SIGNING UP

[The following will apply when Camp Toucan is operating.]

SIGN-UP ADVICE:

At Camp Toucan, you customize your own experience, to expand your life in the direction you want it to go. 

If you are a beginner in a sport or activity, and you want to start learning  it while at Camp Toucan, please sign up for the Monday trip or class for that sport or activity, because on Mondays the guides and instructors will be the most prepared to work with beginners, while the trips and classes later in the week are more advanced. This applies to kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, sailing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, and mountain biking. It also applies to folk dancing and Spanish – if you are a beginner in those activities, please start with the Monday class. (You can sign up for other activities, in which you already have some experience, later in the week.)

On the other hand, newcomers are welcome on any day of the week to join a Mayan Trip or Seminar, or to join a Spanish class if you are already an intermediate Spanish speaker.

EXAMPLES:

With the above in mind, here are five examples of people who customized their stay accordingly:

John is an experienced kayaker who wants to start learning to windsurf while at camp, and do some other things too. So he signs up to begin windsurfing on Monday and Tuesday, then the Mayan trip on Wednesday, the Seminar on Thursday, an “on your own day" on Friday, and more windsurfing on Saturday and Sunday.

Susan is a beginning Spanish speaker who also wants to learn kayaking. So she signs up for a set of five Spanish classes, Monday through Friday, then goes on the Mayan trip to Mahahual on Saturday, then inserts an “on your own day" on Sunday, then stays a few days longer than one week, so she can learn to kayak on Monday and Tuesday, and go on another Mayan trip on Wednesday.

Fred is an experienced sailor and mountain biker, who wants to sail on Lake Bacalar and see some Mayan ruins and countryside, and he can only stay from Sunday to Saturday,  less than a week. So he signs up for the Mayan trip on Monday, sailing on Tuesday, the mountain bike trip on Wednesday, sailing again on Thursday, and another Mayan trip on Friday. 

Mary is an intermediate Spanish speaker who wants to make progress in Spanish and also start folk dancing. So she signs up for folk dancing on Monday and Tuesday (which includes some sing-alongs to get warmed up in Spanish), then she takes the actual Spanish classes on Wednesday through Friday, then goes on the Mayan trip to Mahahual on Saturday.

Bob and Betty are a semi-retired couple from Minnesota, who can take a winter break in Bacalar from late January to early March. So they ask Camp Toucan staff to check on the availability of a one-bedroom apartment with a small kitchen. Then they sign up for five days of Spanish classes during their first week, so they will be more able to converse in Spanish during subsequent weeks. Then they will attend the annual Bacalar Carnival for five consecutive evenings in February. For the rest of their stay, they go on Camp Toucan day-trips and seminars about three days a week, and have “on your own days" the rest of the time. (They find it to be a much more worthwhile experience than another winter break in Florida or Arizona.)

As these examples show, you customize your stay the way you want it. The goal at Camp Toucan is for you to have an enjoyable time of exploration and development.

[Online sign-ups will become available when Camp Toucan is operating.]

FUTURE ONLINE SIGN-UP FORM:

On the following online sign-up form, click on whichever day of the year your stay at Camp Toucan could start. The computer will show you the trip and activity choices that are available for that particular day (since they are different on different days of the week).

All the choices last most of the day, so you should only select one choice per day (plus an evening massage if desired). 

After you click on your choice, click on “Next Day” to continue making choices for the next day, and so on for the rest of your stay.  (Click on “Previous Day” to go back.) You can insert “on your own” days" in your schedule as you wish – just click on that choice for that day.

Make a separate activity reservation for each individual in your traveling party (rather than trying to make one reservation for a couple or family).

When you are finished, click on “Review my activity reservation” to review the activities you have signed up for, listed on one page.

Then click on “Hold this reservation” to hold it for a few days, while you check about getting a good airfare for the trip, and consult with family members and co-workers to make sure it’s okay for you to be away for these days. (The further in advance you are signing up, the more days the computer will allow for you to finalize your plan. The computer will send you occasional reminders.)

You can change your mind about some activities later, subject to certain limitations. [Which we still need to specify.]

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Software system requirements:

• As described above, people will click on a specific day of the year, then see the activities available for that date, then click on the one they choose (plus a massage in the evening if they want).
• The software may have to deal with couples who want to make sure there is space for both of them on a trip, not just one of them.
• Then the computer adds your trip choice, for that specific day, to your shopping cart, and tells you on your screen that it is now in your shopping cart (like Amazon etc.)
• Then, automatically, the computer screen jumps them to the next day, saying “Next day,” so you can smoothly continue signing up for all the days of your stay. (You can jump around to some other day instead, if you want.) 
• On each day, clicking on “On my own day” is one option. You insert those days in your series of days as desired. 
• Later you check out and pay (initial deposits) for all the trips you chose.
• So, for example, on your screen you initially see the 12 months of the year, January through December, probably as three rows of four months each, so each of the 365 days of the year is a little box that you can click on. (For example, see https://www.calendar-365.com/2026-calendar.html. That page allows you to click on a date and go to some ad or information about that date, and then continue to subsequent dates.)

[END OF THE FUTURE ONLINE SIGN-UP FORM.]