Can't Belize it's Almost Over
June 17, 2026
Hey Moondance Families!
Checking in for one final update from Belize! We can’t believe how fast these past two weeks have FLOWN by and are so sad this group is leaving us soon. We have been soaking in the last few days, and had an especially exciting day 10 of our trip. We grabbed breakfast and got into the van to drive towards San Ignacio, where we had our first activity which was exploring a chocolate farm. The group was able to learn about the history of chocolate and cacao beans in Mayan culture, and even got to watch each step of the process from harvest to fermentation, and even production. We also got to try the beans and some delicious, fresh hot chocolate drinks. Next we headed to have lunch at the spot for our next activity… ziplining!! We geared up and got clipped in to soar through the jungle. Porter fearlessly led the pack and assisted with capturing videos of everyone. We even got to go down one zipline that was over 1,000 feet long and had an incredible view of the jungle and river beneath. After we finished this exciting afternoon, we headed back but not before making another ice cream stop and picking up a few souvenirs. Once back at our camp, we began our very own World Cup tournament. Each team decorated tank tops to act as jerserys and the games began! France (Helen, Eddie and Eli) had an incredible victory over Belize (Andie, Millie, and Mac) and Helen scored three goals!! The second game ended in a tie but Niam kept everyone on their toes and laughing on and off the field. We paused the games until tomorrow and sat down for a delicious dinner. Then we had one more surprise activity and took the group the a local carnival! Everyone got to ride a ride and explore the fair, and Millie, Eddie, and Mac all came back with prizes that they won. After lots of fun, we headed back for moonup and to get some rest for the big day ahead.
Day 11 started off with an early morning and lots of anticipation as the group eagerly waited to find out what the day’s activity was. After enjoying some omelets, toast, and bacon we grabbed our day packs and headed to the van. We drove back towards San Ignacio and hopped on a ferry to cross the river and visit some ancient Mayan ruins. We learned about the history of the ruins and how they served as a city for the Mayans for around 300 years. We got to explore what used to be the royal palace, courtyards, and even got to see some tombs. Then we climbed to the top of the tallest ruin and had a spectacular view of the mountians, surrounding villages, and could even see Guatamala. After some more exploration, we headed to lunch where the group devoured some delicious chicken and cheese quesadillas and tried fresh ceviche. After lunch, our next activity was river tubing! We put on our life jackets, grabbed our tubes, and hopped into the flowing river. Everyone was very excited to cool off and the relaxing ride quickly turned into a game of who could flip other people’s tubes the most. Then we stopped at a spot where we could jump into the water, and everyone took turns plunging into the river over and over again. After returning to the van parked on the bank of the river, we headed back just in time to start round two of our World Cup. The teams faced off again and Helen once again showed off her skills as she played valiently for her own team, and also subed in for another. With Porter, Niam, and Brett in the lead for round two we paused the game and headed inside for dinner. After dinner and another awesome moonup, we played some games and continued hanging out by the firepit outside. Then it was bedtime so we could wake up early again for day 12, and continue to soak in these last moments together!
For our next day of fun in the jungle, we woke up with another cold river plunge before heading to breakfast where we enjoyed some delicious waffles. After, we got to participate in an awesome Mayan cooking class! Olivia once again impressed us with her cheffing skills and prepped the veggies while also manning the fryer. Eli and Christian helped chop wood to keep the fire going, meanwhile Niam befriended every animal in sight including a parrot, several dogs, and some baby chicks. Everyone in the group lent a hand and eventually we had some incredible chicken empanadas topped with slaw. We then got to taste our creation and enjoy them for lunch which was a hit! Next, we started working on making some tamales but took a quick break and played a game of soccer nearby. We also made another ice cream stop to cool us off, before heading back to the kitchen and trying our tamales. After a long but rewarding day of learning new culinary skills, we headed back to have some down time before dinner. Down time turned into lively converstation around the firepit which continued after dinner until moonup. The group continued to hang out and soak in our time together before heading to bed before our last full day!
