Nevis Tour and Last Dinner Bonfire

Oriana’s Blog

Hello, hello! It’s Oriana and it’s hard to believe that today was our last day in St. Kitts. Just a friendly reminder to all the eager parents that we are arriving at DULLES airport on Thursday June 20 at 11:45pm. Having arrived later than the rest of the group I feel like my trip has only just begun and I already find myself getting ready to go home. Our last day consisted of a tour of St. Kitts’ sister island, Nevis and a bonfire dinner at our beloved Spice Mill restaurant. We had an early start to the day, as always, and met our tour guide at the hotel. We were pleasantly surprised when a van pulled up with Bullis’ motto written on the back; “Caring, Challenging, Community” along with “Bullis School” written on the side. Thenford Gray was our guide and he was joined by a man he referred to as his “colleague”; a local pastor from Nevis. We boarded our “Bullis van” and made our way to the ferry stop. After a bit of a wait at the stop, during which we played Charades, we boarded the ferry and began our journey towards Nevis. The ferry ride was pretty smooth, with only a few small waves rocking the boat. After about a half hour we arrived at the Nevis ferry stop and unloaded. Dodging and politely rejecting the many offers for taxis we made our way to our first sightseeing stop. As it turns out Nevis has quite a strong connection and presence in American history as Nevis was the island that the Founding Father Alexander Hamilton was born on (Dr. Romeyn, I thought of you when we visited his birthplace).

Our first stop was the Alexander Hamilton museum where we were able to read up on Hamilton’s childhood in the Caribbean and the history of Nevis. As was apparent from the museum one of the reason’s for Hamilton’s success was having spent his childhood in the Caribbean. After leaving the museum we walked through the town, which was called Charlestown, and were able to appreciate the colonial architecture and colorful spirits of the town.

We passed by the location where the Nevis slave market had been and then we stopped off at the Nevis sports museum. As was apparent from Thenford Gray’s enthusiasm, sports, especially cricket, are a large part of life on the island. Thenford Gray summed it up pretty well when he said, “Cricket is next to religion here.” He was very proud of Nevis and St. Kitts’s presence in the West Indies sports league and he was extremely knowledgeable of all things cricket. At the museum a TV had been set up where they were broadcasting the cricket game between South Africa and England(unfortunately, England was winning) and Thenford took the time to give us a quick lesson on the rules of cricket.

After the sports museum we went to visit the local Jewish cemetery and got some background information of the Jewish community on Nevis. After visiting the Jewish cemetery we boarded our van and made our way to the baths. These baths are hot water springs where, during colonial times, people would come to heal themselves. Some of the baths are still in use today as we found out when we went to look at one of the baths and came across a young lady who was in a state of undress as she was about to enjoy the bath and tested out the water ourselves (only with our fingers, no full body bath). We were all surprised at the very high temperature of the water and all came to the unanimous agreement that it was “hotter than a hot-tub.”

After our stops at the bath we made our way up the mountain to visit the old sugar-cane plantation turned hotel “Montpelier.” It was a beautiful hotel, with lots of light and wonderful decorations (i.e. the pool was painted pink on the outside much to my delight!). It has also had the royal stamp of approval; William and Harry chose to stay at Montpelier when they came to visit the island. After Montpelier we made our way to our lunch stop.

After a very enjoyable lunch stop we went to visit another plantation turned hotel; The Golden Rock. It had a very unique look to it; and it seemed to have an Asian influence. Both hotels were very open and there was lots of fresh air and natural light. After visiting Golden Rock we boarded our van again and returned to the ferry stop. We returned to St. Kitts, this time staying in the van and sleeping, instead of outside on deck. Once we returned to St. Kitts we bid Thenford farewell and got ready for our dinner.

As this was our last night together everyone got dressed up and we were a pretty good-looking group of youngsters. We had dinner at Spice Mill at which time the one end of the table started a game, which turned into a long, intimate exchange of compliments. Each person went around the group and talked about something new they had learned about everyone else in the group. The game began in the restaurant and was then moved outside to the bonfire. It was a really beautiful, touching end to the trip and illustrated how well we meshed as a group. Sitting there on the beach the flames throwing moving, mysterious patterns over the sand and our faces made me think about the larger lessons learned on this trip. Looking back on it, it has been such a fulfilling experience. This has been such a good trip and we all agreed that we were a really good group. Thank you guys for a wonderful experience and I will treasure the memories and moments we had here.

