We went to the US Virgin Islands to St. John. 2/3rd's of the island is a national park, totally undeveloped.
The snorkeling was amazing!!!! We were the only people on this beach. The white sand beaches always had people on them, but the opposite side of the island has rocky beaches and you could find one to just enjoy to yourself. There were plenty of bugs all over though. At the end of the week I counted 43 bites, Jason had 3.
This is part of the ruins from a sugar plantation. They were all over because the entire island was clear cut and sugar cane was grown by slave labor. It was sobering to be on the very ground where slaves lived and worked. The slaves in the Caribbean were treated horribly, worse then in many other places I have read about. There are still racial tensions on the island and a lot of poverty. It was hard to be in such a beautiful, amazing place and to see so many local people struggling.
On the same hike was a pool with ancient native carvings. We couldn't find anything about what they were for or why. I thought the reflection in the water was really cool.
Jason was really interested in the nurse sharks. I thought it was so incredibly cool to see a shark in the wild, especially one I was 99% sure would never be the least bit interested in me. But I didn't want to dive down and get a closer look! Jason even touched a 5 ft shark on the dorsal fin. We saw so much snorkeling! Sea turtles, lots of rays, eels, an octopus, a cuddle fish! barracuda, huge angel and parrot fish. We saw tons of tropical fish and every kind of coral and sponge you can think of.
Amazing coral every reef
On the island there are wild donkeys, chickens and goats all around. We hiked out to a beach to snorkel one day and this mongoose stole our lunch! It was a hungry hike back. We saw the biggest land crabs - they were kind of creepy to me - almost like a spider. They lived in holes and would scatter away when you got too close.
Our last day we did a beginner scuba dive with an instructor. I was nervous but it was really cool. I think we both fell even more deeply in love with the ocean on this trip. I have never had the opportunity to interact and explore it. I still can't believe all of the wildlife we saw on this trip!
3 comments:
It all looks so fun. I think you rock for scuba diving in the ocean for your first time. That would've freaked me out.
Fun!!! Thanks for the info about the white sand beaches, I just may use that info sometime soon!!!
I love it, Jen! Those pictures were amazing and it looks like you guys had so much fun! And don't worry, I won't keep checking back secretly, so you can still say whatever you want about the south or whatever and know who your readers are. I'm glad you had fun!
Post a Comment