Sunday, December 26, 2010

Andros Island Day 4 & 5

Thursday, December 2--Day 4:
I have a lot less pictures during this point of the trip thanks to my camera which is now very happily replaced. The website for all of the pictures taken from everyone down there is androsisland2010.shutterfly.com...check it out! Anywho, the first full day on the island was spent going to a blue hole. A blue hole is a large sinkhole created in the last Ice Age that filled with water during the sea-level rise due to the melting glaciers...they can be inland or oceanic. Andros Island has more blue holes than anywhere else in the world. This particular blue hole was oceanic but it was reeeeeally windy that day so a lot of the water was constantly being stirred up and therefore less visibility to see all of the fishies. After that, we had some lunch and were on the search for cool animals followed by a botany walk. We found a poisonous centipede, a spider as big as my hand (I know this cause I'm a BAMF and held it--too bad I have no documentation to prove it), aaaand a snake. We then went on a botany walk and learned more about some Bahamian plants.

After all of this soaking up knowledge fun, we headed back to the field station and got ready for some soccer and dinner! I'm not a fan of soccer so I just watched from the sideline which later turned into me sitting in the car watching the game since it got reeeeally chilly when the sun set. Following the game was dinner at Hank's--this was the first night I decided being a strict vegetarian wasn't going to happen. I'm right by the ocean so why would I pass up perfectly fresh and amazing seafood? I ordered some fried conch (a Bahamas specialty) along with a few other random things. They also had a specialty drink at the restaurant called a Hanky Panky which is basically a really fruity drink--very similar to a sex on the beach. Obviously, I approved. After being stuffed from a fantastic dinner we had a dance party which I believe was one of the funnest parts of the trip! I'll do my best to put in perspective how much fun it really was with pictures:



See that man with the gray hair? Our amazing "professor" who can really break it down.





After mucho dancing and calorie burnage, some of us decided to go to a bar and the rest went back to the station. I went back to the station because I was pooped and ready to get my rest for the next day!

Friday, December 3--Day 5:

Friday has always been associated as a good day due to its proximity to the weekend. Here in Andros, it didn't matter what day it was because every day was like a Friday. Or a Saturday. Anyway...we started this gorgeous Friday by going to Androsia. Androsia is a factory that manufactures batik fabric and they make clothes, purses, aprons, you name it. The process and information about batiking and Androsia can be found at www.androsia.com. Here are a few pictures of the factory:



These are the stamps or stencils they use on the fabric to make patterns. A lot of them are island themed :)



The tubs of dye where the fabric is dyed to a certain color



This is where the fabric was hung to dry



And the sewing for making all sorts of things!



After Androsia, we all went to Fresh Creek and had some lunch while laying out and soaking up some sun. Like I said before, this day was GORGEOUS and I have the pictures to prove it!







After getting a big dose of Vitamin D, we headed to Andros Island's largest blue hole--Church's Blue Hole! And boy was it amazing...sadly I couldn't get the entire thing in my camera, but these can give you an idea:

All the ladies :)









Each of us took one, two, or a million times to jump off that deck we were standing on into the blue hole...SO FUN. After hanging out there for a bit, we headed back to the station for dinner. Then it was time for a cozy campfire, a lot of massaging, and story about the man that was the start of Forfar--Archie. At this point, I can't remember much at all about the story which is good for you since it was a long one! The combination of the fire, massages, and a long story sent me right to bed!

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