Continental breakfast started at 7 this morning; there was fresh guava juice. We drove to Roseau to visit the market. There were just a few panhandlers by the coast, but they weren't bad. One tried to step into my picture of the mountains in the distance and said it cost $2 for a picture of him. Once out of the market, which was mainly just food and only a couple of woven hat stations, we found some souvenier spots all clumped together. I checked the prices on some woven baskets, but Prof. Hains advised us to buy them at the Cabrits, where the indigenous indians make them.
The roads are so long and windy that most people either walk to their destination or catch one of the many fast-driving mini buses going in their direction. We took a short drive on the way back to the station to the mouth of "Check-hall" river. I'm sure that's not how it's spelled but that's what I hear. We found some specimens of the type of snail we are going to be studying, along with some marine species as well. Our snails are black with small but close-together white spots. They are amphidromous, meaning they are spawned in fresh water, spend their larval stage in salt water, and then travel upstream as juveniles through adulthood.
After putting bathing suits under our clothes, we headed up to Emerald Pool. It's a gorgeous jade-colored pool at the bottom of a waterfall that, over the millienia, has worked its way further and further back and created an alcove in the rock below. You will see this in some of the pictures. The stream flowing out of the pool has created a small gorge with steep banks. The light came down over the waterfall perfectly and we were the only people there on a Saturday afternoon. We went swimming in the pool and I could see my feet clearly, even the rocks I stood on. I even stood under the waterfall, although the pounding on my head wasn't the most pleasant experience of the trip. With snorkle masks on, we could see a few freshwater shrimp and gobies (small gray fish). Along the trail we got some other interesting pictures and found a stick bug remnicent of a praying mantis. We also saw part of a trail created by the Carib indians long before Columbus' crew came to the island.
Next we went to another river mouth called the Rosalie, passed by a site used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and found that our snails preferred a more freshwater mix in the estuary rather than the salty waves of from the Atlantic Ocean. They also seemed to populate the darker colored rocks slightly more than lighter ones. The rocks were very slippery; in fact, most of the coast is rock. One family taught us how to extract almonds from their shell using rocks; they tasted wonderful.
We returned back to the station for dinner. After dinner I went by the bar (it's actually attached to the dining room) and asked the bartender, Clinton, if he made any virgin drinks. He said all he has without alcohol is soda water with lime. However, I did smell some of the other Dominican specialties, particularly rum punch and another kind of rum they drink at Christmas time. Unfortunately, they all smelled too strong of alcohol for my taste. Everyone loves Kabuli, the locally brewed beer, but I don't care for the smell of beer anyway.
The roads are so long and windy that most people either walk to their destination or catch one of the many fast-driving mini buses going in their direction. We took a short drive on the way back to the station to the mouth of "Check-hall" river. I'm sure that's not how it's spelled but that's what I hear. We found some specimens of the type of snail we are going to be studying, along with some marine species as well. Our snails are black with small but close-together white spots. They are amphidromous, meaning they are spawned in fresh water, spend their larval stage in salt water, and then travel upstream as juveniles through adulthood.
After putting bathing suits under our clothes, we headed up to Emerald Pool. It's a gorgeous jade-colored pool at the bottom of a waterfall that, over the millienia, has worked its way further and further back and created an alcove in the rock below. You will see this in some of the pictures. The stream flowing out of the pool has created a small gorge with steep banks. The light came down over the waterfall perfectly and we were the only people there on a Saturday afternoon. We went swimming in the pool and I could see my feet clearly, even the rocks I stood on. I even stood under the waterfall, although the pounding on my head wasn't the most pleasant experience of the trip. With snorkle masks on, we could see a few freshwater shrimp and gobies (small gray fish). Along the trail we got some other interesting pictures and found a stick bug remnicent of a praying mantis. We also saw part of a trail created by the Carib indians long before Columbus' crew came to the island.
Next we went to another river mouth called the Rosalie, passed by a site used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and found that our snails preferred a more freshwater mix in the estuary rather than the salty waves of from the Atlantic Ocean. They also seemed to populate the darker colored rocks slightly more than lighter ones. The rocks were very slippery; in fact, most of the coast is rock. One family taught us how to extract almonds from their shell using rocks; they tasted wonderful.
We returned back to the station for dinner. After dinner I went by the bar (it's actually attached to the dining room) and asked the bartender, Clinton, if he made any virgin drinks. He said all he has without alcohol is soda water with lime. However, I did smell some of the other Dominican specialties, particularly rum punch and another kind of rum they drink at Christmas time. Unfortunately, they all smelled too strong of alcohol for my taste. Everyone loves Kabuli, the locally brewed beer, but I don't care for the smell of beer anyway.
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