39 Radleians travelled to Honduras for an unforgettable expedition with Operation Wallacea, combining scientific research, rainforest exploration, scuba diving and encounters with some of the world’s most remarkable wildlife.
Now in its seventh year, the expedition took the group from the cloud forests of Cusuco National Park to the coral reefs of the Caribbean island of Utila. Along the way, the boys worked alongside an international team of scientists, contributed to ongoing research and experienced environments that few people ever have the opportunity to explore.
The boys spent the first week in Cusuco National Park, a tropical montane cloud forest renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity and high number of endemic species. The park is rated among the most important areas for conservation in the world, providing a remarkable setting for the boys to take part in genuine scientific research. After three days at Base Camp, the group trekked for several hours into the forest to reach the extremely remote Cantilles satellite camp – a name familiar to many Old Radleians who have made the same journey over the years. Here, the boys joined an international team of scientists from countries including Canada, the USA, Venezuela, Trinidad, Belgium, France and the UK. The boys helped with habitat surveys, contributing to the large-scale data collection that underpins the hundreds of scientific papers Operation Wallacea has overseen. The work involved measuring extensive quadrats and recording the trees and vegetation within them.
The boys also witnessed a remarkable range of scientific surveys, including mist-netting for bats and birds, nightly moth trapping, and ‘herp’ walks in search of snakes, lizards and amphibians. Perhaps surprisingly, fungi walks proved a particular favourite, led by ‘Silas’ from the Netherlands. Among the most memorable species encountered were green palm vipers, barred forest-falcons, atlas moths and jewel scarab beetles.
The boys also had the opportunity to take part in a Canopy Access experience, climbing ropes high into giant emergent trees to look out across the rainforest canopy, led by James Aldred, the renowned BBC cameraman responsible for many of Sir David Attenborough’s most spectacular rainforest sequences, including footage for Planet Earth.
Mr Noone said: “For the boys, the opportunity to speak with James and the visiting scientists over dinner and around the satellite campfire, surrounded by the sounds of the nocturnal jungle, was a particularly memorable part of the expedition.”
Midway through the trip, the group exchanged the rainforest for the Caribbean island of Utila, a tropical paradise surrounded by coral reefs forming part of the Meso-American Barrier Reef which is the second-largest barrier reef system in the world. Here, the focus shifted beneath the waves, with boys undertaking a variety of scuba diving activities and working towards PADI Open Water and Advanced qualifications. Many also completed a reef ecology course, learning to identify the sponges, corals, fish and invertebrates that inhabit the surrounding reefs, while hearing from scientists about their ongoing research.
There was also plenty of opportunity for exploration above the water. Some boys kayaked through the island’s mangrove channels to the isolated Rock Bay, described by Mr Noone as “real Robinson Crusoe stuff”, particularly after one group had to rescue him when his kayak sank!
Utila offered a wealth of wildlife, with vultures, lizards, hummingbirds and brilliantly colourful flowers providing a constant backdrop to the group’s activities. A visit to the Iguana Research and Breeding Centre introduced the boys to the island’s endemic ‘Swampies’, which are large iguanas found nowhere else in the world in the wild.
The expedition concluded with a visit to the breathtaking Mayan ruins at Copán. The ancient city, with its palaces, temples and ball court, offered a fascinating glimpse into a civilisation that flourished centuries ago. Surrounded by jungle and watched over by majestical Scarlet Macaws which were once held sacred by the Maya, the ruins provided a fitting final chapter to the expedition.
As Mr Noone reflected, it was “a fitting end to an amazing trip, one the group hopes to emulate again in 2028.”