Oriana Theo

Last Bird Survey and Night Patrol

We started our day with being able to sleep in. This was a nice time to catch up on some much needed rest as we have been out late most nights. After an enjoyable breakfast we headed off to Keys Beach where we surveyed the local birds and tracked their nests. We walked from one end of the beach to the other end looking for new nests and updating the existing nests. We used a GPS tracker to state the coordinates of where the nests were on the beach. When we found a nest we marked them with washed up sticks so nobody would step on them during night patrol. We were able to help the bird survey team by marking 10 new nests! After a two-hour walk on the beach, we treated ourselves by going to the local bakery. This was a fun experience because we were able to try some of the St. Kitts pastries and put some Caribbean currency into use. We then headed to the grocery store and bought some more snacks for later. We came back to the hotel and rested some more before gathering all of the food to make dinner that night. We had a picnic out by the pool, and enjoyed some more bonding time rather than going out to eat. We talked about how we could as a school, contribute to conserving the environment. Sadly, we went out on our last beach patrol of the trip. This was an interesting experience because we excavated two different Leatherback nest. We had to dig two feet down in order to locate the eggs. The eggs gave off a really bad smell because they were decomposing. We had to count how many eggs there were left, and then open each one separately to record the stages of growth. We fortunately found two baby turtles, one in each nest. This was very rewarding because we were able to save two turtles lives. Once 12:00 am hit, we were sad to say goodbye as we built great relationships with the local volunteers and Dr. Stewart. Saying goodbye to Dr. Stewart was extremely hard because we learned so much from her and she was always so kind and loved her job so much that it made it so much better for us. We are heading home in two days bringing these memories with us that we will keep forever. 

-Matt Peel

Day 8: Caribelle Boutique, Rainforest Safari and Picnic Lunch

Today was a day full of adventure. Everyone felt refreshed and ready to take on the day after not having beach patrol the night before. Starting off the day with yet another 6:45am wake up call from Miss Yen, we met downstairs for breakfast. At 8:20am, Joseph from Greg’s Safaris picked us up at our hotel to take us on our rainforest hike. Gathering in the safari truck, we began our adventure. Joseph gave us a tour of the Island while on our way to the hike.

Our first stop was at the Caribelle Batik, where we were given a demonstration by a woman who worked there. Everything is hand made. There is a nine day process in making the designs on the fabrics. They use wax and dye on the fabrics. Everything on one side of the fabric is the same on the other.

After visiting the boutique, Joseph drove us to the safari hike. Joseph gave everyone a walking stick before entering the safari. We first walked through the Mango Valley Trail. We saw a lot of mangos. Joseph explained why each tree looked a different way and what the natives call them. Such as, an orangey tree is called a sunburned tree. We learned how each plant’s resources could be used for different uses. For example, one leaf with a silver color on one side will help you heal from an injury.

After walking through the Mango Valley Trail, we began the Peter Manning Trail. Joseph warned us that this trail would be an adventure. We walked through rivers and up mountains. Thankfully, there was a rope to hold on to when climbing the mountain.      

Tired and hungry Joseph made an awesome meal filled with native fruits and sweets. Resting for our beach walk tonight, we are looking forward to seeing another turtle.

Day 7: In Water Day, Cockleshell Beach and Spice Mill

Bonjour to family, friends, envious school mates ;)… It’s Simone and I’m sad to say it’s been an entire week already on the island, which means we are nearing the end of our trip. Crazy how fast time flies when you’re working hard and having fun. First of all, happy Father’s day to all the dads. I’m sure you’re enjoying the peace and quiet. I hope you all had a great day back at home!

Today was a great day for us, too. It’s a day where we really caught up on our much needed rest and really enjoyed the Caribbean vacation aspect of the trip that seemed to elude us the past week, as we’d been scouring the Atlantic side in rain and wind and darkness. It was incredibly refreshing to see the beautiful turquoise green water we don’t get on the East coast. Safe to say, it was my favorite day so far on this trip.

We started with a 6:45 wake up call from Miss Yen after an eventful beach patrol. Though no turtles, it seemed some popcorn Dani and Sarah picked up from the store didn’t quite agree with them, and Miss Yen took some of us back to the hotel. Sarah’s doing great now, and feels much better. So far Carly is the only original girl here to make it out unscathed by some form of sickness. But don’t worry, nothing has been serious.

