Caki, 21, is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a rising junior at the University of Georgia, where she is majoring in Marketing. Caki attended Camp Illahee for seven summers before joining the Moondance family in 2018 when she went on the Belize + Costa Rica trip. Last summer, she spent six weeks studying abroad in Austria, expanding her interest in other cultures and cultivating connections. We are so excited for Caki to share her love for adventure with her students this summer!
Jake, 21, grew up in the Sacramento, CA area, but his family now lives in Nashville, TN. He is a current junior at Clemson University studying Financial Management. Go Tigers! Growing up, Jake was able to travel abroad often with his family and spent a month in Spain playing soccer with an international team! At Clemson, he joined the Clemson University Guide Association (CUGA) as a tour guide and is involved in Greek Life. He is passionate, positive, and engaging. We are certain he will be a phenomenal leader!
June 14, 2025
Hello again from Belize!
We’re now on day three at Jaguar Creek, a beautiful jungle resort nestled in St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. The group wanted to stay on Long Caye forever but ever since we’ve gotten to the jungle they’ve decided they never want to leave. Camden, Henry and Bruce have been playing a lot of soccer in the late afternoons while Emme, Vivian and Cat have been reading their books and simultaneously catching rays. Jack hasn’t stopped exploring and has pointed out every lizard within a mile. Neva was able to get an early run in with Jake and has also kept us updated with her daily vlog.
Our adventures in the jungle started off by exploring and climbing through an incredible cave. Sloane kept everyone excited with her funny jokes and pointing out crystals! We saw Mayan artifacts while exploring the cave, and at the end of our climb we floated through the cavern with a few moments of complete darkness! The group has continued to step out of their comfort zone and in turn have experienced a lot of growth. Today has been another day of adventure as the group took on a 7 mile river kayak downstream. Whitt crushed it as he kept us all smiling down the river. We spotted beautiful toucans and iguanas climbing up trees! We all enjoyed lunch on a bank at the end of our kayaking session and made an ice cream stop in Belmopan!
The group has loved swimming in the creek that runs through property in the afternoons. We float down stream while Phoebe keeps us entertained with her infectious laugh! To end off our fun an full days Blake will play the guitar for the whole group! In the evening we all sit around the fire pit and talk about the amazing days we have!
Everyone is leaning into the adventures and taking full advantage of this magical place! We are excited for the final few days we have here together in paradise! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing kids with us!
Caki and Jake
Thank Yous:
Jack- hey mom and dad! i miss u guys so much! happy fathers day btw. i love u so much and can’t wait to see u when i get back. we have caught so many fish and have moved to the jungle instead of the beach. there’s so many monkeys and lizards it’s crazy!! im also so tan its not even funny. ok tell burnley, matilda, and winnie that i miss them too! bye guys love u 🤍🤍
Whitt- Happy Birthday Mom❤️
Camden- Happy Father’s Day Dad I love you. I’m having so much fun and getting really tan (burnt). Love y’all ❤️
Henry- hey mom hey dad love you happy Father’s Day hope home is held down. Love y’all so much and I’m having a blast! Tell beans and disco that I’ll be home soon. Love y’all so much. Cya soon👋.
Bruce- happy Father’s Day dad, thank you for being there for me. I love you so much. I teach you how to chip later this summer. Love you too mom
Blake- love you guys so much happy Father’s Day love you dad miss you guys so much I caught a shark with a hand line miss you guys 🙈😎😎🥳🥳 tell Boogan I said I miss him 🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
Phoebe- yo yo Johnson ganggggg! HAPPY FREAKING FATHERS DAY GOAT. You slay padre love you forever diva💕… and then hey mom I fr miss you so much Cava date when I get home but it is so lit here like actually so fire here I love you !!!!! Can’t wait to see y’all byeeee ❤️❤️❤️❤️(please put up my wallpaper)
Emme- Hey fam, love and miss y’all lots! Happy Father’s Day dad thanks for everything you do for our family💕. I’ve been having so much fun and caught lots of fish!! Can’t wait to see y’all soon!!❤️❤️
Sloane- hey guys love y’all!! Happy Father’s Day and thank yall for everything yall do for us.❤️❤️It’s been so much fun here and can’t wait to see yall soon!💖
Cat- Hey yall! Happy Fathers Day dad and I can’t wait to see you when I get back. The trip has been super fun and I can’t want to see everybody soon!
Vivian- hey yall! I miss yall so much and am having absolutely so much fun! Miss yall so much. Happy Father’s Day dad I miss you and you are the best dad ever love you so much! 💛
Neva- Hey Mom and Dad love and miss yall tons!! I have been having so much fun I just got scuba certified and also literally kayaked 7 miles down this river and it was lowk tiring but fun! Happy Father’s Day dad I hope u love your juicer!! See yall soon🩵🩵
June 10, 2025
Hello from beautiful Belize!
Jake and I are so excited to have your kids here with us in Belize for an incredible two week adventure! After an exciting journey to Central America, our group of adventurers has officially settled into island life-and we’re already five days into one incredible trip! We’ve been living on the remote and stunning Long Caye, surrounded by turquoise water, vibrant coral, and more sea creatures than we could’ve imagined. The energy has been awesome since day one, and we are thrilled to share that every single student is now a certified scuba diver! Everyone crushed their PADI Open Water courses and took their first official plunges into the magical underwater world!
