Private Ecotour and Random Happenings
On Sunday, Dave took me on a private Ecotour! He wanted to try out some different settings with the camera he uses at work, so it seemed like a good excuse to take me out on a kayak and show me where he works. We went on the kayak-hike-snorkel trip to Cas Cay. We took a double kayak which meant that when I got tired, I could enjoy the scenary and let the expert do the paddling. No wonder Dave is getting so buff; that's hard work! When we got to Cas Cay, we "hiked" (really it's just a walk) to the end of it where there is a blow-hole. Along the way, Dave pointed out the things in nature they explain to the tourists, including the death apple tree and some coral. I think the vast majority of the cay is actually just coral, but maybe I misunderstood my guide. After we wandered back to the kayaks, we got our snorkel equipment and Dave led me through about 8 inches deep water along the beach toward where we were going to swim. That's when it happened.
I felt something hard under my middle right toe and suddenly I felt something biting my toe in a sharp pinch. I screamed "Ow!" and Dave looked at me like I was crazy. Through my tears, I explained I'd been bitten by something. Dave hadn't seen anything through the water and he'd been keeping an eye out for mangrove jellyfish. But I showed him my bleeding toe and we noticed it bit through my toenail in addition to giving me a puncture wound on the tip of my toe. Whatever it was had disappeared, as I probably scared it. We think it was probably a crab buried in the sand. Apparently nobody has ever gotten bit by one on the tour before.
I endured the pain, and we continued on the tour so I could check out the snorkeling and Dave could try different camera modes in the underwater shots. I didn't enjoy it too much as I was preoccupied with my toe and the fear that Barry the barracuda would show up because of the blood I'd shed. But there were some interesting fish and I plan to go back sometime. I highly recommend asking for Dave as your tour guide. :-) But be sure to ask him to keep an eye out for hidden crabs. I'll try to add some pictures from our trip sometime soon.
One thing I forgot to mention about my trip to St Croix last week... While at a gas station at 8:30 a.m. I saw a garbage truck driver walking out of the gas station shop with a beer in his hand. He opened it, took a drink and hopped back in the truck to keep driving. Seeing people drinking and driving is one thing, at 8:30 a.m. while that person is on-the-job is another!
In other news this week.... one of my former co-workers from TierraNet, Dan, is here on St Thomas with his wife Shannon for a conference this week. We met up with them last night and drove them around a bit so they could see the island as they've mostly been trapped on the east end the whole time. Even though it was dark, the full moon provided us with some picturesque views of the moon reflecting off the Atlantic Ocean on the north side and the Caribbean Sea on the south side.
Not much else is really happening here. Dave's been busy on the tours and I've been swamped at work. But I finished something big yesterday so that is a huge weight off my shoulders. We need to work on our plans for St Martin still. If any of you have been there and has suggestions, please leave a comment on the blog for us! I've got walking/running a couple of times this week at Magen's before work. My judge is a runner and he tells me the 20-29 age group doesn't really show up to a lot of the running races here, so I figure if I'm ever going to place in a running event, this is the time and the place for it. I recognize most of the people there in the mornings now.
I'm super excited about the weekend. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is out in the theatres today! I spent a great deal of effort last weekend trying to figure out the screen times and whether I could buy tickets ahead of time here. Turns out the manager didn't even know what time it'd be showing and he told me he wouldn't know until today. There is only one showing per day here on the weekdays! So tomorrow at 8:30pm, I'll be at the movie theatre, freezing cold for a change, enjoying wonderful air conditioning!
I felt something hard under my middle right toe and suddenly I felt something biting my toe in a sharp pinch. I screamed "Ow!" and Dave looked at me like I was crazy. Through my tears, I explained I'd been bitten by something. Dave hadn't seen anything through the water and he'd been keeping an eye out for mangrove jellyfish. But I showed him my bleeding toe and we noticed it bit through my toenail in addition to giving me a puncture wound on the tip of my toe. Whatever it was had disappeared, as I probably scared it. We think it was probably a crab buried in the sand. Apparently nobody has ever gotten bit by one on the tour before.
I endured the pain, and we continued on the tour so I could check out the snorkeling and Dave could try different camera modes in the underwater shots. I didn't enjoy it too much as I was preoccupied with my toe and the fear that Barry the barracuda would show up because of the blood I'd shed. But there were some interesting fish and I plan to go back sometime. I highly recommend asking for Dave as your tour guide. :-) But be sure to ask him to keep an eye out for hidden crabs. I'll try to add some pictures from our trip sometime soon.
One thing I forgot to mention about my trip to St Croix last week... While at a gas station at 8:30 a.m. I saw a garbage truck driver walking out of the gas station shop with a beer in his hand. He opened it, took a drink and hopped back in the truck to keep driving. Seeing people drinking and driving is one thing, at 8:30 a.m. while that person is on-the-job is another!
In other news this week.... one of my former co-workers from TierraNet, Dan, is here on St Thomas with his wife Shannon for a conference this week. We met up with them last night and drove them around a bit so they could see the island as they've mostly been trapped on the east end the whole time. Even though it was dark, the full moon provided us with some picturesque views of the moon reflecting off the Atlantic Ocean on the north side and the Caribbean Sea on the south side.
Not much else is really happening here. Dave's been busy on the tours and I've been swamped at work. But I finished something big yesterday so that is a huge weight off my shoulders. We need to work on our plans for St Martin still. If any of you have been there and has suggestions, please leave a comment on the blog for us! I've got walking/running a couple of times this week at Magen's before work. My judge is a runner and he tells me the 20-29 age group doesn't really show up to a lot of the running races here, so I figure if I'm ever going to place in a running event, this is the time and the place for it. I recognize most of the people there in the mornings now.
I'm super excited about the weekend. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is out in the theatres today! I spent a great deal of effort last weekend trying to figure out the screen times and whether I could buy tickets ahead of time here. Turns out the manager didn't even know what time it'd be showing and he told me he wouldn't know until today. There is only one showing per day here on the weekdays! So tomorrow at 8:30pm, I'll be at the movie theatre, freezing cold for a change, enjoying wonderful air conditioning!
posted by Kendra at 1:43 PM
3 Comments:
So what is a "death apple tree"? It sounds lethal. I don't remember them from Gilligan's Island. Don't think they had toe crunching crabs either. :) Owie!
Dave's going to have to explain the death tree. I think I got its name right.
Ah, the Death Apple... gotta love that name. The tree has another name, the Manchioneel tree. The sap of the tree is similar (but more potent) to the sap of posion oak and posion ivy, and it will cause blistering if it contacts the skin (ie, if you rub the branches). If you burn the wood, the smoke will temporarily blind you. Eat the apple, you throat closes up and you suffocate. All in all a not so nice tree. The original natives of the islands used the tree's sap on arrowheads, both for war and also to slow down their game.
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