Sam's mosquito total count: 48
We have a campfire tonight so a higher number is sure to come.
We have a campfire tonight so a higher number is sure to come.
Sam's mosquito total count: 48
We have a campfire tonight so a higher number is sure to come.
0 Comments
Six days into the journey and I am 50 shades of brown. Sam's improving her tan quite nicely, starting from "paper white" to "a shade different than before/one shade up from ass-white" (Magill) . For a comparison on the coral color chart, Sam is about a B1, Magill is a D2, and I'm about a E5, shoulder E6. No burns in sight for me, Sam though, another story.
Today we went back out to the Elkhorn coral site, and the valley before the site reminds me of the scene from Finding Nemo where they should have swam through the valley instead of going above into the jellyfish. It's pretty intense. ALSO I saw a green turtle for the first time, so now I don't feel pressured to wake up at 6am to go early-morning snorkeling. We had baked fish for dinner which was pretty funny. The total mosquito count for today: 45 -Trina 1. Waterproof band aids, don't skimp
2. Anti itch cream 3. Chargers for any and all electronics you choose to bring, there are outlets 4. Bring plenty of sunscreen (SPF 50 or more) it's very expensive here 5. Disposable water camera 6. A pillow case, but they provide pillows 7. They provide a blanket and a little bed pad, I recommend putting the bed pad down, and tucking in the blanket over the mattress as protection from the mattress. Instead of a sleeping bag, sew a double or queen sized sheet into a pseudo sleeping bag. This way you have something light weight to sleep in that rolls up very small. It's very hot here even at night and there isn't much of a breeze. 8. Do not bring more luggage than you can carry for a half hour straight, or more than you can carry on to a plane. A backpack and a duffle bag works best, you need something to bring your stuff to and from snorkeling every day. 9. Bring some snacks in packages, stuff like granola and baggies of trail mix. There are ants so don't bring anything that they could get in. They feed you three square meals and the food is good but you need some extra stuff especially for the hike. 10. Bring clothes that will dry out quickly. I recommend 4-5 pairs of athletic shorts, 1 pair of lightweight sweatpants, 1 raincoat, 1 lightweight sweatshirt, 3 tank tops, 2 t shirts, 2+ bathing suits, 10 pairs of underwear, socks, sports bras if you're a girl, waterproof shirt and shorts and invest in a quick dry towel. 11. 2 books if you plan on reading 12. Water shoes and or neoprene socks 13. Personal supply of white medical tape 14. Pen and pencil and sharpener. More to come......... It seems that after it rains, you see the most during snorkeling. This morning around 6 o'clock I went on the early morning swim and saw lots of things we had been looking out for. There were three turtles, a barracuda, two squid (the first squid sighting), Southern Rays, a shark, a Drum (it's a fish), the usual Stoplight Parrotfish, a needlefish, goatfish, and other smaller reef fish. When it comes to seeing turtles in the wild, you have to be a fast spotter and swimmer - the moment you see them they seem to swim away. One of the ones we saw had a huge remora hanging on it's back, while the turtle itself was pretty big. It's also really cool seeing barracuda because it was hanging around a school of fish and you could see it eyeing them, as if it was about to hunt. During the swim I also noticed a lot of fans in the water that had disease on them, such as black band disease. Apparently this reef has gone a lot of changes in the past two years, according to Mr. Smith. I look at old pictures and it looks healthier than it does now. Mr. Smith has also mentioned that there's a new black-green algae here and there, which is really bad. All in all, though, this morning's swim had really great sightings.
Meanwhile, I think I have about fifty mosquito bites. - Mindy A couple of days ago we found a coconut filled with milk so we went to ask the man at camp who we were told to ask if we found a coconut. He unfortunately said that he needed tools did not have. Our hopes were crushed. Today as we sat after dinner another coconut fell right near us so we took the initiative and began smashing it off rocks. Just as we had began to make a crack a man came over and told us we were doing it wrong. He then took the coconut and proceeded to open the coconut and distribute the meat and milk. We were all very thankful and impressed.
Max So far I have been having an okay time, but today was the best day by far. In the morning I was super tired and did not want to go swimming. Then towards lunch there was an optional snorkel and I almost didn't go. However I did go and I SAW A TURTLE! It was the highlight of my trip. I got some good pictures on Mr. Smith's camera.
In other news Trina is now black and Ms. Cojohn is slowly but surely catching up to her. Also we are getting covered in mosquito bites and I'm going to itch off my legs. Sam There have been so many birds spotted where are staying as well as when we first arrived. On St. Thomas, we spotted some frigate birds and shearwaters. While we were in Cruz bay for a few hours, we saw a ton of wild chickens and a first look at the pearly eyed thrashers. On St. John there are an enormous amount of birds including brown pelicans, laughing gulls, roseate terns, night herons, and little blue herons.
- Isabelle Cadene Alright, it's been a long journey and we aren't quite halfway yet but personally, about four weeks ago I didn't know how to swim, and here I am at Los Virgin Islands, sipping on my make-believe piña colada here in VIERS. I'm currently swimming with the creepiest things in the ocean and on land. I mean, today some of the girls decided to shower in the men's showers today because of the incident of sharkbees that happened yesterday. There's a swarm of wasps and honeybees (they're the same to me to be honest, all deathly ugly and terrifying) hanging out in the right side of the girl's showers aka NOPE.
I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've found the only spot on VIERS that has service. It's In front of the picnic table, in between the two palm trees if anyone is wondering. Catch me there around 1-2, 5-6, and 8-10pm. Yesterday night I think we all died a little inside after spotting a millipede aka a centi-centi-centipede in our cabin straight flexing on the wall, in which Sam silently screamed and still woke everyone up except Mindy. Laura, our savior, threw it far away (at least I hope) into the woods. And then Sam had a juvenile cockroach in her sleeping bag and died. It was a long night. The total mosquito bite count today is: 22 Recently, Mr. Smith, Mr. T, and Ms. Cojohn have been going down to Lampshur bay early in the morning before breakfast. It wasn't until yesterday that Mindy started to join them and this morning I decided to join the group. Out in the water, the first creature we saw was a barracuda following a group of grunts. We continued on our travel and spotted three southern stingrays. A fishing vessel was close by so we had to be weary of our surroundings. When we got to a bed of eel grass, a trunkfish appeared and gave us a spectacular camouflage show. On the way back near the shore, me and Ms. Cojohn found an old rusting oar. No turtles unfortunately but we will keep looking.
- Isabelle Today was like we were living in paradise (surprise, surprise). One of the students finally had the guts to get up early, good job Mindy. The morning activity consisted of accurately recording everything about a 9 square foot area. There was also a hilarious accident (Mr. Smith put her up to it) were Mindy pretended to be drowning, a difficult goal especially while wearing a life jacket. The attempt to surveying went very well and the group was rewarded with a wonderful hike which lead to the fabled cellphone reception (which the students have been questing for since their arrival) and an easy afternoon on the beach. The evening brought an informative tour of the Tektite museum. (Go look it up)
That''s all folks. Get back to work/bed/whatever you should be doing now Brian |