Tara continues her updates from San Salvador, where UMR English, geology and biology students are studying everything from the local culture to local creatures.
16 May
Today, half of the SCUBA group left at 7:30 to go diving. The rest of us went to the Cockburn Town Fossil Reefs to explore. Again, it was raining. Rain doesn't seem to take away from the experience; the water is still about a dozen shades of blue, people are still walking around enjoying themselves, and all the rocks and life we're here to see aren't afraid of the water, so we can still do what we need to. Several people (including myself) learned from yesterday's experience, and wore trash bags to keep covered from the rain.
After we wandered around the fossil reefs and the town, we again ate lunch at the Christopher Columbus monument, and went to Grotto Bay. The water was choppy at Grotto Bay, so everyone ended up just riding the huge waves and trying to avoid being smashed on the rocks. It was like a giant water park. We stopped at some tidal pools on the way back to the research center.
Since the snack bar on base is closed on Wednesday, the English group walked the couple miles to The Short Stop, the local bar, to play cards. It had stopped raining and the sky was full of stars. We could see the lighthouse, and talked about stories of hunters in Africa. When we got to the bar, we saw that the dogs from the research center were there. They had apparently walked up with another group. We were there for about an hour, played cards, cursed all the food commercials that were shown on the TV, and listened to the owner and locals play a rather violent-sounding game of dominos. On the way back, the dogs decided to walk with us. Zipper, the director's dog, turned and got hit by an oncoming car. He shook it off and continued to walk and play.
17 May
Today the second SCUBA group took off at 7:30. The rest of us had a leisurely morning and met at 9:00 for the "Death March," a 2.5 hour hike into in the island's interior. The trail was narrow and windy, with limbs and leaves smacking us in the face, and mud, rocks, and stumps trying to trip us. Not to mention the red-barked and poisonous trees around and in our path. The air didn't move beneath the jungle, so we were grateful when the trail took us into the open and we felt the cool breeze. Zipper, who had gone for a swim that morning, was leading the group along the path.
Some of the sights along the way were Reckley Hill and Reckley Hill Pond, Pain Pond (allegedly named for the stinging jellyfish that inhabit it), Moon Rock Lake (those "moon rocks" were hard to walk on!), and Dilly Pond. Part of the trip was to include some snorkeling in a pond with non-stinging jellyfish, but we were short on time, so we had the option of staying and swimming or heading back to the research center. I knew if I stayed to swim I wouldn't have the energy to walk back (that trip was mostly uphill), and I'd have to miss lunch, so I was among those who dragged all my snorkeling gear on a 2+ hour hike through the jungle for fun. When we got back, we were all hot, sticky, and some were injured. But we were surprised with a lunch of spaghetti so it was worth it.
After lunch, we were told we'd see the lighthouse, and be going on another, gentler hike, for which we could wear sandals and shorts. It turned out, however, the second hike was at least comparable to the first, with dense brush and red-barked trees in the middle of our trail. To me, this hike was worse than the one in the morning. The trail led to a cave, and two people were employed to carry the ladder used to reach the cave. I was seriously pondering if I really wanted to enter any cave, let alone one where a ladder was necessary to even get to the thing. Fortunately, the ladder was used to climb down into the cave, and it wasn't that rickety. The opening of the cave was pretty cool, and there were bats whizzing past my head. I didn't venture too far, though, because there was a passage with water that in some places came up to the nose of a 6' person (I'm 5'4"), and I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous.
After the cave hike, we went to a beach and played in the chilly Atlantic as a storm approached us from two different sides. It rained again. However, it cleared long enough for us to see our first sun set.
Tomorrow the English group will go teach 6th graders how to write poetry, and then we're all going on a boat ride to Iguana Island.
It sounds like you guys are having an amazing time and doing lots of good work! Do me a favor and tell the Geo kids Vicki and Megan say hi! (and that they better bring us back super cool rocks)