On our dives, we’ve spotted sharks swimming around, eels weaving through coral tunnels, massive schools of fish, turtles swimming lazily by, and so much more. The group’s curiosity and courage underwater have been inspiring-whether it was Phoebe giving an enthusiastic underwater high-five after mastering a skill, Camden pointing out a camouflaged eel, or Neva and Jack leading the pack on our final dive with confidence and control. Each of your kids has embraced the challenges of scuba with joy, focus, and teamwork.
After completing their certifications, we celebrated with a well-earned beach day full of snorkeling, games, and a delicious barbecue lunch. Bruce and Blake dominated in a beach soccer match while Sloane, Cat, and Emme made friendship bracelets on the beach! Whitt and Vivian turned into hermit crab whisperers during our beach walk, and Sloane, Henry, and Camden led the charge into the warm Caribbean waters with their snorkels ready. The coral gardens we explored were bursting with color and life-we even saw lots of lobsters and barracuda! To round out our post-certification celebration, we took a trip to a nearby bird sanctuary, where the group learned about the unique species that call Belize home. We saw the famous red footed boobie. The group’s enthusiasm for both marine life and conservation has been one of the many highlights so far!
Life on Long Caye has been simple and sweet-early mornings with the sun, meals together by the water, and Moonups under the stars. The group is bonding in all the best ways: giggling through card games, sharing music and books, and encouraging each other on every dive and activity. Our LODs (Leaders of the Day) have done an awesome job stepping up with Camden helping out clean up each meal.
Now, we’re packing up our gear and getting ready to say goodbye to Long Caye as we make our way back to the mainland. We’re so excited for what’s ahead. Thank you for sharing your incredible kids with us! We feel lucky every day to witness their growth, courage, and joy out here in paradise.
We’ll check in again soon with more updates from our Belizean adventure, but until then-we’re off to find more fish, more fun, and a little more sunshine!
SHOUTOUTS:
Whitt- Hey mom and Dad! Scuba diving is the best!🤿 The food is amazing and I don’t have to cook.🌮 I am looking forward to the rest of the trip. Miss y’all! 😘
Henry: hey mom and dad I am having so much fun and our group is really good. I got certified for scuba diving! Hope Italy is fun mom and dad hope Nashville is okay. Love y’all see y’all soon.
Jack- hi guys!! hope u have missed my lowercase typing!! i miss y’all so much but it’s rly fun. honestly don’t worry abt me. caki and i went diving just us for like 3 days and it was amazing! also she played Sabrinas new song and it was so good. thank u for sending me here. its so fun and I have met so many amazing people and it’s just legit fun! LOVE YOUUUU!!!!! SEE YAAA
Blake- Hay Mom and Dad I love you guys so much I can’t wait till I get back so I can tell you all about it diving has been amazing and I am certified and water here is amazing and it is the clearest water I have ever seen love you guys and tell Boogan I love him.
Bruce- hey dad and mom thanks for sending me to this trip, I don’t know if scuba diving in the bvi’s was better than this one but it’s still really fun. I can’t wait to tell you about the trip when I get back.
Camden: Hey y’all how’s it going? Camp is sick. The last couple days I’ve been scuba diving and it’s been super fun. thank you for sending me on this trip I’ve met so many awesome people and done so many things. I’ll tell you about it when I get home. love y’all
Phoebe- Hey divas! High-key living it up in Belize! Miss you guys Love you guys so much! I hope the house isnt too boring without me because I already know it is. I hope Leightond Mills and Helms have made many visits. Give Chubbs a hug for me! i’ll have a bussin day and I love it here! PS dad please put up the wallpaper in my room!!!!
Emme- Hey y’all, miss and love y’all lots. We’ve done lots of scuba diving and it’s so cool. Very sunny and definitely should have brought more sunscreen!! Can’t wait to come home and see y’all and Piper!! Have fun in Cabo and see you soon💕💕
Neva: Hey y’all!! I miss y’all so much we have been scuba diving and it’s got scuba certified! I have had such a good time plus a fire tan is coming along! I can’t wait to see y’all, love and miss y’all 💛💛
Vivian- Hey y’all! I miss y’all so much I am having the best time ever. I love all the people and my trip and have the best leaders ever. The place we are staying is literally the coolest place I have ever been ( it is a private island and we are staying with the people that live on the island ). Mrs Marta the woman staying with us cooks the best food ever and it is so so delicious. Plus the water is like insanely blue. Love y’all so much and miss y’all.
Cat- Hi guys! I miss y’all so much and the trip is super fun. The scuba diving is awesome and the food is amazing. Thank you so much for sending me in this trip and I can’t wait to see y’all when I get home!
Sloane- Hi guys!! I miss y’all so much and the trip is super fun. We scuba dove and everyone got certified! The food has been so good and it is so pretty here. Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA WE’RE GONNA CELEBRATE YOU😇❤️❤️❤️❤️!! I can’t we to see y’all but I am having so much fun.
Best, Jake and Caki
June 5, 2025
Hello Belize Families!
We heard from our leaders this morning that the group has landed safely in Belize City! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure! Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
