Sparta School's Principal Barnes discusses summer trip to Belize

Sparta School Principal Chris Barnes was among those selected to participate in a summer venture that took him and 11 North Carolina teachers to Belize—located in South America—for a week of learning about the area's ecology and the like.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the Tropical Ecology Institute organize the trips—including one to Costa Rica and another to Yellowstone—each year.

Barnes noted that while the trip was partially subsidized through grant and scholarship funds, Barnes opted to pay his remaining funds.

Mission: Adventure

In late July, Barnes left early one morning, arriving at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport about 5 a.m., taking a flight to Miami, Fla., where he and his cohorts went through customs. From there, they arrived in Belize about 10 a.m., which would be about noon our time.

Speaking of the trip, Barnes said he was more excited than nervous.

When Barnes and his cohorts arrived in Belize, they met with Belize educators Kathleen Garbutt and Roberto Hernandez, who spoke with the state educators about Belizean culture.

"The trip itself, what you do is you look at the different ecology of all over the country of Belize. We went and spent some time in the rainforest, looking for jaguar traps, looking…at the different kinds of plants that are found there. We spent several days there. We went to several other cities; we went to a school called the Monkey River School, which is on an island—there's no electricity in the school system and very few supplies. We brought supplies and books with us."

During the trip to the rainforest, he visited a monkey sanctuary where "tribes" of monkeys ate out of the people's hands. They also visited a jaguar reserve, where a jaguar got up close and personal with Barnes, licking his head for a few minutes.

With a chuckle at the memory, Barnes stated, "After we spent several days in the rainforest, we then went out to the coast to the keys on the reefs. We did some studies of the different plants and marine life…different fish and different corals; we even did a night snorkel with underwater flashlights…it was really neat."

From there, the group was given the opportunity to walk through the Domingo Ruiz Cave and Rio Frio caves, and shortly thereafter view mountain river cascades.

Barnes recalled, "The trip was roughing it a little bit. A couple of nights we stayed in nice places, but most of it…we stayed in a cavern."

Sparta School Prinicipal Chris Barnes stands beside a bulletin board in the hallway of the school that shows scenes from some of his adventures in Belize. Barnes was among 11 N.C. educators chosen to go on the trip.