Our last final day in the beautiful nation of Belize started off with one of our earlier mornings and we had a choice of either chicken breakfast burritos or French toast. Soon after, we hopped into the van and drove about an hour and a half for our last activity, WATERFALL RAPPELLING!!! We arrived there and to our pleasant surprise, ran into another Moondance group staying there! We caught up with them shortly before getting briefed by our rappelling guides and hitting a short hike up to the top of the waterfall. CJ was eager to get out there, and was at the front the whole way with some of our guides. We got suited up there, then quickly began our rappelling! It was around a 150 foot drop and our guides helped hype the group up and shake out some of our fears and wake us up a little. We went down a few at a time, and once Christian was down, he took the soonest opportunity to put his bouldering skills to the test, scrambling up nearby rocks left and right while the rest of the group came down. Once everyone arrived down safely, we were able to hang out in the water and swim for a little bit, soaking up every last moment together during our final activity. We then headed out of the water and hiked back down towards our van where we unloaded our gear, hopped in, and headed to a local restaurant for lunch. We all enjoyed a much deserved lunch of chicken fingers which everyone loved while watching the France vs Senegal World Cup game, highly intriguing CJ and even taking him away from a game of pool to watch. We finished up there, got back into the van, and headed back to Jaguar Creek for our final afternoon. We spent the afternoon finishing up our own World Cup tournament, with France (Eddie, Helen, and Eli) taking home the trophy. After the tournament concluded, everyone hopped into the creek before heading back to our cabana’s to shower and pack before our Banquet dinner. We hopped back into our guides van later that evening and surprised the group with a trip to everyone’s favorite restaurant, TACO TACO. We spent a long time enjoying a great meal and even better company before heading back to camp for our final Moonup. This was our longest and most memorable Moonup yet, with everyone reflecting on our trip and how much we’ve all grown throughout the past two weeks, and especially Olivia sharing how special this experience and group is to her. After Moonup we all spent some time hanging out by the fire pit and enjoying each other’s company for one of the last times before everyone headed to bed before our early morning tomorrow.
Our final morning in Belize began with some wonderful cinnamon rolls before packing up and heading to the airport. We enjoyed one last bittersweet van ride together before arriving and beginning our goodbyes. We are so proud and impressed with this group on everything they’ve accomplished the past two weeks, and how much they’ve grown as a family. We are incredibly thankful for all of them and for being able to spend the past two weeks in such a special place with them! Thank y’all for sharing your lovely children with us on the trip of a lifetime, it was truly a special experience for everyone involved.
Thank you!!
Caroline and Holtie
Un-Belize-able!!!
June 13, 2026
Hey Moondance Families!
Checking back in from the best trip ever!!!!!! We got to sleep in a little for our last day on Long Caye, and had delicious homemade english muffins with bacon and cheese for breakfast. Then we headed over to the dive shop and everyone learned how to log their dives in their brand new dive books! We kept hanging out, playing games, and soaking up our last full day on the island until it was time for lunch and to head out for our next activity – fishing! Holtie and the boys went on the first boat and caught a total of 10 fish! Meanwhile, the girls hung out back at camp and played guitar, sang songs, and learned a new card game called kaboom. Andie even broke out the harmonica and was so good we are thinking about starting a band. Once the boys returned, Caroline took the girls out for a turn at fishing. Brett started off with a bang by catching the first fish – a huge rainbow parrot fish! And shoutout to Porter and Andie for baiting their own hooks. After catching a total of 20 fish, they decided it was time to head back in to shore. While they were having success on the water, the boys had continued to explore the island and relax in the hammocks. Before long, it was time for our last dinner prepared by out guide 🙁 we are going to miss her and her cooking so much!! After dinner we had a surprise visit from our awesome dive instructors that took us on a crocodile hunt. Millie helped lead the pack, and we spotted two crocs and got to see a beautiful view of the stars from the nearby beach. After we returned to our lodge, we had moonup and some surprise snacks to commemorate our last night on Long Caye.
