Day 18: Sunken Treasure

Snorkeled again today, but right outside our cabin. We swam to a site of a sunken ship. It was really neat! I could still see the round, metal cannons on the bottom. It was only about 12 feet underneath us and the water was clear. I could also see other round and square pieces that were unidentifiable. Inside one structure was a huge puffer fish. It had to beat least 10 inches long and very fat. Kwao said they are a pain to fish for because if you spear them in a hole and if puff up they are impossible to get out. The ocean was getting a little rough, so we swam to the shore next door and walked back. Also did lots of reading today.

And here is a picture of Kofi asleep on the kitchen table (just for laughs):

Day 16: Meet the Wilkinsons

 Went on an excursion today to the beach. During breakfast, I was blogging, eating, and warding off monkeys who were begging me to read. Somehow I heard that we were going to the beach with the Wilkinsons to get snails. I didn't know who these people were, and I told some of the other interns what we were doing. Apparently, I heard completely wrong. We were going to the beach to find "wilks" which are a specific sea snail that you eat. Jessica took us all along the beach in order to find the snails to eat for lunch. We climbed up and down rocks for over an hour with the waves crashing against the rocks. It was tough to find the right snail but really fun. The rocks they were stuck to were pink and green. We were looking on the surface so they were a little smaller. It was great exercise for the day.

Cooking them up for lunch:

  

We had to sit for a couple of hours and pry out the snail from the shell:

 The snail next to the shell:

 My hand was stained purple by a "tobaco" (still not really sure what it was). Apparently I picked up a wrong crustacean that turns your skin purple (harmless though):

 Washing the snails:

 Me with a snail:

They were cooked up in a sort of curry with vegetables and very tasty over rice. Delicious!

Day 14: Snorkeling

Went snorkeling today down the road near the Robins Bay Hotel. Kwao took us after we had gathered all the gear we needed. We started at a calm beach and swam around until Kwao knew where he wanted to be headed. It was truly amazing. Kwao describes snorkeling as visiting another world, almost like another planet. I agree entirely. The sensation of floating on the top of the water, observing other life forms with the sound of your own breathing, and the feeling of only the roll of the currents is unique. It was hard work, though, and a great workout.

Some cool things I saw:

• Lots of interesting coral
• A starfish
• Sea fans
• Lots of urchins
• Fish: needle fish, Sergeant Major Damselfish, Caribbean Blue Tang, pufferfish (only ones I could identify by asking or looking online) but saw many more. A few in particular struck me: one very dark blue with electric blue spots, bright yellow fish, long silvery fish with a blue head, and dark brown fish. 

Yesterday I recieved lots of interesting websites and PDFs from Agape as resources for reading. It all looks so interesting and I have already delved into it all. I am constantly learning in one way or another here. 

Day 11: Waterfall hike

Today Kwao took Kylie, Lauren, and I on the famous waterfall hike. It is along the same road as the hike of death, but more towards to ocean. We stopped at Black Sand Beach (also famous) for about an hour to swim and climb. Only, it was a little scary becuase we had to watch out for schools of fish and Barracudas. But, we just stayed towards to shore and swam around. The water was great and it was nice to get a good swim in (without rocks). Kwao took us on top of a little island near the beach with a great view of the land. The spot we were at was very special becuase it is where the two big ocean currents meet.
Me in the water:

View:

We also visited the old Spanish ruins that are nearby. There was a large, deep structure built behind the buildings that we tried to guess the purpose of. Cellar? Holding place for slaves? It was fascinating and very neat.
Me at the ruin archway:

The hike to the waterfall was mild and very pretty. The waterfall itself was not running very much but the effect was still amazing.The freshwater gathered in a deep pool that we could swim in. The water ran in a small stream down the hill. It was quite refreshing becuase it was very cool.
Me and Lauren in the pool:

  

I got to try a wild almond! There were a few trees near the waterfall that Kwao pointed out. He cut them open to eat. 

Me and Lauren in the pool:

Day 5: The view and picking mangoes (pictures)

I have spelled the plural of "mango" wrong my entire life...it is "mangoes" not "mangos"...I like how they say it here, pronounced "MONgoes" Ya mon.(Pictures by Kylie)
Goats we saw on the way there:

 View of the ocean:

Kwao driving us to start the hike (took me awhile to get used to the driver being on the other side):

A view of where we were hiking:

 

Mangoes from the farm:

 More mangoes, watch out for ticks in the grass (which are flea-sized, not what I'm used to):

 Kwao goes mango hunting:

 View of the ocean while coming back from the hike:

 

More of the ocean:

 The backs of Kwao (to the right) and Kyle (to the left, guy that came along with us) during hiking:

 A taste of what we had to climb through:

 The mountains: