In July 2003, the Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey, working together with Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen, USAID, Counterpart International, Idaho State University, the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture, and the Peace Corps, took a group of Q’eqchi’ Maya from 3 different villages in Alta Verapaz to Belize.

This trip was led by Brent Woodfill (VUPACS) and Mario del Cid (Counterpart International), and assisted on the Belize end by Cameron Griffith of the Western Belize Regional Cave Survey. Many of the Q’eqchi’ had also worked in tourism in the Candelaria Caves previously, so this trip was largely to broaden their experiential base and provide multiple examples of how cave tourism could work.

The three caves visited were all initially surveyed by the Western Belize Regional Cave Project, of which Woodfill was a member in 1998 and 2000. The three caves visited are all presently managed by local organizations, families, or the Belizean government.

Two different archaeological sites in the Cayo area, Xunantunich and Cahal Pech, were also visited.

Trip photos