Adios, Honduras

 I am currently sitting in terminal E of the Miami airport waiting for my very long layover. It has been two long travel days. Yesterday we pushed off Cayo Mayor at 7am sharp before having a long boat ride back to the mainland. We were picked up by the van and started off to San Pedro Sula. We hit some traffic, so the trip took quite a while. By the time we arrived at our lodging Casa Bonita (Pretty House), it was post-lunch and we were pretty hungry. Cassi, Katie, Erika, Dr Wassink and I walked a few blocks to a pizzaria where we ordered three pizzas and took them back to the hotel. The pizza hit the spot for everyone and we were very grateful to have food in our stomachs. After a little rest and relaxation to rejuvenate, we walked to the neighborhood market. I bought some chocolate for my family to test (don't tell them). We also went to a frozen yogurt stand and it hit the spot!!! 

This morning Dr Wassink, Katie and I were up at 2:00 to get to the airport. We may have overestimated how long it would take to get there, as the gate agents did not arrive until 3:30 :) That seemed to be the biggest of our problems though, so we were not complaining. After showing our exit forms, going through immigration and security, we were at our gate. The flight went well and we arrived on US soil. US passport checks went almost too fast, apparently none of us look very suspicious. The longest time we had to wait was for our baggage, which we dropped off to be checked once again. Then one more jaunt through US security and we were free to roam the airport. I bought a cold seltzer and it hit the spot. Katie and I said goodbye to Dr Wassink and then I said goodbye to Katie. I found a nice quite place at the end of the terminal where I can charge my phone. 

I am using this free time to reflect on our entire trip and writing down some of the things I will miss and some of the unique experiences we had on the island. Our bean totals did indeed turn up as 51% - a very respectable number. Many of the unique aspects of the island were sounds. At night without fail there were always mangos falling onto our roof with deafening thuds. I was awoken by the sound a few times. Another common noise was the lizards that would angrily chirp at us for being in the cabins. The iguanas on the island were some of the most dramatic creatures I have ever seen. Whenever we crossed the bridge near our cabin they would be sunning themselves. When they saw us coming, they would literally jump off - and either land on a tree or slap to the ground. It was quite funny. 

The experience of studying in such a beautiful, pure environment is one I will take with me forever. It was a true immersion and we learned so much because of it. Everyone we met throughout our travels was also amazing. The people are so kind and excited to share their culture. I feel very proud that I got to visit and I hope to visit again sometime in the future. 

A friendly (?) spider joining us on the last island night

Our last dock sunset

Dr Wassink and my bags being loaded :)

Shooting stars and a wrinkly octopus

 Today is our last day on the island and we have all been reminiscing. Every night Katie and I go onto the dock to look at the stars, bioluminscence or whatever else we might find. Last night we saw a shooting star! The sky here is very clear, without much light pollution. Dr Gilchrist asked us at dinner last night what the most surprising thing about the island was. For me, it was how wrinkly octopuses are. Having seen at least three different individuals over my time here, I have come to appreciate their wrinkles. In terms of bug bite updates, I am proud to announce that I am still mosquito bite free! HOWEVER this does not mean I am bug bite free. There are three types of sand fleas on the island. One in the morning, one during the day and one at night. I am bearing the marks of all three types on my legs. I also got stung by something in the water, so I have a very nice welt on my shoulder and down my leg. Luckily it is getting much better and is not painful.

In terms of our daily activities, we have been busy as usual. Yesterday Bertolo took us back to Lion's head where we went snorkeling. The first thing we saw was an eagle ray!! Finally!! It made us feel like the trip has really started to wrap up, after seeing the boa and the eagle ray. Katie and I had a lot of fun diving down deep and swimming in between the rocks. After taking lots of photos and exploring as much as possible, we headed back to the island. 

The rest of our morning and afternoon was spent working on slideshow presentations for our final project. Unfortunately the internet went down around lunchtime, so we didn't have the most polished presentations. Regardless, we presented to each other after dinner. It was very rewarding to show the work we had been doing for the past few weeks came to a closing point. Everyone's projects were very well put together and thought out. 

Today, we are finishing up some schoolwork, packing and going snorkeling for the last time. We are resting up and getting ready for two long travel days. I have been keeping a spreadsheet of our meals, and so far we have had 51% bean meals. I will give you the final update on Sunday, but I expect it will be somewhat similar. 

Katie and Isabelle together in one photo?!

