Saltwater Sunscreen and Sweet Goodbyes

Sam & Veronica are the bloggers tonight

Well folks, we did it! After 17 snorkels, more than 10 boat rides, and countless activities we all made it out alive and not harmed (besides the sunburn). We are all realizing that this fantastic journey is coming to an end and as we sit here packing, reality is setting in that we will be in the snow soon.

            Today we started the morning off like every other with breakfast, then we headed to a lecture about mangroves. Right after we learned about the mangroves we got on our boat, Sabrina, and headed off to mangroves in a snorkel area called Man-of-War Bight. In the mangroves and the surrounding areas, including blue harbor back reef. When we were there we saw and collected various organisims such as, queen conch, giant pin cushion starfish, crabs, urchins, and lots of little shrimp. The visibility at the dive was crystal clear and it was a postcard moment. We reluctantly got back on the boat and headed back to lunch served by our favorite waiter Clinton and had cheeseburgers in paradise!

            After lunch half of our group went kayaking with Mr. Dole, it was a great exercise and we shared lots of laughs. While we were kayaking the other half of the group had to check out of the hotel. We all agreed that it was very difficult to check out of paradise. L Next we went on yet another snorkel (our last) to Bailey’s Key. While snorkeling we got to feed ginormous grouper and snapper fish and saw multiple schools of fish.  It was an emotional last snorkel as we all boarded the boat for the last time. We peeled off our wet suits, our sunburned skin, and our goggles and headed back ‘home’. When the boat hit the dock we said goodbye to our captain Rupert, and our dive master Calderon.

            After we spent a lot of time packing we went to our last dinner on the fantasy island. This experience has been more than a learning opportunity, it has been a life changing experience. We would like to thank Miss. Palmer, Mrs. Brosnick, Mr. and Mrs. Dole, Jennifer Keck, and our parents for the opportunity of a lifetime. For the last time, with love, this is Samantha Gier and Veronica Richardson saying farewell, and we will see you soon!

South Side Snorkeling and Tail Walking Dolphins

Ian (Above or Left) & David are today's blog writers

As you all read in yesterday's blog, we attended a traditional island fiesta last night. It was beyond amazing! We decided that it would be a perfect night to wear our nice clothes, so all the girls were wearing their sun dresses, and David and I wore our nice shirts. The fiesta was great, we had a really nice dinner that included pork ribs and red snapper, then the fun began. The festivities began with a hermit crab race. Sam and Beth's hermit crabs got second and third place! Then there was a traditional island song and dance which was very cool. There were drums and dancers who scared the heck out of Jenna. After that there was a fire dancer who was unbelievable. At one point he lit a whip on fire and was cracking the whip in the air. Then there was a limbo contest and our very own David Lynch took first place. He went so low that his back was almost touching the floor. It was quite impressive seeing as it was his first time ever limboing. Then there was a dance contest and most of the people in our group took part in it. The contest was judged by the crowd and we were in pairs. Going by the crowds applause, Sam and I were the winners, but everybody won because we all participated. After that we all danced our hearts out till we couldn't dance no more. In my opinion it was the best night we have had here. Now I'm going to pass the controls over to David so that he can tell you what we did today. TROOOOO
Today we started off with our usual breakfast then headed straight to the bus for our snorkel trip on the south side. The bus driver, who thought he was in Fast and Furious, got us there in record time. We got on the boat and did a drift snorkel off of Maya Key. It was incredible, seeing the wall, which just drops 100 feet. Straight from this snorkel, we went on the reef side of Mangrove Bight. As we headed back home, we went to the pool for some relaxing and games. Then we had a nice taco lunch on Anthony's Key. Then we went back to the pool, waiting for our dolphin training. We were split up into groups and got our own dolphins. Ian and I had Anita. We gave commands and had lots of fun. We then went straight back Bailey's Key and went snorkeling off the back. Since we are blogging in our down time, we will finish the night with pictures and a night snorkel off of Bailey's Key. TROOOOO

Fiesta Night photo from the girl's deck.

Hydroponics, Hermit Crabs and “The Hole”

Today, we started with a tour of the Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum to learn about hydroponics and tour the trees and flowers the farm contains. Their greenhouses hold over 80,000 heads of lettuce and had a wide variety of trees from all over the world. We were given seeds from a Mata Sabor that made everything taste sweet. So then we were given under ripened limes and they tasted sweet.

Lettuce from seed to table in six weeks

After our tour we took the bus to Coxen Hole, and saw how the locals in Roatan live. We were shocked to see how simply the locals live and were grateful for how much we have in the US. At Coxen Hole, we visited Yaba Ding Ding and a grocery store, where we bought local foods and some souvenirs.

The salad we had for lunch at AKR was harvested this AM!

