Tobacco Caye Experience

Stopped by Hurricane Ernesto

It was our final week at Tobacco Caye and right in the middle of our plans came Hurricane Ernesto.  Based on numerous surveys and interviews with community members, we finally decided on four different projects to present to the community.  One major project is rodent control; rats tend to nest in large piles of and […]

Diving on the Belize Barrier Reef

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 1:20 am on Friday, August 17, 2012  Tagged , , , , , ,

  This past week I spent some time under the sea.  Just 10 minutes away from Tobacco Caye is an amazing diving spot called Cuda Point.  Once I was over my initial nervousness of diving again after over two years, I had a great time.   We saw Tarpon, pictured here, from just five feet […]

Last Week on Tobacco Caye

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 8:12 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012  Tagged , , , , , ,

So, this is our last week at Tobacco Caye and we are forced to wrap up our work and take off.  We area planning a community meeting to share what we have learned here and to discuss the projects which community members have been most interested in.   We are thinking of creating large posters […]

Beach Clean-up 2012!

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 11:00 am on Friday, July 27, 2012  Tagged , , , , , , , ,

What an amazing day we had on Monday.  We spent a week worrying about the cleanup, concerned that no one would show.   However, when we arrived at the marine station in the morning, we were greeted by a group of very excited children ready to clean up the beaches and eat a hearty barbeque. […]

Sea Turtles on the Move

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 4:21 pm on Thursday, July 26, 2012  Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Baby hawksbill turtles emerged from the sand this past Thursday to make their way home.  Having seen plenty of documentaries on see life, I had always thought that sea turtles instinctively crept out of their sandy nests and spared no time in charging into the ocean.  These turtles were different, they came spinning out of […]

What do you think?

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 8:48 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012  Tagged , , , , , , , ,

We have surveyed about 15 or so residents on their perceptions of the marine reserve and have begun a needs assessment for what the community would like to see happen.       We have had several responses on projects that would benefit the island and the community including:   Beach Clean-ups Solar power projects […]

Night snorkel at Reef’s End

Under a full starry night we slipped into the ocean unnoticed to the nocturnal marine animals.  Then suddenly we turned on our flashlights and all of their activities were revealed.  Octopus, moray eels, bioluminescent animals and an array of fish showed their colors clear only with our sharp flashlights.   Although we’re able to see […]

Working on the reef

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 9:12 pm on Wednesday, July 4, 2012  Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Here we are working on the island, enjoying the sun and Caribbean ocean.  It can be hard at times getting to work while surrounded by tanning tourists!  We have just finished collecting GPS points of the island including: sandal stake conch pile 1 conch pile 2 hangout two palms coconut pile canoe launch Lana’s pier   We […]

Home on Tobacco Caye

Filed under: Blog — Anja Mondragon at 4:42 am on Tuesday, July 3, 2012  Tagged , , , , , , ,

I’m now here on Tobacco Caye and loving island life.  I am lucky enough to be working here with Margaret Sands and Anna Lui.  We are slowly getting accustomed to living on such a small island with only 32 residents.  As we will be working directly with the community we are getting know the amazing people that […]

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