After breakfast, we made our way to one of the Caribbean beaches and met up with the “in-water team”. The “in-water team” is a group from the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network who go out into the sea and catch a sea turtle with their bare hands. Turtles are very fast, and are impressively powerful, so to catch a turtle is a pretty big feat. We waited on the beach while the team went scouting and we were happy to play on the sand, rest in the sun, and make some friends with the local kids. After, the team returned carrying a fairly good sized Hawksbill turtle, who was larger than the lap of the girl who caught it- it was also her first ever turtle catch- and the turtle was very pretty. Its shell was what they called “tortoise shell” and used to make belts, shoes, ect. The team asked what kind of turtle we thought it was, and immediately I said, “Hawksbill.” They asked, “Why?” My answer was that, “It isn’t as green as a green sea turtle.” Though that seemed logical, the answer is actually that Hawksbills are defined because they have a sharp beaked mouth, just like its namesake bird. The turtle was patient as Dr. Stewart joined us for the poking, prodding, measuring, and blood drawing. We all got to touch the turtle, and even some of the locals came to see it, and get a lesson in turtle protection. The turtle was about only 10 years old, so fairly young. It can grow up to 200 pounds when fully grown and can only show sign of their gender when they are 40 years old. It was such an incredible experience to be able to be so close to an animal that not very many people get the chance to see.

After, we came back to the hotel for some much needed rest. It’s funny when you’re in such whirlwind of activity that you don’t notice you’re tired until you sit in your bed for a minute and this overwhelming exhaustion comes over you. Carly, Oriana, and I napped for over 2 hours! Once we were refreshed, we headed to Cockleshell Bay to hit the Caribbean sea! Everybody had a great time tanning and swimming in the gorgeous water. The scenery looked like something out of a travel brochure, complete with palm tree, huts, and a clear view of Nevis in the background. Oriana, Carly, Seth, Matt, and I bravely tried out the water trampoline and had fun jumping off into the water. We all goofed off- especially Miss Yen and Mrs. Newman. We took funny pictures, enjoyed some St. Kitts inside jokes, and ate delicious pizzas by the beach. We ate at a place called Spice Mill, which was great. They brought us yummy smoothies for dessert and Oriana and I enjoyed some seaside (virgin!) Pina Coladas.

It was a pretty low key day in the beautiful sunny Caribbean, and a great experience with the Hawksbill turtle. We have now seen all 3 of the sea turtle species that live in St. Kitts. Pretty cool to see things come full circle. We also ended the day on a great high note- we have the night off of beach patrol! This means we get to sleep in our beds for more than 7 hours for the second time we’ve arrived. We’ll be ready and looking forward to our jungle tour tomorrow morning.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Day 6: Beach Clean-up, Night Patrol and Snorkeling

Hello everyone following this blog! Our adventures on the island of St. Kitts have reached their halfway mark. Oriana arrived this afternoon, which means that all members of the group have arrived on the island and we are feeling more like a full group. We started our day yesterday with our second beach trash clean up. Trash often plagues the local marine life, giving us all the more motivation to pick up as much as we can. Later in the day, we went to Marshall’s to have a splendid dinner accompanied by an unparalleled view of the Caribbean Sea. Our beach walk was not as eventful as the night before, and despite a few close calls with rain we made it through the night.

This morning we started out our day with a snorkel tour around our hotels local waters. Although there was not a lot to see we still had fun and made the best of the situation. We were able to get a few good pictures of the small fish that inhabit the local coral and rocks.

As the trip continues, we are keeping our fingers crossed that we might come across another turtle in the near future!

-Gabe Melrod

Day 5: Encounter with a Sea Turtle!

We again drove up to Keys Beach energetic and ready for another 8-hour watch turtle patrol. As for all the other nights, we were optimistic in our endeavor to find a sea turtle.  Some bad luck had preceded our arrival, as Dani was feeling unwell and there had been dark storm clouds looming over us dropping buckets of rain on us off and on for an hour. This, however, was not going to stop us, so we made new groups of four and split up for the south and middle patrol. For a few hours the patrols were like the ones before it, uneventful; people passed the time by either chatting or resting. We got news that University of Central Florida students were going to patrol with us, and that we would get longer rest stops to accommodate. Needless to say we were all pleased to know that we would be able to get a lot of rest. A few hours later the inevitable did happen and rain droplets woke us all up; luckily we were by a horse stable so we had shelter. The University students were also with us and were stirred up by the rain; they got rather loud and started to complain, while the rest of us, accustom to the patrol interruption, just waited for the rain to stop. Ms. Yen even made a comment the next day about how well we had behaved ourselves in the situation in comparison to the college kids.  Once the rain stopped (and the college kids had gone) we went back on our patrol, again with little success.

