15
Location: Little Harbor, Jost Van Dyke
Today was an action filled day. I woke up all the shipmates at the early hour of 5:45 for a sunrise hike to the summit of Sage Mountain, the highest point in the BVIs located on the main island, Tortola. It was a very long trek, very steep, and very rewarding. We set out around 7:30 for a half hour hike on the steepest road I’ve ever encountered followed by a long, hilly walk to the national park on Sage mountain. With the promise of Cheeseburgers in Paradise when we finished the hike, based on Jimmy Buffet’s song, we encouraged each other to keep on going. The lunch was fabulous, and we ate at a quaint restaurant on a gorgeous white beach. We then explored the port and peeked into some gift shops, and finally sat all together on a dock and watched the seabirds plunge into the water to feed on the fish below us. We then did a short sail to Sandy Cay, a beautiful little island with one of the most beautiful beaches in the BVI, in my opinion. There, we had a sandcastle competition with the rest of the ActionQuest boats. Our team constructed a giant sea turtle along with an adorable baby turtle. We found numerous beautiful rocks and broken pieces of coral in different colors which we arranged to make the turtle shells. Even though we didn’t win first place, we still believe that ours was the most beautiful and simply the best. Afterward, we frolicked in the crystal clear water as we washed the remaining sand off and went back to the boat. We took showers, swam around underneath the boat (where there were huge waves keeping us entertained for quite a while). On the boat, quite a distance from shore, we encountered three honey bees that wouldn’t leave our dear CatalinaVille alone . Finally, we sailed to Jost Van Dyke to Sydney’s Peace and Love restaurant for dinner and dancing to local beats with the rest of ActionQuest. The restaurant walls are covered in signatures from every visitor, so we added our names to the décor. There were shops, a band, a limbo competition, and more. The rain started pouring, and everyone started dancing outside in the rain, enjoying the warm Caribbean showers. We ended up dancing quite a lot (specifically myself, Victoria, Laura and Sophie at the end when we took over the dance floor). It was a very fun day, and I know we will sleep well tonight! Hopefully, the hike won’t have left us sore by tomorrow morning.