Day 7 started off early as we woke everyone up just in time to see the sun rising over the ocean. Olivia helped bring the good energy this morning and we packed our bags, fueled up on froot loops and coco puffs, and headed to the dock to catch our boat. The boat ride back to mainland was relaxing and even had a few members of the group nodding off. We were so sad to wave goodbye to our island oasis, but can’t wait to see what the jungle has in store! Once back in Belize City, we hoped in our van and stopped for a quick photo opp before hitting the road. We played the alphabet game, contact 123, and jammed to music on our scenic car ride. We also made a pit stop so everyone could grab their favorite snacks, and later stopped for some delicious tacos for lunch. By early afternoon, we had arrived to our new home for the next week – Jaguar Creek! We settled in and then headed down to the nearby river to float along the lazy current. After cooling off in the water, we explored the nearby hiking trails and Christian and Mac explored the area on bikes. After some more hanging out and good converstation, we sat down for dinner and enjoyed chicken with potatoes and vegetables. We had moonup and then decided to hit the hay early to rest up for our first day of jungle activities in the morning!
We woke up to the peaceful sound of the rain for our first morning in the rainforest. For breakfast, we had our pick between pancakes and omelets to fuel us for the exciting day ahead! Our first activity was cave tubing, so we grabbed our gear and hiked up to the cave entrance. We got to learn about the history of the cave and some of the Mayan artifacts we would get to see from our awesome guide. Then we got to actually hike and climb throughout the caves! It was definitely a challenge but Eddie fearlessly led the group through the caverns. Eli was also especially excited and impressed everyone with his climbing skills. Next we got to actually hop in our tubes and float down the river that ran through the cave. We laughed, splashed, and Helen came up with a fun way to play bumper boats on the lazy river. After cave tubing, the group opted for a short hike before enjoying lunch outside at the park. After some delicious pizza, we headed over to the inland blue hole which was a beautiful swimming hole in the middle of the rainforest. We dove in and played some water games, and Niam and CJ even found another cave nearby to explore. Helen also taught us some fun synchronized swimming moves. After lots of swimming, we jumped back in the van and headed towards a fun surprise… an ice cream stop!! Everyone was so excited for this stop and we spent some time enjoying our treat, exploring the market, and making some friends on the playground. Mac even got a pineapple from the fruit stand nearby to share with the group. After a fun and full day of activity, we headed back to camp. An impromptu game of soccer broke out just before we sat down for dinner and enjoyed chicken, veggies, and rice. Then we had an awesome moonup and everyone stuck around to continue hanging out until bedtime!
We got to sleep in a little for our next day in the jungle, but Christian and Mac started off the morning right with a cold plunge into the river! We then enjoyed banana muffins, yogurt, granola, and fruit for breakfast. Our first activity for the day was horseback riding so we loaded up the van and drove further into the foothills to a ranch nearby. We all met our horses, saddled up, and began to explore the trails and even a creek by horse. Millie showed off her impressive riding skills and Eddie was brave enough to get on the biggest horse on the ranch. CJ loved it so much, he was one of the last people to hop off his horse at the end of the ride. We stayed at the ranch to enjoy lunch and even got to see a jaguar that was rescued. We were having so much fun there, that we decided to spend the rest of our afternoon at the ranch and jumped into the pool to cool off. Lots of pool games were played including Marco Polo, alligator, and Olivia wowed us with her impressive football spiral. We spent the rest of the afternoon there until it was almost time to head back, but not before stopping at some more local fruit stands! We explored a bit and grabbed some mangos and pineapple to try. Back at camp, another soccer game broke out in anticipation for our very own World Cup tournament that we’re having tomorrow. We announced teams and everyone spent dinner strategizing and coming up with team names. Niam, Brett, and Porter even worked on coming up with some of their own cheers. After dinner, we had a surprise viewing of team USA playing in the actual World Cup, complete with late night snacks and ice cream. Eli was especially locked in and helped explain the rules and players to the newer fans. Then it was time for moonup and bed! We have a packed and exciting day tomorrow and can’t believe we are well into the second half of the trip!
