Joe Little’s Experience

            The trip was great, with allot to do and see.  My experiences were many and memory’s for a life time.

            We started out by going to class at the beginning of the semester getting educated on what to expect and learning about the culture.  Finally it came time to get packed, that became the biggest problem by trying to fit all our stuff in two bags.  So we ended up stashing some extra bag’s (OK, five total) and we stowed them on the vans without any body knowing, because we had to have things like unaware for every day plus some, chairs, lanterns, snickers, folding table, and so on.

            We met at school at 6:00 p.m. and loaded the vans and left for Ardmore to meet the Kansas people that were going with us.  They all were really cool and we made some really good friends.  Then we started driving to Texas to our first destination for gas.  About 4:00 a.m. Derrick woke me up to help him drive and I began wondering exactly how for we had to drive.  36 HOURS   We stopped about 300 times before we finally got to the border.  Crossing the border went really well and we were in MEXICO, finally we were on our way through to our first camping spot that was in the middle of the mountains, butt first we experienced DINNER which included many things I don’t want to know about like GOAT BRAIN in the SKULL which was actually good.  When we got to the camp ground it was cold and we all decided to sleep in the vans which went well till Derrick had to use the bathroom at 4:15 and was locked in the back and I had to let him out.  When we woke up we went hiking and swimming in the hot springs and got started on our way to the BEACH!!!!!!!! 

            We got to the beach about 5:30 a.m. Monday morning and set up camp and got assigned to our groups for the week.  My group drew up on REPTILES which met we drove up the mountain and hiked around looking for snakes, lizards or what ever we could find.  We didn’t find anything up there so we went down to the river to look.  That afternoon we went body surfing in the ocean which was great and that night we went looking for frogs where it was crazy because we went in creeks at night with flashlights in the middle of the Forrest.

            BIRD DAY was on  Tuesday where we drove way up in the mountains and then hiked even further and saw many species of birds that were really cool.  Then that afternoon we went down by the beach and set up nets to catch birds flying. 

            MAMMALS was on Wednesday and we set out traps to catch what ever we could and tracked tracks.  That night we went after bats which was really cool.  We set nets out and waited and the coolest thing we caught was a VAMPIRE BAT.

            FISH was on Thursday, it started out by getting nets out to the beach where we made long lines and pulled the nets through the water and back up to shore.  We caught some really cool fish like needle nose, sting rays, and flounder.  That afternoon we went to the crocodile farm where we snorkeled with allot of marine life and saw crocodiles up close.

            Friday was the coolest day because we took a boat trip the mangroves where we saw allot of birds and crocodiles in and on the river.  Then we ended up at a place to snorkel, swim, and play around.  That night we went to town where we traded and bought some really cool stuff.

            The nights during the week was our time and we could do what we wanted.  We all got together and made bon fires on the beach and had a great time.  Our camp site was on the beach and it was really cool and yes Derrick and I had the coolest set up.  Only lacking TV

            The Mexican students were great and we E-mail allot.  We all made some great friends we hope to see someday again.  The food was good and you acquired allot of new taste.

            We left the beach and cried as we drove away to the next stop.  After driving a long ways we turned off the main road and drove straight up a mountain and started driving into a cave (this is when I knew that Bruce our teacher was totally CRAZY) after we drove out we were in this cool town where we spent a couple of nights in a hotel with great food and could shop during the day, hike, and take a horse ride through the mountain.  Then it came time to leave and we drove back to good I’ll Oklahoma and unpacked our much needed things.

            The over all experience was the most awesome thing I had ever done and I hope to go back some day with the friends I made from Kansas, friends I already had and became closer to, and Mexican friends which I miss.

                                                                        Later,

                                                                                    Joe Little