Isabelle floating... (not dead)

We almost died again!!! *Not Clickbait*

Yesterday, Katie and I were relaxing, she was in the hammock and I was sitting at a table peacefully reading my book. Then we heard a snap crackle and pop, looked above us and saw a large palm branch on its way down!! Luckily it fell exactly between us and everyone was ok - we ended up burning the branch.

As you might expect, we had another few exciting days on the island. Dr Whittle arrived yesterday to join us for a few days and Evelyn left today. Yesterday we did not go snorkeling (shocker!!) but instead decided on a dry day. We worked on our projects, read our books and avoided bugs as best as we could. We had garlic toast for dinner which hit the spot - it was something new and very familiar to all of us. 

Today after breakfast Dr Whittle, Dr Wassink, Katie, Bertolo and I went on a hike back to the East End village. We had more school supplies to give, however because of summer break there was no one there. We ended up writing a note and giving it to one of the residents of the town who knew the headmaster. the hike to the East End is difficult because we need to go up and over the island. It rained last night so the leaves on the forest floor were very wet and slippery which meant we scooted a good way down. On our way back up the absurdly steep hill, Katie and I picked up walking sticks which we plan on getting a photo with later. 

After reading our blog posts, Dr Whittle really wanted to dive (she is more experienced than any of us combined) so Katie and I went with Soledad and Bertolo on the boat to the Marine research station on Cayo Menor to pay for tanks. Here we saw our very first pink boa!!! Once we got back, we set up our gear and giant strided (strode?) off the dock. We had a beautiful dive all through the bay, not going very deep but seeing many creatures. We saw two eels and a very funny sea cucumber, along with the normal abundance of fish, worms, crabs and other such organisms. There were a few cultural differences between diving in Honduras and in the US. The main one being, when we dove with Henry, him and his helper set up all of our gear and carried it for us onto the boat. We just had to put it on and breathe. Another difference was the boat we dove in. Katie has mentioned this before, but the dive boat was not high tech like those of the US. We had our gear at our feet, not strapped into their own cubbies, and a metal ladder that we had to remember to bring in order to get out. Personally, I would not have asked for it any other way. 

Our night tonight is shaping up as a homework night, as we are all presenting parts of our projects tomorrow. One thing I am looking forward to is listening to music at home. 

Katie before diving!! Very sunny

Sea cucumber

I was practicing my selfie skills

Post dive selfie

Pink boa!!! Finally!!!

The Science of Monster Soup

Several weeks ago my nephew, upon hearing about my upcoming adventures in Honduras, exclaimed to his mother, "Oh! Oh no that is way too scary! I'm scared of the ocean! There are monsters! It's monster soup!" Recently, when I messaged my sister the silly snorkeling selfie you see below, she showed it to her son, who gasped, "Oh that is cool! She is so brave! She is IN the monster soup!"

Homo sapiens sapiens (The Scariest Monster in the Soup)

I've been so busy, and learned much in a short period of time. It's hard to really quantify everything I have experience and gotten out of this adventure. There have been hardships, but also immense joy and renewal of a sense of wonder and purpose... but I can save those thoughts for my final blog post when we leave this place.

Today was a day of crunching data, and learning about the pitfalls of field science. My data made beautiful graphs, yet I could see nothing but holes to punch through all of my hard work on octopus predation preferences - not the least of which, was learning that even using the word "preference" in my research was opening up a can of worms that I should avoid at all costs.

How do you answer questions you aren't allowed to ask? How can you draw conclusions when the data you gathered out in the field was not what you expected or needed to find?

Thanks to my professors, and the incredible, one-on-one tutelage I am getting in this smallest of class sizes, I learned my biggest lessons of field work. The first, is to be as prepared beforehand as much as you can be. This can best be achieved by reading up on everything you can about your subjects, and by having the tools and resources needed to find what you are looking for. Animals in the field can't be conveniently ordered and placed into tanks for observation and easy manipulation. What you find out there is never going to be what you expect, or want. It's never easy. Nature doesn't give up Her secrets without extracting a cost.

Still, what data I have gathered can be added to the font of human knowledge, however flawed and incomplete I deem it to be. My hope is that I can come back next year, and build on what I have learned. There is so much to be explored in this remote place, and I want to come equipped to explore it properly.

Final Days in Honduras

We're now half way through out last week here in Honduras, and though we all have things we are very excited to see and do at home, we'll also be sad to leave. In the past few days, we've spent more time snorkeling (shocker), did another lovely hike, got one more dive in, and have been working on finishing up our projects. 