Until next time,
Caroline and Holtie
Millie-
Thank you so much for sending me an Moondance! I have had an amazing time meeting so many new people and doing all the fun activities! Love you so much ❤️ Millie
Thank you so much mom and dad for sending me to Moondance Im having the best time and am so greatful to have this opportunity to explore Belize with new people! Love, Andie
Thank you guys so much for sending me to Moondance! Im having so much fun, doing new activities and meeting new people! Love y’all and see you soon. Porter
Thanks for sending me! Love you. Christian
Thanks mom and dad for sending me to Moondance, I am having a lot of fun and cant wait to see you soon!
Brett
Thank you 🙏 😁😁😊😀🥳🤩🙌👍👊-Mac
Thank you so much for sending me on this trip and all that y’all do for me. I’m having so much fun and cant wait to see y’all🤿😊🤩🤗😬😺🤙-Helen
Thanks Mom and Dad for allowing me to do Moondance. It has been so fun and I hope you guys are having a good time -Elias
Hi Mom and Dad! Thank you so much for sending me, Im having a great time and I can’t wait to see you! ❤️- Olivia
Thanks Mom and Dad for this awesome experience. Cant wait to see you guys.
CJ
Edward
Thank you guys so much for this trip. It was truly a blessing. I hope you guys are having a great week. Rub Bernie for me please. I hope you watched the USA game they looked so good. pulisic played like Messi.
Thanks again,
Edward
Hi Mom and Dad. Thanks for sending me on this trip. I have learned a lot here and it’s very cool. Anyway I hope you guys have been having a good week. Love you guys. Bye.
-Niam
Belize-ing Through Paradise
June 9, 2026
HELLO FROM BELIZE!!!! We are checking in from the most beautiful place and are having the best trip ever so far. Can you belize it???? First, we picked everyone up at the airport and got started on our adventure. Well, after we stopped for a pizza lunch of course. Then we played some games and took advantage of a nearby playground before heading off to our first destination – Long Caye!
We hopped on a boat, strapped on our life jackets, and headed out. The boat ride was over 2 hours, and gave us a chance to enjoy the view of the gatorade blue water and sunny skies. We finally arrived to the island and were blown away by the view. We’re staying in the most amazing cabins right on the ocean! After some exploring and unpacking, we sat down for our first dinner made by Ms. Marta – which was incredible. Next, we had our very first moonup under the stars and on the sand which was disturbed by a crab so we had to move. Our first LODs were Millie and Mac!
Day 2 started off with some wonderful breakfast burritos with the assistance of Olivia helping lovely Ms Marta with some homemade tortillas. Soon after, we met up with our dive guides, Huracan, and headed to the dock to begin everyone’s scuba certification! It was a bit of a slow morning with lots of hands on learning on how to set up scuba gear, but everyone crushed it. Mac killed it, and was one of the first to finish setting everything up before the group hit the swim test together. We finished everything up there and headed back to our lodge for a chicken empanada lunch, which was just what everyone needed after a long and sunny morning. We then headed back to the dock to finish setting up gear for some short water dives before another guest on our (almost) private island offered to grab some insane drone shots of the group jumping off the dock. We then headed to some shallow water a quick boat ride away where we split up into our groups from earlier and learned some important underwater skills. Once again, our 12 amazing students crushed it and were stoked to spend the afternoon in the water and under the water, getting to experience their first taste of life under the sea. We finished up that and headed back to our island to hang out for a little before dinner. CJ and Eli quickly got into a game of soccer and impressed our whole group, and our hosts with their skills. We then enjoyed another wonderful meal, lots of card games, imposter, and moonup before hitting the hay.
