also essential, so you need to enjoy working in warm tropical water up to your armpits! As well as our guides you are also accompanied by local guides and project partners. Groups are kept to a maximum of sixteen people, big enough to help the local communities, but not big enough to have a negative affect themselves. Back in the UK we also have our own environmental policy and we believe this is where responsible travel should start, prior to departure. It is simple things that help and perhaps the biggest impact in the office comes from recycling paper, as a rule where possible we print on both sides of paper and it is not until it is completely beyond use that we then send it to be recycled. Community All our development projects have been carefully chosen to satisfy several criteria. They are of definable and sustainable benefit to the indigenous community and allow us the opportunity to work in tandem with the host community. Funding for the projects comes directly from the our Trust. For each person that joins us, we, as a company, give at least US $400 (GB £215) to the Trust. 100% of the money the Trust receives is spent on the projects. All development projects are over-seen by a resident Project Manager whose role is to co-ordinate the adventures, the funding and the project's objectives. We are committed to direct patronage within the local economies of the countries in which we operate. We pay local tutors to teach languages; accommodation throughout the adventure is in locally owned hostels or based in the project locations; and the entire expedition budget will be spent by the team at local "grass roots" level. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |