Dangriga and South Water Caye

Because of the time change and the fact I forgot to change my watch, I got people up earlier than expected. This gave them a chance to walk around the grounds before breakfast and experience the calls of many birds.  After breakfast and a tour of the kitchens, we headed to Dangriga via the Southern Highway. Before we even headed out, we stopped at the cashew orchard to show the kids why cashews are so expensive. The seeds are outside the fruit and only 1 seed is produced. The oils from the cashews are acidic and can burn/scare if they touch the skin.

Hummingbird Highway is still a dusty road. So stopped at Soldier's Creek for a refreshing swim. The students and chaperons enjoyed jumping of the rock in the middle of the creek and were given a brief lecture on bamboo, which grows along the creek.

 

We made it to Pelican Island Resort and loaded up the boat for our journey across the lagoon to South Water Caye. Some of the girls started breaking out in song on our 30 minute journey which brought much laughter to the group. We reached the dock and greeted Jennifer, who runs the IZE. Since we were the only group renting out the IZE, we pretty much so had the run of the place. The girls were given a bunk room along the western boundary of IZE. It so happen to be the rooms, I stayed in before several years prior. The guys were given a bunk room closer to the classroom and mesh hall. The chaperons were given these individual cabanas with their own private bathrooms overlooking the back reef. Here the wind coming off the water created a chilly breeze but it was peaceful to look out through the mangroves at the reef and to see the sunrise in the morning.  Once everyone settled in, we had lunch and were given the 'rules' of IZE. Since it is mainly a green facility, the kids were informed of what they could or couldn't do.

 

 

Some of the kids headed out to the beach to go snorkeling, some played a volleyball game while others shredded some coconut and hung out on the dock.

After dinner, we had the first night lecture, on coral reef formations, in the classroom. From there we headed out to the dock to view the stars and a quick astronomy lesson and to see whatelse was out and about. Spotted a sea hare and an electric skate around the dock along with urchins and sea stars. Some of the kids headed down to the beach to chill in the hammocks while others headed to their bunks for some shut eye.

Day 2: O'ahu

Being wide awake at 2:30 am island time was annoying. I laid there staring at the ceiling hoping I could go back to sleep at least for a few more minutes but that didn't happen. As soon as someone else starting stirring, we all got up and got ready for the day. It was still dark outside when we headed out to tour the grounds of the resort. Seeing the morning sun breech the horizon was lovely. Being up that early we were treated to all the morning calls from the birds. A and I spent time smelling the tropical flowers and collecting some for our journals. There were many varieties of bougainvillea. The flowers are always the same color but the 'petals', which are technically modified leaves, are different colors. The African Tulip Tree was in full bloom and the variety of plumeria (fringapani) was heavenly. Just staying in one spot and smelling the tropical aroma was a wonderful way to bring in the new day.We met in Doc's room around 8 am. Doc gave us some information on the Hawaiian culture like how the Hawaiian alphabet has only 13 letters and how O'ahu has the greatest population out of all the Hawaiian islands.

Each day a student, if they want to, would give a devotion. Doc would give the first and last devotion of the trip. This mornings devotion was from 2 Timothy 1 dealing with how "God doesn't give us a spirit of fear..." Doc mentioned that we might encounter some things along the way that will scare or frighten us. He stated for us not to succumb to the fear; that we have a greater power to help us over come; for us to face the issue head on and God will get us through.

We loaded up the vans and headed out for the day. Originally we were going to visit USS Arizona Memorial but because of the cruise ships in port the line was extremely long so we decided to do it another day. We headed to Ala Mona Mall to grab food and to look around before heading up to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling.
Hanauma Bay is a Marine Reserve. They limit the amount of traffic to the area daily. Before heading out to the bay, all visitors are given a brief introduction to the reserve along with its history. The bay is a compound crater formed when a submarine volcano broke the surface of the water. Reef and ash material created the crater combs and sea level rose to form the bay. The Polynesians first saw the bay and probably named it for its shape. The sand on the beach is imported from other areas because the original sand is green and visitor's normally have a mental thing about sand any other color than white. Not only are the marine organisms protected but also the land animals within the reserve. One of these such animals is the mongoose, which was introduced to take care of the rodent population but since the mongoose is diurnal and the rodents are nocturnal, it didn't work.