For our third day in paradise, we started the morning with a delicious breakfast of sausage, eggs, and some bread before heading back to the shallow water to finish up our skills. Everyone crushed it and pushed through our long morning, especially Helen who had a great attitude and helped bring the energy along with assisting their friends. We had a snack break, learned some more skills, then indulged in a spectacular lunch of pizza which was much needed. After some lunch and a little bit of rest, we hit the boat for the long awaited first open water dive. Some nerves were definitely present on the way out, but everyone’s excitement after the dive showed how rewarding it was. Millie and CJ especially showed some toughness, and possibly had the best time out of anyone under the sea with seeing multiple sharks, dolphins, lion fish, and much more aquatic life. Once we all resurfaced, we headed back to the island to hang out for a little bit before dinner. Caroline and the girls hung around our lodge and played some spike ball (dominated by Brett), soccer, and enjoyed some music meanwhile Holtie along with the eagerness of Niam and the rest of the boys took a quick walk around some of the island and explored a little bit, encountering probably thousands of crabs and just a few iguanas. We all met back up for a little bit and Christian showed us some of his skills on the guitar while Edward tried out playing a banjo for the first time. We had a wonderful dinner, moonup, and of course finished our evening playing cards and imposter once again. We even got to see some cool card tricks from Olivia!
We had an early start for our fourth day in Long Caye, but excitement was high for the day of diving and of course because it was 67 day (June 7th). After breakfast, we headed to the docks where everyone once again, assembled their gear and headed out into the ocean. We had our first dive of the day around 9, and both groups of divers practiced their skills seamlessly before exploring the surrounding reefs. We saw lots of fish, an eel, and even some friendly sharks. After the dive, the group took some time to recharge and refuel with some delicious Belizean snacks, and then dove back under water for the second time of the day. On this dive, Andie and Helen showed off their underwater dancing skills, Porter got some awesome underwater pictures and one group even saw an eagle ray. Once everyone returned to the surface, it was time for lunch back on the island. Ms. Marta made us delicious quesadillas that had everyone going back for seconds. We stayed around the table laughing and recounting our dive adventures until it was time to go back out on the water for the third time. Everyone was excited to go back down for (unfortunately) our last dive of the trip, but when they popped back up to the surface we had 12 NEW CERTIFIED DIVERS!!!! We’re so proud of the group and loved seeing their excitement throughout these past few days of diving. Once our certified divers returned to the island, they were greeted by an incredible surprise- fresh, homemade donuts! Some lounged around on the porch enjoying this treat, while Ms. Marta prepared dinner. We then sat down for fresh fish (caught this morning) and rice. After dinner and with a ride from our dive instructors, we traveled to the other side of the island to watch the sunset over the ocean. The group walked back and stopped to hang out on the beach before going back to our lodge. The rest of the night was filled with card games, ghost stories, and lively conversation. After moonup, it was time to hit the hay for another early morning tomorrow!
We knew day 5 was going to be another great day under the sun when we saw Ms. Marta’s delicious breakfast of pancakes with Nutella and eggs. After fueling up, we headed to the dock where our snorkel boat picked us up and drove us to Half Moon Caye. Our group agreed this secluded island was one of the most beautiful places we’d ever seen and took some time to explore the white sandy beaches and bright blue water, under the palm trees. We then began our snorkel adventure! Starting off near the beach, we spotted lots of fish and were able to swim through tons of coral. The group then opted in for an even more challenging snorkel excursion, so next, we hoped back on the boat and towards deeper waters so we could snorkel along the reef wall. Helen and Andie were two of the first in the water and lead the group as we jumped in to explore and search for more wildlife. Luckily, we spotted a few sea turtles and several reef sharks that Christian was able to capture on his GoPro. As the rest of the group got back on the boat, Eddie, CJ, and Niam completed one last trip and got to see a shark that was around 6 feet long! After our successful adventure, we headed back onto land for lunch and some relaxing. However, relaxing quickly turned into a heated soccer game. Porter, Brett, and Andie fearlessly faced off some of our dive instructors on the (sand) field, and Eli showed off his impressive forward skills. We cooled off with a swim and some coconut water that our instructors graciously picked from the palm trees and opened for us. After this delicious treat, we further explored the island and climbed to the top of the bird tower to see some local Belizean species. After more swimming, exploring, and fun it was time to head back to Long Caye. But the fun didn’t stop here, the group quickly grabbed hackysacks and the spikeball net and played until dinner. After dinner, we had moonup on the top deck of our lodge where many nugs were given to our awesome day at Half Moon. We spent the rest of the night swinging in hammocks on the porch until it was time to rest up for another big day tomorrow! We have been having the most amazing time with this group and can’t wait for our adventures to continue in the jungle next week!!!