We then took a ride over to Mangrove Bight where we went on an intertidal walk. We found some really awesome marine organisms such as brittle stars, hermit crabs, sea urchins and a chain moray eel. When we got back to the resort, some of the group took a hike through Carambola Gardens to the top of a mountain. Now we are looking forward to the island barbeque and fire dancing that will take place later tonight.

We are missing our families and friends, but are having an amazing time. We’ll see you soon.   Love Molly and Jade 

Group at Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum

Can you believe it? Who thought limes could taste sweet?

Mom! Look what I found....

We found lots of inverts too!

A "Serpent" or brittle seastar

So cool!

Tooth extraction? Wasn't painless!

Time to release the inverts back into their appropriate habitat.

Tuesday's gone with the wind!

Morning lecture on Invertebrates.

Jenna & Leah 

Waiting for lunch....

Roatan History Museum

Hello United States, Jenna Keppel and Leah Abad here. Well, so far the trip has been unbelievable. We have done so many things in four days that most people don't do in a lifetime. Examples are swimming with dolphins and snorkeling over endangered corals and fish. Today after breakfast and our daily lecture, we went snorkeling at a sight called Blue Channel. We saw some new corals and fish we haven't seen yet, and thank God we didn't see any jellyfish. If you didn't know Jenna is deathly afraid of them. We left early because we were getting sea sick from the harsh waves. After lunch we went into town. It was a new experience because we are all used to little old North Collins. This town had a variety of different stores, people, and transportation. When we returned to Anthony's Key, we decided to learn about Roatan's history in the museum at the resort. Oh yeah David says hi!

P.S. Students are replying to comments on the day of Jellies and Dolphins so please check their replies.

Greetings from the Chaperones

We are having such a great time with your children!  Thanks for sharing them with us.  Everyone is having such a great time.  There is no sunburn, no injuries and no complaints.  They are all eating very well and enjoying new foods and Honduran culture.  Many of them have tried the "Honduran Breakfast" which consists of eggs, ham, goat cheese, plantains, refried beans, tortillas and avocado.  Some have ventured out of their comfort zone and tried conch soup, fried sea bass, grilled snapper, crab cakes and desserts like tres leches.  More student posts to come!

Dolphin Pics

Best kiss ever.....

New best friend.....

A Day of Jellies and Dolphins

So as the title has stated we had a lot of new encounters today. There were many jellyfish on Smith’s Bank as well as some really neat endangered coral. After our snorkel there, we had a fun adventure on Maya Key. We went to the replicated Mayan Ruins and saw so much really unique architecture, pottery and art. It was fantastic! After that, there were many kinds of new animals that we saw like monkeys, macaws, jaguars, ocelots and toucans. On the boat ride back to our island, it was like a rollercoaster without a track. The waves were high and very unpredictable, with salt water flying every which way.

One really memorable part of our day was definitely the swim with the dolphins! We got to pet them, snorkel with them and watch them show off! We even got to take professional pictures with them, which we may be getting at a later date. At the end of the day, with dinner, there was a live band playing music.

We miss all of you back at home, can’t wait to see you again, but not exactly the weather part of that. Maybe you should come visit us down here? Just until it’s summer again back up home! Well, see you soon, love you, bye bye.

-Beth, Aurora, and Becca

PS Thank you family & friends for the  posts!  We very much appreciate them.

Group pic at Maya Key with Mayan artifact replica.

Healthy staghorn and finger corals at Smith's Bank.

Can you find at least two fish hiding in the coral?

Dolphins up close!!!!

A scrawled filefish sighting at Smith's Bank.

David & Ian give thumbs up to our snorkel site.

Becca, Beth and Aurora are watching for those pesky jellyfish!

A Little Piece of Heaven....

We have decided that the plane crashed yesterday, and we are all in heaven. For one thing, there is no snow here. It took a while to get used to the hot, thick air, but we were too busy to notice. The island is beautiful, and so is the water surrounding it. That is where we have spent most of our time. First we snorkeled in Mandy’s Eel Garden, and were overwhelmed by the brightly colored fish and plants that looked like they came from another planet. After our first outing, we had a fish identification class, so during our second snorkel (in a place called the Fish Den), we were able to put names to the fish we saw. There were butterflyfish, damselfish, surgeonfish, a snake eel, parrotfish, a sea turtle, bluehead wrasse, and many, many more than we are capable of remembering.

By the time we got back from all this snorkeling, we were starving, but we weren’t able to eat all the food prepared for us. The past few meals have included grilled snapper, creole shrimp, seabass, and shrimp bisque soup (not to mention the desserts!)

Tomorrow we have a full day planned, including swimming with dolphins! Doubtless you will read about that and see many, many pictures tomorrow.

Love, Katie and Shannon :)

Hawksbill Turtle sighting on our first boat snorkel!

Our view of Bailey's Key from the Dining Room.