Survived the Sea, Soared the Trees

Wow I can't believe my time here has come to an end. I think I started to get island fever towards the end but then when it was actually time to go I got so sad. Last night all the spotted eagle rays came out to the dock to say goodbye it was so cool! There was like 10 or more!

Ocean angels 

We left to Roatan a day early because the waves were getting bigger and bigger and it wouldn't be safe. We left for Roatan this morning at 8 am. We said our goodbyes and began our treck across the caribbean. I am not going to sugar coat the boat ride, lets just say it was one of the scariest moments of my life, but all that matters is we made it safe. The boat captain said he had been through worse waves before but I was holding on for dear life, and I was completely and utterly drenched afterwards. After the boat ride the captain told me that from La Ceiba to Cayos its only 300 feet deep but the ride from Cayos to Roatan that we had just done was 4200 feet deep!!! Let's just say that I am so happy he told me that after the fact or else I would have been freaking out even more than I already was. Once we made it to the island we checked in to our hotel at the Roatan Yacht club which is extremely nice! There is a little restaurant and I have a nice bedroom that has a balcony over the harbor. After a quick lunch we decided to spend our last day doing something fun! So we headed down the island a little bit to this awesome zip lining place! The view at the top was unbelievable! 

Us before flying through the jungle

The tour guys taught us how to do cool zip lining tricks! They were doing backflips, front flips, handstands, hanging upside down, everything! Heres the trick I mastered! Nothing beats the view zip lining down!

So fun!!

Then, when we got to the bottom they had an area where we could see so many cool animals. We got to play with a monkey and let her crawl all over us. Then we got to hold macaws! They were so pretty! 

Pablo the Macaw

pure joy

We got to see ant eaters, white tailed deer, guinea pigs, capybaras, and even a sloth. The sloth kept reaching for me but I was too scared to hold it. It was an absolute blast. Today was so fun and such an amazing way to end this trip. We went out for one last dinner before heading back to the hotel to get some rest before our long travel day tomorrow. I had the best sushi of my life. I will never forget this trip and I am inspired more than ever to continue traveling the world. There truly is so much to see! 

California Tempura Roll

 

Saltwater Heals

I can not believe I have less than a week here on this beautiful island! The time flew by and I only have 6 days to wrap up my paper, finish my poster presentation, and enjoy the island breeze and sunshine a little bit more. Well, I may have enjoyed the sunshine a little too much yesterday because I got a pretty bad sunburn. I forgot to reapply sunscreen and drink lots of water when I was out in the ocean all day. I definitely got a bit dehydrated. But luckily I brought lots of aloe and hydration packets, so I am getting back to my normal self so that I can soak up every last second here. Today is a full computer work day, but how can I complain when this is my view!

I love my seashell notebook!

Since I don't have a lot of interesting things to write about my day today, I thought for this blog I could talk about the things I wish I knew before coming here and little things I've learned throughout my trip. This might be helpful for anyone who is thinking about going on this trip. First of all, I wish I brought a wet suit. I brought tons of long sleeve shirts but not anything to block my legs from the sun. My legs are frieddd! Secondly, a dry box for my computer. The humidity is so heavy here that Josh's computer quit working, and apparently this has happened a few more times before. Luckily my computer is doing okay but I have been making sure to put some rice bags in with my computer to absorb all the moisture out. Here’s a list of things I’ve found really helpful to bring—some of which you might not have thought of. HYDRATION PACKETS, snacks, LOTS of benadryl cream (bugs have been eating me alive no matter how much bug spray I use), waterproof bandaids and neosporin, WATER SHOES (there is fire coral EVERYWHERE), an extra snorkel (mine broke), a notebook and pens for data collection, a towel for after ocean use only, waterproof flashlights, and I think thats it! OH- and big trash bags/Duct tape for the boat ride to and from the island. If you don't want your bags absolutely soaked from the water, you need to put all your luggage in trash bags and duct tape it shut. Something else I learned was that I have major chocolate cravings here, especially since I've barely had any sugar since I have been here (which is a good thing) But, if you have the chance to stop somewhere in Roatan before heading to the island, make sure to stock up on Honduran chocolate, it is sooo delicious. 