Signing off for now,
Holtie and Caroline
Now let’s hear from the group!
Millie-
Hey mom and dad! How’s it going? This trip has been so crazy so far! I swam with sharks the other day while scuba diving so me and Kate both swam with sharks isn’t that crazy!? How is Molly and Ellie doing? Don’t worry I didn’t forget about penny how is she? I love my group and everyone is so nice! Thank you so much for sending me on my trip! ❤️ Millie🤿🤿🤿
Helen-
Hey mom and dad!! Im having so much fun so far scuba diving was really cool and it is really hot here. I have a really fun group and we have a lot of fun. I hope everything at home is good. Thank you so much for sending me here!! Love you!!
Andie-
Hey mom and dad Im having so much fun on this trip and can’t wait to tell you all about it. Im scuba certified! Asp happy early birthday to Vivi and thank you for sending me here miss y’all and love y’all!!!
Brett:
Hi mom and dad! I am having so much fun and we just finished scuba certification the other day. It was super fun and we saw sharks and stuff underwater. We are at the beach right now on this island and we are going the rain forest tomorrow. Love you and miss you!
Porter-
Hi mom and dad! Im having so much fun, we have scuba dived and snorkeled and other cool stuff. I can’t wait to tell y’all all about it in a week. We’ve been at the beach so far but tomorrow we are going to stay in the jungle. Bye love y’all 😎🧑🧑🧒🧒
Niam-
Hi mom and dad. I love scuba diving, snorkeling🤿, and seeing all the different animals. I got to see a 10ft reef shark and I was only like 2 feet away from touching it. We also went to another island to snorkel and we saw a ton of red footed birds. There were also a lot of hermit crabs and we even did a hermit crab race. My crab wouldn’t move tho. Love you guys. Bye.
CJ-
Hi mom and dad, thank you so much for sending me to this awesome camp. I’ve had so much fun scuba diving, snorkeling, playing soccer, and much more. Yesterday, when we were scuba diving, a 10ft Reef Shark came 5 ft away from me. Cant wait to tell you all about it! Love you guys.
Christian-
Hi mom and dad, I am having so much fun diving and playing in the water. I have a bunch of diving videos on my GoPro to show you. You did 11 weeks you can do 2.
Edward-
I love you guys so much much. Im having such a fun time. Scuba diving went great and I saw an eagle ray, kingfish(4 feet), 10 ft shark, and a green eel. Cant wait to see you guys and In hope Margaret doing good in cali. Thank you guys so much.
Love you guys,
Edward
Olivia-
Hey mom and dad! How’s Colorado? I miss ya’ll! It’s going really well here. So far I’ve been scuba diving, snorkeling, and I’ve swam a lot. I befriended one of the ladies who lives on the island and she’s been teaching me how to cook Belizean food, I love it! I love y’all so much and send charlotte an email for me. See you in a week or so!
Elias-
Miss you guys so much. Tell Mabel to get off her phone and go outside. Hope Grady is not getting forced to do too much work (Patrick). How is the end of the school year going for Addie? Hope mom didn’t have too much trouble packing up the house. See you guys in a week!
Mac-
Hey mom and dad I am having so much fun. The island that we are staying on is really cool. We are about to go to the jungle and spend some time there. Love you!
Safe Arrival!
June 4, 2026
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
