Biology and Geography Trip to Honduras

Central American Adventure

An intrepid band of seven Carthusians and two members of staff gathered at Heathrow early in the morning for the start of our two-week adventure in Honduras (8th - 23rd August 2006). After a smooth nine-hour journey we landed in Miami to find heavy rain lashing against the windows of our plane and huge puddles on the tarmac. Having endured the absurdity of being required to clear US immigration despite only being in transit, we proceeded to the baggage reclaim where the poor weather led to a tedious hour-long delay for our cases. Entertainment in the interim was provided by one of the resident sniffer dogs who took considerable interest in the wholly innocent contents of SPMA’s carry-on rucksack. Arrest successfully avoided, we eventually boarded our next flight to Honduras’s second city of San Pedro Sula, in the north-west of the country in a wide valley on the Caribbean slope. After enjoying the luxurious surroundings of the Hotel Copantl all too briefly, at 7am the next morning we were picked up by Justin, the jovial Canadian in overall charge of Operation Wallacea’s dealings in Honduras, and driven towards the mountains.

Operation Wallacea is the company through which we booked the trip. Initially set up to help provide research opportunities for scientists wishing to spend time in Indonesia, this expanding organisation now caters for school groups, dissertation students and volunteers in five or six different countries. In each place they have established conservation initiatives with the co-operation of local people, and there is now an infrastructure for a wide range of scientific investigation to take place.

For the first week we lived in and adjacent to the forest, and had a range of opportunities to witness scientific research being carried out at first hand. After our first night camping at Base Camp those who wished took the opportunity to winch themselves up into the tops of some trees with ropes following some skilled training. This preceded a steep hike down to Guanales, one of the satellite camps lying in the park’s core zone of more undisturbed forest. Living conditions here were tough, with hammocks or a crowded tent under the forest canopy being the sleeping options. Here the group undertook the first of four sessions of forest survey work, armed with tape measures, clinometers and other appropriate equipment to collect data on plots of 20 x 20 metres. This data was to be used by PhD students working on other elements of the flora and fauna. Some also helped out the small mammal researchers while others went with the herpetology team. After a hard sweaty hike back up to Base Camp, the following morning was spent in the pleasant surroundings of the pine forest where we witnessed the bird team using mist nets to catch, weigh, measure and ring birds before releasing them. This allowed for excellent photo opportunities of a range of birds in the hand including some tiny hummingbirds. The last two days were spent on the edge of the park in the village of Buenos Aires where a game of football against the locals was enjoyed by players and crowd alike.

After a week without a good shower we were all glad to reach our second destination, a pleasant hotel on the island of Utila off the north coast of Honduras. Over the next four days the plan was to get our PADI Open Water diving qualifications, and the course was a mixture of watching some videos, a little written work, a final exam, some skills training in the confined pool, and of course, four open water dives. We all enjoyed the experience of being able to swim and breathe under water and to enjoy the varied and colourful undersea life that the Bay Islands have to offer. Everyone proved very proficient at the potentially unsettling tasks of removing your mask totally underwater and putting it back on, and all passed the course with flying colours. The same could be said for SB who became an acknowledged expert on the names of all the corals, algae, crustaceans and fish of the reef. A fun dive and some time spent snorkelling and relaxing on an idyllic island were the activities for our penultimate day, before we embarked on an ultimately unsuccessful whale shark safari on the day before we headed home.


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The party comprised SB, SPMA, Alicia Neech (W), Frederick Ellis (V), Oliver Bowling (B), Thomas Goodliffe (G), Edward Hughes (H), George Peck (H) and Philip Potter (g).