 A few hours later at around 2:00 am our guides got a call from the north side of the beach saying that they had found a turtle. Energized by the news, all of us rushed to pack up our things and hurry off to the other side of the beach. We got there as fast as we could, and were mindful of the turtle researchers commands to stay quiet and not get too close too quickly. Ms. Yen ran off as well to get Dani from the hotel because she did not want her to miss out on seeing the turtle lay her eggs. At first we could not see the turtle in the dark, but we then got a better look when the researchers moved us closer behind her; she was small for a leatherback (around 500 pounds), one of the smallest the researchers had ever seen, yet still big enough to be about the size of the average person. Just as we had learned from Ms. Stewart the turtle began to use her rear flippers to dig a nest, which took about 30 minutes. In this time, the research team hurried in their attempts to prep their equipment, and even asked some of us to help with the process. The nest was rather close to the water, so Carly and Sarah were asked to take a net and put it under the turtle to catch the eggs. The turtle had not been tagged so it was inferred that this might be her first time laying eggs. The researchers waited for her to start laying before tagging her, but she was fidgety so it was difficult. As she laid her clutch the researchers took blood samples and checked for wounds. When she finished laying her infertile eggs Sarah and Carly had to quickly pull the net out from under the turtle before she started to bury them.

            

 The turtles camouflaging process took a long time as she used her rear and fore flippers to spray sand about and cover the nest.  In this time we stopped and watch while the researchers finished up their work by taking measurements and pictures (Matt had to cover the turtles eyes so she would not be disturbed by the flash). The turtle was rather docile during the laying process so all of us got a chance to touch her, and when she finished her camouflaging she disappeared back into the ocean.

           

 Once the turtle was gone we made our way to the middle of the beach to re-nest the eggs that Carly and Sarah had helped gather. Deonte, one of our patril guides, quickly dug a vase like hole for the eggs and once he was done Ms. Stewart gathered temperature probes to monitor the new nest. A few of us were asked to count the eggs and place them in the nest, so Simone and Adam stepped up and, two a time, put the eggs gingerly into the nest making sure that the bigger fertile eggs were on the bottom and the infertile were on top. Once this was done we buried, marked, and camouflaged the nest before heading out.

           

 It was past 5 when we got back to our rooms so all of us quickly cleaned up and went to bed exhausted but excited about our sea turtle encounter.

-Ian Giles

Day 4: Night Patrol, Ross University Tour, Bird Survey and Turtle Nest Escavation

            Last night we went to night patrol at 8:00 PM and were up until 4:00 AM.  As would be expected, we were all exhausted during this night patrol because we were staying up very late, so we all fell asleep.  The problem was that instead of sleeping for 30 minutes like we’re supposed to do on our shift, we all fell asleep for 2 hours, including our guide who was with us.  Luckily we did not miss any turtles and none of us complained about the extra hour and a half of sleep.  The bad part was that we were all woken up because it started to rain. After we got back from night patrol it is safe to say that nobody had trouble falling asleep at the hotel. 

            This morning we all woke up at 9:30 and had breakfast at 10:00.  After breakfast we went to take a tour of Ross University, a veterinary college (Mom and Dad: I am going there, no questions asked).  Ms. Yen and I decided that we would go to school their together and that Sarah would work as a teacher for the daycare/school that they provide for the children of faculty and students that go there (The students can be any age). Sarah, Ms. Yen, and I will all be roommates and Sarah and I will be able to call Ms. Yen Dorothy J.  The school that is provided for the children of students and faculty is from daycare through 8^th grade. Everyday every grade goes to assemblies, and today we got to see the 4^th and 5^th graders perform a skit they have been working on about a poem.  Their poem was about a cow in outer space.  This poem was very fun to watch and we all enjoyed it. After the assembly we continued with our tour of the campus and saw all of the different laboratories and classrooms.  We were very impressed with the university because of all the different classes offered there, and the campus is also very pretty with a beautiful view of the ocean.  The university is also very hands-on; they even breed their own cows! Once again mom and dad, I am going there.

            After our tour we went into a small conference room at the university and met with some students who were studying birds. They showed us a PowerPoint of the different types of birds that are found on the beach and talked to us about their behaviors.  We found it funny and interesting that some of the birds act injured when predators got near their nests so that the predators would try to catch them instead of eating the eggs or hatchlings.  After our orientation about the birds, it was time to put our new knowledge to the test and go to the beach to observe these birds and their nests.  We went to all the nests that people have found before and counted how many eggs were in each nest and recorded it to compare the amount there to the amount that were there the last time someone recorded them.  Some nests had eggs still in them getting ready to hatch while others were either cracked, eaten by predators, or hatched.  We even saw a mother acting injured, so we knew that either a nest or a hatchling was near by.  Unfortunately we could not find the nest or hatchling that the mother was trying to protect, and it started to rain anyways so we decided it was time to go stop. When we got back to the cars it was immediately time for our next activity.  We left the students helping us with the birds and then met up with who was going to help us with our next activity.

            

We hopped into the cars and made our way over to a beach where we would look for turtle eggs that did not hatch.  We dug through the sand in the areas where our guides thought the turtle might have laid her eggs. Once again, it started to rain so our digging did not last very long. Although rain has put a “damper” on certain activities recently, we are still having a great time and have really enjoyed this experience!

-Carly Bass