13
Location: Marina Cay
Waking up in Trellis Bay, I couldn’t help but sit on the roof admiring the view. We were surrounded by lush, green islands sprinkled with white mansions: an enchanting scene straight from a movie. As skipper of the day, it was my sorrowful duty to wake everyone up this morning at 7 to get to our service spot on time: the marine biology college. We had the most delicious fluffy pancakes prepared by Natalia, Olivia, and Emma. Fresh, crunchy starfruit from yesterday and sweet cantaloupe helped elevate the meal. Once we arrived, we were greeted by Nia, a highly knowledgeable young woman who gave us a presentation on the three main species of mangroves in the islands: red, black, and white, and a “cousin” named buttonwood. Everyone was fascinated and asked countless questions while soaking in the refreshing air conditioning. Nia and Susan guided us on a tour through the mangroves, pointing out their differentiating features, such as the shape of their leaves, pneumatophores, or roots that provided them oxygen. Nia explained the importance of the trees to the economy and wildlife and showed us how to know if the propagules were ready to be harvested.
We then broke for a lunch of PBandJ sandwiches with the option of Nutella, a group favorite. All of us were fascinated by the vending machine, and some of us tried blueberry soda, and Lindsey found some old quarters for her collection. After lunch, we decided it would be an excellent idea to do a wall sit competition, which absolutely burned my legs in the best way possible. Natalia won, with Beth a close second. We decided to do a plank (Nate won), a sit-up, and a push-up competition. Susan offered us a huge platter of barbecue meatballs, which we absolutely ravaged. We then broke up into groups by our numbers. Sadie, Nate, Mariana, and I went with Susan to paint a desk and a mysterious yellow object. Luke, Olivia, Sophia, and Rory painted a crate for a fire stimulation to be used by the students. Melina, Natalia, Emma, and Stella mixed up soil for further mangrove planting, stirring up dirt in huge bins. In the last hour, we all moved to the boardwalk by the mangroves to scrape barnacles off the buckets and weed the area. We had some free time afterward to visit the local shops and relax before heading back to the boat. We enjoyed chili and rice prepared by Luke and Natalia with a side of diced bell peppers and onions. To end the night, we took a quiz where we learned about the different leadership personalities. The color red meant your leadership style was logical, realistic, and analytical. Yellow was someone who led by example, often seen as reliable. Green personalities were the friendly, social types who liked building relationships within their groups. We had very few blues: dreamers who focused on the big picture. We ended the night with Luke playing some music on his kalimba before heading to bed. Love you, Mom and Dad!
– Nicole