Sunset from last night 

Some observations I made since being here: I don't know what is in the air and the food in the United states but even after a WEEK being here I noticed so many differences in my health. First of all, my acne completely cleared by the third day, second-my daily headaches went away! Usually I have to take ibuprofen to get rid of my headaches pretty frequently throughout the week but here I have had only one headache from some dehydration. Lastly, since I have no wifi in my room I have been going to bed so early and not scrolling on my phone for hours before bed so my sleep is so much better and that probably is a big contributor to my headaches as well. Honestly though, I just think that saltwater heals. Being fully in nature and getting vitamin D from the sun everyday is just so relaxing and peaceful. Nothing beats the sound of the birds and the waves hitting the sand. Going back to reality is going to be a hard transition but I am so excited to be back with my family. 

My three favorite C's- Coffee, Coral, and Coconuts

As my data is pretty much completely gathered, I have been working on analyzing it all and starting my research paper. My days consist of a lot of laying around in the hammock reading papers that relate to my research. I have learned so much about my topic and I hope that my work can be continued in the future. The hammock is my new favorite thing- just swaying back and forth while I listen to the birds in the distance and every once in a while a little coconut will fall from above. Every morning is so cozy with my cup of coffee or juice and I feel very productive working in such a beautiful place. 

Cantaloupe/Pineapple Juice

Today, we helped place some light sensors out into the water that detects how much light the corals are absorbing! We had to carry some equipment out so we decided to take the paddle boards! It was very windy and my arms were getting sore from paddling so hard to fight the waves. But honestly, I could use the workout since I haven't been able to workout much since being here. I've been wayyy to busy, but hiking and paddle boarding have done the trick!

Can't get over this view

After, I grabbed my book and laid out on the dock for a little bit, but suddenly it started to downpour rain while the sun was still shining! It was the prettiest thing ever. I sat and watched the entire rainstorm. Fish were jumping out all over the place! After dinner we played a super fun domino game and then we headed to bed super early. I am super excited because tomorrow we are going on another night snorkel! I hope I get to see more Spotted Eagle Rays again or maybe something else I haven't seen before! 

Snack time!!

Open Ocean

These past few days have been really research heavy. We are in the water about 5-6 hours a day collecting all the data that we need but hopefully today is my last day of collecting data so that I can get started on my project. I am feeling very confident about my project and I am so excited to go home and show my friends and family everything that I did and the research that I found! For those of you who don't know much about my project, I am doing a continuation of a research project conducted here in 2022. I am identifying the amount of diseased sea fans (a type of soft coral) in 3 different sites along the west coast of Cayos Grande and seeing if the percent of diseased fans in the area have increased or decreased. Here is a photo I took of a badly diseased one!

Purple spots 

I am also curious in seeing if there are any other factors that might have to do with the disease like depth, distance, water temp, salinity, etc. My project is slowly coming together! I am trying to work hard while also soaking in every minute being on this island! I can't believe I have officially been here over a week! The time is flying by! Usually we do my research in the morning, and I help with Josh's research after lunch. Usually in the afternoon we try to do something more fun. Yesterday, we went out to pelican point out in the deeper water where the reef wall drops really deep. When you look out all you see is the open ocean. At first I was pretty scared but once I got in it was beautiful to see this new part of the reef. 

Just me and the open ocean!!

When we got back I was walking along the beach looking for sea glass and all of a sudden I see something super big in the water right by the shoreline. I run over to it and this is what I found!!

I love these

 I also was able to see this cute little guy on my way back up to my room. There are hermit crabs, land crabs, geckos, iguanas, and humming birds everywhere! You never know what you're going to find when you go on a walk! I love it 

So cute 

Scientist Things

 

It's Monday, which means it's back to work. I'm currently getting dressed. We've already had breakfast, and I'm about to help Jayden with her research project. We're laying a transect at Sea Fan City and conducting her research there. We ended up completing both transects in that area, then took a break for about an hour, ate lunch, and now I'm about to head back out to work on my research project.

Beautiful Scenery 

I plan to complete the other half of the dock, fully finishing one side. Hopefully, one of these days—maybe tomorrow—I can complete the other side all in one go. I finished the rest of the dock and wrapped up data input, then I was done for the day. I even got ahead on reading my scientific paper, all while managing to watch two whole movies. Maybe I'll finish Interstellar tonight, if I don't fall asleep first.

