Twins

Birthday Feast

Volcanic Haze

A volcano erupting a few islands over gave us a couple of very hazy days.

Thanks, Montserrat!

Foster Care

Chicken Shack!

Another Long-Awaited Discovery

The bell tower at Anna's Hope!

I've been half looking for this since seeing a picture over a year and a half ago. I thought I knew more or less where to find it, but the bush was so thick there was no way to tell.

Just this week the land was cleared and I got to see it for the first time.

This is supposedly an old picture from 1900 or so, but I have my doubts.

There's been some significant rebuilding if its the same tower.

Here's an article on Anna's Hope with a mention of the bell tower at the bottom.

Spadefish!

Giant Banyan Tree

We've seen pictures and meant to go look for this tree for a long time.

Today we finally made it happen and were duly impressed.

Its absolutely fascinating.

This baobab is no slouch either,

but I'm excited to hunt down this one.

I Must've Scared It

Rainy Day Project

I found this Queen Conch shell on the bottom yesterday. An eel or octopus or something had very recently eaten the conch from inside.

so I took it home, cleaned it up a bit,

and made a horn.

Arrow Crab

Mango Season Soon Come

Spooky Shipwreck

The Parade Aquatic

Turns out the parade float we ended up on actually floated.

At the end of the parade route we kept going just out of town to the boat ramp,

launched the float,

and motored back into town

where we tied up on the boardwalk

and kept the fun going

well into the night.

St Patrick's Day

Lisa and I headed in to Christiansted about 10Am

to join the throngs on King Street

for the parade.

Deja vu!

As the morning progressed

we found ourselves in the parade.

and in the paper.

Long Beans For Supper

Too Much Stuff

Mangrove Resident (eating another mangrove resident)

Hitching A Ride

Mondays Aren't So Bad

Rainbow At Work

Kid

Every now and then, when hiking up to the Hamm's Bluff lighthouse, people see feral mountain goats running along the cliffs.

Evidently one got left behind this morning and followed some hikers all the way up, then all the way back down to their car. They coaxed the little guy into the car and were dropping him off at the Creque Dam Farm to be looked after while we were there this morning.

His umbilical chord hasn't even fallen off yet. Hopefully the other goats at the farm will welcome him into the fold.

I Love It Here

Holey Leaves

NorthShore Dog Walk

300 Feet Deep Today

My camera can't exist that deep.

10x atmospheric pressure.

(147 Lbs per square inch of water pressure)

No colors left- only indigo blue and black

59 minutes of decompression with 4 different gases for 10 minutes at the bottom-

after swimming straight down for 5 minutes to get there.

Its a hell of a thing to look UP at tiny silhouettes of big sharks that are too deep for recreational divers to see.

Aftermath on the dock.

Butler Bay Beach

250ft

220ft

In case you're wondering what's with all the deep diving, we're training for a dive to 300ft planned for Tuesday.

That's deep.

Giant Kapok

This is supposed to be the oldest (300~350 years) and biggest Kapok tree on the island.

Maybe some daytime pictures are in order.