Ecorana environmental at the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society field station: November 2012

Ecorana Environmental ltd., Blog at it's partner field staiton at the T.R.E.E.S

We are Ecorana Environmental, an eco-travel and environmental education company that specializes in creating and planning applied learning holidays for students, researchers, and ecotourists alike. Our team consists of travel and outreach specialists as well as research biologists and teachers who specialize in environmental education and conservation. We are well-versed in providing comfortable, safe, and exciting learning and travel opportunities to a range of clientele interested in environmentally and culturally conscious travel.Ecorana is poised to offer travel and education abroad opportunities in the diverse tropical country of Belize. Ecorana employs biologists who are well-trained in tropical ecology, herpetology, and ornithology, and as such, studies in tropical biology are the primary focus of our educational holidays. However, our team’s diverse interests and expertise allow us to plan all types of holidays ranging from wildlife ecotours to yoga retreats to West African drumming courses to ecological field technique courses. Wherever your interests lie, you can be guaranteed that Ecorana will be right there with you.Ecorana maintains values of environmental and cultural conservation and stewardship, hands-on education, and inclusive learning, and seeks to instill those values in all visitors to Belize. We work with many field stations and educational centers, scientists, educators, tour companies, tour guides, eco-lodges, and parks, both on the mainland and on the islands of Belize, to make sure you go exactly where you want to go and see exactly what you want to see and more!

One of our main partners is the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society (T.R.E.E.S) and their field station in Belize. The objectives of this environmental education center are to host various cultural and environmental based student courses, workshops and event hosting in the heart of the beautiful Maya Mountains of Belize. We plan on providing our services to international students as well as providing opportunities for Belizean students.

For more information see our website at www.ecorana.ca, or send us and email at info@ecorana.ca or to go directly to the T.R.E.E.S website www.treesociety.org

Thursday, November 29, 2012

before and after - dining hall

Second part of the great reveal, today we are showing you the dining hall! Months and months of work...but the results were worth it!

First week in the Hall, a little discouraged, I still had no idea what was coming up.

This room is where the tables are now in the next picture, this makeshift room was torn down for an open feel!

drumroll....here is the new dining hall

Another picture of the dining hall

We still have to add 3-4 tables but it is almost complete

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Before and After...this is it!

Allright, I hope you are ready faithful readers, after months and months of working on the buildings etc, we are getting really close to the big reveal. In the next couple of weeks we will start showing you the before and after of the different rooms.

The first one today is quite the shocker! The student lounge component of the main building. Remember the real fixer upper from House Hunters, we'll check it out now.

The student Lounge, opening to lab and the rotten stairway fell off the wall

TaDah! The new student lounge, tiled, new partitions, new paint job and new staircase

We really want to thank all of those who helped us with this great looking work, Brendan, Chris, Jerm, The ramirez crew and the great neighbours! Thank you! Oh and Diesel of course! Keep posted, there will be lot's more of these kind of posts!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Stairway to compound

The morning before Chris's flight home we started working at 6h00 am with the guys to get the base of the stairway from the cabins area to the main building. We managed to get the stair trusses in for the top stairway and the foundations of the decks built. Then we jumped in the truck and drove like mad to Belize City, so they could catch their plane.

Big O testing out the foundations to the deck and stairs

The week after Vanessa and I and the guys finished up the 2 stairways, the multiple decks and gate to the lower part of the center. The stairs look awesome and the decks allow visitors to stop at a couple of areas to look at the mountains, do some bird watching and just enjoying the view! The top deck gives us another location to hang out at the end of a hard day!

The three tiered stairway

Eva enjoying the new viewing spot

Looking down to gate from deck 2

Top deck 1, excellent for birdwatching and just plain out relaxing

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Yoga Retreat Workshops

Ecorana is proud to announce that it will be offering Yoga Retreat in the Spring 2013! If you are interested please visit us at http://ecorana.ca/yoga-retreat-in-belize/

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Getting Closer

Hello everyone, we are very sorry for the delay in postings! We have now been here about a year and we are getting very close to being able to open the station for business! So we have rolled up our sleeves and are working even harder than before to have the station fully operational for January 2012!

Our biggest hurddle right now is to have all of the facilities ready for January! Vanessa's family came down to help out and with the great leadership of Chris we now have a beautiful shower building! We still have some plumbing and minor construction to do but it looks great! I am very proud to introduce out new solar shower facilities at T.R.E.E.S