We woke up super early in the morning to take the optional excursion to Post Office Bay. There’s a barrel there where whalers used to drop off letters to their loved ones. People returning to their homeland would stop by the barrel and check to see if there were any letters addressed to whatever city they were going to. It was their duty to take the letter, if any, and deliver it personally. It might take years for a letter to arrive home but I’m sure that whoever was on the receiving end of one of these letters would be ecstatic to hear any word from their loved one.
The Post Office Barrel in Post Office Bay
In keeping with the tradition, we all wrote postcards to place in the barrel and hope that they will arrive at their destinations one day. The naturalists also went through the postcards already in the barrel and yelled out the names of cities in the addresses. People who lived in/near whatever city, or planned on visiting it soon, would raise their hands and take the postcard. Several postcards were matched, including one that we volunteered to take to the upper east side. It was really fun and exciting to take part in such an old tradition.
The postcard we deposited in the barrel in the hope that it will reach our parents one day
After depositing our postcards in the barrel, we headed back to the ship for a quick breakfast, then we donned our wetsuits and gear for some deep water snorkeling near Champion Island. It was here that we encountered our very first sea turtle, which was almost surreal. The turtle just swam about his business while we clustered around and tried to get a few underwater pictures. The other fish were pretty cool too, but there’s nothing like seeing your first sea turtle up close and personal.
Our first encounter with a sea turtle
In the afternoon we had a wet landing on the sandy beach at Punta Cormorant. It was a relatively easy hike next to a large lake that was filled with pink flamingos. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get very close to the flamingos, who were on the other side of the lake from us, but it was pretty cool nonetheless. We watched them feeding in the water (they get their pink color from the small crustaceans they eat) and even saw a few birds taking flight.
Pink flamingos in the distance
We headed to the beach on the opposite shore where we saw the large indentations of sea turtle nests. My hat almost blew off on top of them but I was able to trap it before it would disturb the nests. Phew!
The sandy beach where the sea turtles lay their eggs
We spent a while just watching birds flying over head before heading back to the zodiacs. The sun was starting to set at that point and it cast a beautiful pink glow to the sand and the rocks. It was really such a peaceful moment to be standing on the beach looking out at the sunset and hearing the waves lapping against the shore. It really made me appreciate all the beauty that nature has to offer.
Nature at its best
Breakfast:
Whole wheat toast, bananas, scrambled eggs, bacon, broccoli frittata, pancake, fried yuca filled with cheese
Lunch:
Fish soup with coconut milk
Penne alfredo, spaghetti bolognese, linguini pesto, french bread, potato salad, chicken salad sandwich
Really delicious walnut tart
Dinner:
Chicken consomme
Rice with raisins, string beans, and super dry practically inedible duck
Tilapia(?) with tasty sauce - way better than the dry duck!
Chocolate mousse cake
Strawberry shortcake for Hannah's birthday