We only plan to spend eight days or so in Belize. Yeh right!!!!!!!!!! having come into Belize on the 3rd January we were looking forward to nothing more than seeing Camille and Alex (our friends from England) and seeing a little of the country before riding onto Guatemala in a little over a week. Boy has that all changed. We did indeed meet Camille and Alex and had a fantastic time with them seeing and doing so many things but one of those things has lead to an unexpected outcome. The four of us went to a manatee rehabilitation centre in the north of the country at Sartenaja that takes in injured or abandoned manatees and nurses them back to health before releasing them into the wild again.

This is just one aspect of the work that the conservation organisation does. Its a small organisation in relation to others around the world but they're one of the most prominent and active in the whole of Belize. We got talking to Zoe and Paul who run the organisation with help of a number of volunteers and explained that we'd looked into doing some kind of work in Central America but hadn't come up with anything other than the usual volunteer holidays that charge thousands of dollars for the privilege of spending two weeks hacking back jungle during the day and peeling potatoes at night to feed 40 other volunteers. We didn't chat too much about it, just passing comment really and left the centre having seen the beautiful manatees and enjoying the day. The following day Zoe came looking for us and invited us back for a chat about volunteer opportunities in Central America. Having said a sad goodbye to Camille and Alex we rode over to see Zoe and Paul and expecting to be given a couple of contacts for the usual volunteer holidays in this part of the world. We were a bit blown away when they offered us both a job putting together a funding bid for a new marine and jungle nature reserve and habitat corridor in the north of Belize. Stunned is the word that best describes how we feel right now. One minute we're traveling round the world on a motorbike having the time of our lives and the next we're working in Belize on something of monumental importance to both the people and wildlife of the country.

In the morning we waved Camille and Alex off as they rode out to sea in a small boat on their way to the Mexican border before flying back to the UK and we both felt so far from home all of a sudden. By the afternoon we found we had a new home and a new job. Incredible. We'll be spending our days working in the jungle conducting photographic habitat surveys for jaguars, tapirs, peccaries and host of other wildlife, taking part in turtle, manatee and bird surveys and putting together a bid for funding of the proposed 11,000 acres of jungle nature reserve and the marine reserve. On top of that we'll be working with the local communities to improve the opportunities for them as fishing declines and tourism grows. Conservation is something that protects the wildlife from exploitation by the local people but its also something that takes away their livelihoods unless something is developed to give them a new livelihood so we'll be working hard to make sure that happens for them.

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As I said, we both feel stunned by it all and its all a bit daunting but we're not on our own. Zoe and Paul have 17 years of experience in Belize and some huge successes under their belts so we're in good hands. For us its a dream come true and if we can make a difference for Belize it'll be something incredible for us. Wish us luck! We'll keep the updates coming but they may be a little different for the next few months. This little adventure may last a couple of months or as much as six months or more, who knows. All we know is we're very lucky