Around 6:20, Caryn showed up and gave us the scoop—we are being evacuated to Howler Monkey Lodge at 11:00 a.m. Tropical Storm Chantal is moving our way and hasn’t weakened. So, we have to pack our things and the camp and be ready to go by 10:30.

We had a quick breakfast of eggs and whatever else we could grab and got to it. The team was really inspiring. We had the camp packed up and ready to go in under 3 hours. At times, we had to insist that our teammates take a break as the sweat poured off the foreheads and down their backs. We packed our belongings as if we’d not be coming back, packed up the scientific equipment and data, and had time to pack away dishes, food, and everything else that wasn’t nailed down.

At 10:00, the camp was packed. Everything that could be put away and stored was in its proper place. We did another quick check around to see what else could be done, but all we could do now was wait. Caryn looked at the cooler containing the beer. "Well, who knows if it’ll be here when we get back," she stated. So, beers were passed around. By 10:30, when the boat arrived, we were sitting drinking beer taking snapshots and beginning our own hurricane party. Landy pulled Blue Tang up close, and we all loaded her down with our belongings and items we couldn’t lose if the storm hit the island.

On the ride in, we noticed a single red flag flying high atop the government building by the river. This is the code flag for a Hurricane Alert Phase 1 in Belize City. The town is bustling with activity and boats are thick in the river. There’s barely room for us to pass on our way upriver to the Ventura Shopping Center.

At Ventura, we meet Carolyn who is going to give us a ride to Howler Monkey. While we transferred everything from the boat to the van, I ran over to the pay phone and gave my wife a quick call to let her know we were on our way to the lodge and that we were safe and feeling confident we would remain so.

Back at Ventura, we loaded up the van with our belongings, the food, and added a few bottles of rum for the inevitable hurricane party and snacks for the ordeal that lay ahead. Clifton was the first to leave our group. He went into town to stay with his relatives where he’d be safe and with family. We next dropped Louise off at the airport on the way out to the jungle. With a quick hug and good wishes all around, we said goodbye to the first of our teammates to leave. She was obviously very scared by the approaching storm but equally sad to be leaving us. We were sad to see her go, but understood her fears.

We went out the highway past the airport and turned onto a dirt road. Twenty or so miles up the dirt road we arrived at our sanctuary, Howler Monkey Lodge located deep in the jungle, at around noon. We were met by Miss Marilyn (Miss Mar as we all called her, and who happens to be Mr. Gilroy’s girlfriend/fiancée). Miss Mar got us set up in our cabins and made us rice and beans which we had for lunch.

We immediately staked out a spot under the large palapa and had a great time drinking rum and telling stories. Every half hour or so, the radio would crackle with the sound of the latest weather bulletins. We tracked the storm as she approached and began to take a slow turn to the north—good news for us, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.

Howler Monkey Lodge is at Bermudian Landing, about 20 miles west of Belize City. The lodge is a collection of cabins with a couple of beds in each. There is no TV, but there is electricity and plenty of water. The lodge is surrounded by jungle—most of which has been set aside by area residents as the Howler Monkey Refuge.

The local community has also created a museum and offers tours through the jungle. These amazing people have created this without any assistance from the government of Belize. Each of the adjoining land owners signed a pledge to keep a couple of hundred foot stretch of land along the river undeveloped as natural habitat for the howler monkeys and have pitched in the necessary funds to run the museum.

As the night progressed, we heard we were getting visitors. The Oceanic Society, which has a research project out on Turneffe Island, was also being evacuated. They’d be joining us soon. They arrived a little after dark with 8 volunteers and 2 Principle Investigators.

More drinks and fun filled the night until we went to bed around 10:00. Jack and I are sharing a cabin with a double bed. We have our own bathroom with a shower—although, the shower doesn’t work. So, we’re still doing the bucket shower routine.