Since we had another professor join us here recently, we decided to hike back to East End, the village on the other side of the island. The hike was once again very steep, both uphill and downhill, but very fun. Isabelle and I had a lovely time collecting palm fronds, stripping them down to a nice stick, and fighting/using them as hiking poles. A very good use of time indeed.

We also got to visit another beautiful island this afternoon, to get tanks for one last dive. The island we went to was home to the marine reserve's scientific station, and was very beautiful. We also finally saw a pink boa! It was super cute, slithering across the sand and climbing a palm tree.

A beautiful view

Very cute pink boa!

Our final dive here in Honduras was another to the reef we've been snorkeling, and was a great way to finish off our string of dives. We saw an absolutely massive brain coral and 2 eels!

Pretty blue Pederson shrimp

Tiger tail sea cucumber

Zat.

Zat.

Peak-a-boo

One big coral

A little reef urchin

A cute little puff

Hello there

Upside-down jelly

Just hanging

A speedy eel

At the moment, everyone is scrambling to finish data analysis for their projects, which we're presenting to the group tomorrow. We're all definitely ready to be finished with them, though we still have to write our field reports. I know I'm looking forward to hearing about what everyone has been studying and what their findings are.

It's looking like our last few days here are going to be a bit calmer, a lot more chill to round out the trip. We're planning on snorkeling at Lion's Head tomorrow, and I'm definitely looking forward to photographing some stuff there. 

I may be becoming a mouth breather

To the dismay of my dentist, I may be becoming a mouth breather because of all the time I have been spending using a snorkel or regulator. I would never change it for the world. We have had another few eventful days on the island. Yesterday, Bertolo was going to walk to a touristy beach nearby to buy some coconuts, and asked if Katie and I wanted to come along. Being a little ready for some action, we agreed and put our shoes on. Up and down a few hills and some very steep stairs we went, saying hello to the people we passed. At the beach there were boats "lanchas" going in and out, each one loaded with tourists ready to swim. Some of the locals were selling baleadas and empanadas and fruit juice!! We got some ice cold tamarind juice which hit the spot. The coconut guy wasn't there yet, so we wandered onto the dock to wait in the hammocks. Because we are on a protected marine reserve, there are government boats with armed guards that come by. While we were on the dock, one of the boats pulled up and the driver got out and started talking to us. He was very familiar with New College, as we come every year. He asked about our studies, how we liked it here, and most importantly have we seen a shark yet? (We have not). He also was of the opinion that I should teach Katie Spanish - we both agreed. After a while it seemed the coconut guy wasn't coming, so instead we bought some plantains and made our way back to the resort. On our way back we saw a snake, it was fairly small, green and black. We weren't sure if it was friendly or not, so Bertolo chased it with a stick and we ran away. I am definitely appreciating my Spanish abilities because it allows me to connect with the people of the island that much more. 

After lunch, we had another adventure planned! Bertolo took us students plus Dr Wassink, Soledad (our wonderful cook and the person who is in charge right now) and Susan (mother to Nala the dog and beader extraordinaire) in the boat to a neighboring island village - Chachahuate - where they sell many souvenirs. It was nice to be able to explore another island. There were people selling many types of jewelry, conch shells and little beaded animals. Erika also got her hair braided. There was a lot of wind and waves on this island, with a strong current. It made us appreciate the current-less bay we are able to swim in. It makes research that much easier. After we got back home, Katie and I went snorkeling to count urchins again. Another incredible day was in the books. 

Today we had a more academic focus. In the morning Katie and I went snorkeling, counted her urchins and I continued my Christmas tree worm research. I am looking at whether they are light sensitive, and do they retract only if they sense water movement or can they detect light/shadow change as well? Our afternoon consisted of some computer work in front of a fan. 

I am not a huge photographer, but here are some photos of our trip to Chachahuate. 

The view of the beach from Chachahuate

The beautiful blue water we got to ride through

More Diving and More Data Collection

The past few days have been taken up by a whole bunch of water time, both diving and snorkeling. Isabelle and I did four more dives, two on the reef wall, one to an airplane wreck, and another one to Lion's Head. Both dives on the reef wall were incredible! We dropped down to about 60ft from the boat, which put us near the middle of the water column with another 30 to 60ft below us when we were above the second drop off. Hanging out along the wall, able to see about 40 feet of coral above us and at least 30 feet of coral below us, was unreal. I have never felt so small and amazed. I've been encountering an interesting problem with taking photos one these dives - the water is too blue and I haven't figured out to edit the color back in well yet. Still cool to have those memories though. The dive to plane wreck was a brief one, the current was nasty and we didn't feel like fighting it for long, but it was very cool to see, and the drift back to the boat was fun. Our final dive of the trip was back at Lion's Head, and it was once again an amazing dive. Our 6 dives in Honduras were absolutely highlight moments of this trip, and I could not be more thankful for Henry, our Dive Master, and the rest of the dive and boat crew for hanging out and diving with us.