The Viewsss!

Right now, I'm finishing up my blogs, then heading up to start. It was a great workday, balanced with a bit of leisure!

The Ocean Queen

After breakfast we set off on our hike to the East side of the Island to visit the Garifuna people who live on the Island! I was so excited to see where they live and immerse myself into their culture for the day! I was so excited because today was the day that they do a festival for National Ocean Day! On the way there we hiked to the very very top of the Island to the old lighthouse which is 149 meters above sea level! It was probably one of the hardest hikes I've ever done. My legs were shaking and I don't think I have ever sweat so much in my life. 

Hiking in the Jungle

149m above sea level!

Then we began hiking down the other side of the Island toward the village and we decided to sled down on big palms leaves. It was super fun until I scraped my whole right side of my leg. I was bleeding a good amount but luckily we had water to clean it up and bandaids! This is what we sled down on! It was fun but a little scary cause it was so steep and there were so many trees around! 

Mine broke :(

We finally made it to the village and it was crazy to see how different life was here! We made it just in time for the festival! We bought some necklaces from a lady there and we got some shirts for the ocean day festival. The little girls were walking around in beautiful sea creature costumes! After the festival we got to take a picture with all the little kids! Here is us taking a picture with them and the ocean queen! 

I brought lots of little bracelets with me to pass out to the kids. It was so sweet because they got so excited when I let them pick one and then they would run away and bring over 3 or 4 more kids to pick one. It was very heartwarming to see their face light up and ask me my name! One little boy in particular got so happy when I told him my name because his name was Jayden too! He ran around telling all his friends we had the same name! I ran out of the bracelets so quickly and I felt bad that not all of them got one. But luckily I also brought some copies of my dad's fishing book and a pack of coloring books and crayons too! I just wanted to bring a little something because I know how difficult it is to get stuff on this island. It is so far away from the main land with stores. 

selfie!

After the festival we were served lunch which was yellowtail, rice, beans, and plantains! It was so delicious. I was also extremely happy to finally drink a bottle of coke after a week of no soda!

YUMMY

We began our hike back to the resort and my heart was so full after this day. It was an amazing experience I will never forget! On the way back we hikes around the perimeter of the island so we could walk the beach. It was so sad to see all of the trash that has been washed up from the main land. There was thousands of plastic water bottles, flip flops, and I even saw some hair product bottles. It was everywhere and it made me sad to see that no one has done anything about it.  After a long hike back we jumped in the water and then ended the day with some hamburgers for dinner! Today was a 10/10!

This is Living

 

Today is Sunday, which means it's a fun day! However, Jaden and I are spending it a little differently since yesterday felt more like our fun day. I just finished eating breakfast, the usual beans, tortillas, bacon, and a little bit of eggs and now I’m getting ready to help Jaden with her research project. I think she’s laying down one or two transects, and after that, we’ll take a break, have lunch, and then start on my research project. I plan to survey at least half of the right side.

Aura +1Millon

Helping Jayden lay out her transect was probably the hardest part of her project—dodging corals and making sure the line was straight was a tough job. After finishing hers, we actually had time before lunch to start on mine, so we did. I had planned to measure the area of each sponge species but quickly realized that wasn’t doable. Essentially, all the data I collected had to be deleted, and I had to start over. So after lunch, I went back out and gathered fresh, usable data. I stuck to my plan and finished half of the right side of the dock.

Moreee!

Later, we went to Pelican One and a Half for an open-ocean reef dive. At first, I was really nervous watching the waves crash and feeling the current push, but once I was in the water, it wasn’t as intimidating. The reef was massive, with schools of fish everywhere and the biggest corals I’ve seen yet! I know I’ve said that before, but every day just keeps getting better. Swimming above the drop-off was surreal just looking down into a dark abyss, not knowing how deep it goes or what’s down there, honestly excited me.

School of Fishhh

After we finished, we came back and started the fun part of Sunday—choosing how to spend our leisure time and relaxing. We had planned to play card games after dinner, but everyone was tired, so we headed up to our rooms. I watched a movie and went to bed.