This morning I almost lost a water shoe to the puppy Matt. He followed me upstairs and when I went back onto the veranda, one shoe was missing. Who could blame him? Those shoes stank of the ocean, river water, and hikes. Luckily, Dr. Hains found my shoe behind one of the other guest houses on the property with only the inner insert separated from the main part of the shoe. Then we went to Dominica’s Botanical Garden and met with author Arlington James, who wrote several books on the species of birds found on the island and flowers and fauna in some areas. He told us the history of the Forestry department, effects of Hurricane David in 1979, and some other facts about making childhood toys before showing us different species of plants, flowers, and his specialty: palms. While I enjoyed learning which trees are palms and which are not, I don’t think I have retained much of the detailed information he told us. Everyone else in the group was taking notes, so I felt rude not to write something. Dr. Hains leant me his note pad. I guess I was expecting more of tour of the gardens and emphasis on history and culture rather than a botany class. Nonetheless, I found entertainment in perfecting photos of flower blooms and watching kids from the nearby schools enjoy nature and recess. Kala and I discovered that the leaves on a cinnamon tree have a bit of a citrus scent, which to me is preferable to cinnamon bark.
After the garden lecture, which was almost unbearable at times because we stood for so long in one place and couldn’t eat the fruit from the trees, we rushed back to the station to change into swimsuits. Eating lunch in the car, we headed to Champagne Reef. Once we got our flippers, we noticed a hand-sized rock fall down on the path just outside of the shelter. Apparently someone was trying to knock down coconuts with rocks and got into a heap of trouble from the guy getting our supplies together. On our trip down the boardwalk, which went most of the length of the beach so we wouldn’t have to topple over rocks, we saw dozens of lizards. Some brown ones were an invasive species from Puerto Rico; there were also large blue ones and several large iguanas. Just a few yards from the end of the boardwalk, we put on our flippers and made our way into the reef.
Almost immediately we found sea urchins, Sergeant Major fish, a snake-like eel, and other fish I can’t name. Later I spotted a couple of reef squid, which Diane called cuddlefish. I had a happy time following some parrot fish around, they were so colorful with every color in the rainbow. The one I was watching was about two feet long and had a purplish base color with streaks of green on his face as if a Native American warrior had painted him up. His top fin had almost iridescent lavender, while his tail had a stripe of orange, yellow, and lime green. The rest of his body looked like a rich, watercolor mixture of indigo, purple, blue, and a deeper green. Forget the Imperial Parrot and the "Jaco" Parrot native to the island’s trees, I like the parrot fish much more. After exploring more of the reef, we made our way back to shore but not before swimming through the bubbles rising from the reef floor which give the area is namesake. There was a significant temperature change as we went over the warm reef in shallow water and then passed over the champagne part in a trench which was probably about ten degrees cooler than the surrounding water.
We drove just a little bit down south along the coast and made it to Scott’s Head, the southernmost tip of the island. The peninsula is tipped with a steep hill that has a radio tower of some sort on it, and it is connected by a land bridge. During one hurricane, the land bridge was utterly wiped away, making Scott’s Head into Scott’s Island. But soon the Atlantic Ocean built up sand and dirt deposits until finally the isthmus was renewed, making enough space for a natural road with extra space on the sides. We drove partway and then explored the rest on foot, becoming the first Clemson students to ever reach the top of the mountain on Scott’s Head. It was not a difficult task, but all the classes before us were challenged by rain and storms. Besides a tiny lighthouse, literally about 7 feet tall, I found the remains of a fort or watch-base, with a cannon facing toward Dominica across a Caribbean bay.
We ended our day with our last supper with the Texan family; they are leaving tomorrow morning/afternoon. Then we had a quick lecture on the greenhouse effect, which in a positive light will allow us to grow bananas and citrus fruits in South Carolina.
After the garden lecture, which was almost unbearable at times because we stood for so long in one place and couldn’t eat the fruit from the trees, we rushed back to the station to change into swimsuits. Eating lunch in the car, we headed to Champagne Reef. Once we got our flippers, we noticed a hand-sized rock fall down on the path just outside of the shelter. Apparently someone was trying to knock down coconuts with rocks and got into a heap of trouble from the guy getting our supplies together. On our trip down the boardwalk, which went most of the length of the beach so we wouldn’t have to topple over rocks, we saw dozens of lizards. Some brown ones were an invasive species from Puerto Rico; there were also large blue ones and several large iguanas. Just a few yards from the end of the boardwalk, we put on our flippers and made our way into the reef.
Almost immediately we found sea urchins, Sergeant Major fish, a snake-like eel, and other fish I can’t name. Later I spotted a couple of reef squid, which Diane called cuddlefish. I had a happy time following some parrot fish around, they were so colorful with every color in the rainbow. The one I was watching was about two feet long and had a purplish base color with streaks of green on his face as if a Native American warrior had painted him up. His top fin had almost iridescent lavender, while his tail had a stripe of orange, yellow, and lime green. The rest of his body looked like a rich, watercolor mixture of indigo, purple, blue, and a deeper green. Forget the Imperial Parrot and the "Jaco" Parrot native to the island’s trees, I like the parrot fish much more. After exploring more of the reef, we made our way back to shore but not before swimming through the bubbles rising from the reef floor which give the area is namesake. There was a significant temperature change as we went over the warm reef in shallow water and then passed over the champagne part in a trench which was probably about ten degrees cooler than the surrounding water.
We drove just a little bit down south along the coast and made it to Scott’s Head, the southernmost tip of the island. The peninsula is tipped with a steep hill that has a radio tower of some sort on it, and it is connected by a land bridge. During one hurricane, the land bridge was utterly wiped away, making Scott’s Head into Scott’s Island. But soon the Atlantic Ocean built up sand and dirt deposits until finally the isthmus was renewed, making enough space for a natural road with extra space on the sides. We drove partway and then explored the rest on foot, becoming the first Clemson students to ever reach the top of the mountain on Scott’s Head. It was not a difficult task, but all the classes before us were challenged by rain and storms. Besides a tiny lighthouse, literally about 7 feet tall, I found the remains of a fort or watch-base, with a cannon facing toward Dominica across a Caribbean bay.
We ended our day with our last supper with the Texan family; they are leaving tomorrow morning/afternoon. Then we had a quick lecture on the greenhouse effect, which in a positive light will allow us to grow bananas and citrus fruits in South Carolina.
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