Dropping down

A moment of zen

Sky diving...?

Looking over the edge of the reef wall

Sponge and sponge friend

A massive elk horn coral

A wee baby eel poking out of its hidey hole

When you think you see the top of the coral, it goes farther up

Isabelle's photography skills are indeed improving

A look inside the door of the plane wreck

And at the propellor 

Gorgeous swimming through mountains of coral

Trumpet fish

Big sad eyes from a garden eel

Seagrass or garden eels? Predators could never know

Aside from diving, Isabelle and I have been spending a ton of time snorkeling for data collection for our projects. I'm looking at abundances of different species of sea urchins to show how they've been recovering from diseases they've experienced in the Caribbean, and let's just say the method of finding sea urchins is... unique. In my defense, when they hide under rocks and in crevasses like they do, it's hard to see them without getting up close and looking like a goof. Still, it's been a lot of fun getting to be out here and be in the water, collecting data hands-on and exploring actual issues the reefs are facing.

Looks normal, right?

Collecting data or dead?

Outside of the water, we had an awesome cultural presentation about Garifuna song and dance, where some musicians came and played for us, and we got to learn about their music. We all had a blast listening to their music, dancing, and getting to try some of their instruments, such as drums and a turtle shell used to keep the beat.

We've only got a week left here, so we're definitely looking forward to making the most of it, and extra definitely looking forward to eating desserts and having AC when we get back!  

What I'm dreaming of: this specific cake from Costco

Fish!!! (Among other things)

 The past two days have been busy, in a good way. Yesterday we got to go diving again! After lunch we hopped onto the boat and headed out into some choppy water. Our captain of the day, Bertolo had an absolute blast trying to knock people out of the boat by driving really fast and having us bounce up and down. It was one of the best boat rides of my life. We got in the water at Pelican Point 2, a little ways down from Pelican Point 1. As soon as we entered, there was a huge elkhorn coral to greet us. I took the gopro along with me and here are some of the photos:

Elkhorn Coral

Katie and Henry, Pelican Point 2

Once we were finished noodling around the reef and bothering the fish, we surfaced and had a little bit of a swim back to the boat. The swells were quite large, so we were going up and down like a rollercoaster. We arrived back to the island, showered and worked on some homework. Katie and I had gone out snorkeling for data collection on Christmas tree worms earlier, so we got to dry off for the day. We have been having tostadas or empanadas for dinner and I have been enjoying them a lot. The care that gets put into our food every day is very obvious. After dinner we went on the dock and saw a Southern ray and an armadillo!!

Buddy was looking for some food

Today was our rest day, so theoretically we should take it easy. Katie and I took on the challenge to spend the absolute most time in the water. We started out in the morning by going scuba diving - unfortunately today was our last day diving because Henry was leaving. Our first dive we swam through a very strong current to get to an airplane wreck. After exploring the wings and body we drifted back to the boat. Because it was such a short dive, we had enough air left to dive again. We decided to return to Lion's Head and swam the same route as the first time. It was another incredibly beautiful, blue dive. The lionfish was still under the same rock, and Henry tried to spear it but he was bested by the fish's very fast reaction time. Once we had surfaced and returned to the island, we ate lunch and regrouped. 

A lump of an airplane wreck

After lunch we were able to participate in a beautiful Garifuna event where they played many rhythms for us on their drums. We all got to play on a drum that was an old turtle shell. One of the most interesting instruments to me was a painted conch shell that the leader was playing like you would a french horn. As a french horn player for many years, I could appreciate the skill and embouchure needed to play the instrument well. After saying goodbye and thank you to the players and our dive helpers, Katie and I returned to the water to count urchins. We spent at least three hours in the water (luckily did not get sunburnt!!) with Katie counting the urchins along her transects. As her assistant I took it upon myself to take some photos. 

After some busy days, we are ready for a good sleep tonight and will take advantage of the breeze that is picking up!

Katie "researching"

A butterfly fish!!!

An urchin with some rock hats

The beautiful painted conch horn