Though the thought of a marine reserve is a great idea, the area was filled more of coral rubble than actual live coral. Yes, there were a lot of marine organisms within the area and some turtles were seen swimming in the backdoor channel but it was still affected with all the human activity. One of the rules was to not touch/stand on the coral but while puttering around the bay several visitors weren't following this rule, which drives me crazy since coral reefs are my passion. The bay provided an opportunity for others to learn how to snorkel without being bombarded with waves.

After a day in the sun we headed back to the resort for our evening class and the night's devotions which was given by Meg on Ecc. 12:1. "Enjoy Life." If it ain't fun, then it's not worth doing!

Day 2: The city of Hills...Lausanne

The night of July 29 must have been a restless night because I awoke long before 7 am in the bed perpendicular. Yeah, kind of funny to think about since the bed was only a double bed. Got up and took a hot shower to work out the kinks and prepare me for a long day of walking.

Hopped the train to Lausanne, the city of hills. After viewing the public bus map, I stopped by St. Francois church. This church was at one time part of of a Franciscan convent built around 1270. Now it sits nestled among the financial district. After viewing the church, I decided to spend some time in a public garden just enjoying the morning. The problem with getting up so early and catching an early train, most places aren't open yet by the time I get to where I'm going. I don't mind. It gives me a chance to sit and witness the start of a new day.



After watching a mother and her child in the public park, I took a bus to the Plaza de la Riponne. Here vendors were setting up for market day. The main building in this plaza is the Palasi de Rumine. This building houses several museums: Fine Arts, Archaeology, Natural History, Geology and Zoology. The inside of this building was spectaular. The staircase to each floor was made of marble and had enormous marble columns on each side. The building was done in the style of Italian renaissance architecture and was built in 1900.



Not far from the Plaza was the Escaliers du Marche. This covered walk way lead to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. The Cathedrale was built between 1150 and 1275 and is regarded as the most beautiful Gothic building in Switzerland. 232 steps lead to the belfry and on top of the tower a watch keeps time and cries out the hours from 10pm to 2 am as it has for over 600 years. Beautiful carvings graced the entire church.



At the front of the church was an atrium where there were tombstones marking the resting place of souls within the walls and floor of the atrium. At the back, a massive pipe organ sat silent in the loft. I spent several minutes just walking up and down the church aisles. All the statues, carvings, stained glass windows, and other craftsmanship were amazing. All the time and money spent in doing all these ornate decorations had me thinking. How alive was this church? Was all this done for show, for tradition or was it done out of love, respect for God?











After leaving the church, I headed down Rue de la Barre and came across Chateau St. Marie. This building was built between 1397 and 1427 to serve as the Bishop's palace. Currently the Chateau is being used as an apartment building. Not such a bad apartment if you ask me.

I headed back to the Plaza and market day was in full swing. Vendors selling breads and other baked goods, cheeses, meats, fruits and veggies along with clothing had overtaken the plaza. Using what little french I knew, I bought some cheese, a nice pastry, and some fruit. I decided to walk back to the financial district and catch a bus to Ouchy.

At the port, I grabbed a paddle steamer, one of the few that have been cruising Lake Geneva since 1904, and headed to Evian, France. Since I arrived close to lunch time, many stores along this picturesque town were closed. I did a little shopping for my mom and sister and spent time just relaxing along the waters edge before I had to catch the boat back to Ouchy. After returning from Evian, I walked around Ouchy before heading back to the station to catch a train back to Geneva. While on my ride back to Geneva, I started planning day 3 of my Switzerland Adventure: Neuchatel and Bern.