A Tale of Two Hikes

Today was Ross's mid-semester break, which means all the students had the day off. Since Monday is Mad-Hikers day, us VIPs decided to bring our over-worked spouses on our hike up to the Bat Cave.  As I was uploading my pictures from today, I realized I hadn't updated since early last week, and I have been on TWO hikes since then!

A shot I took while on the hike today, I can't believe how amazing it turned out!

Last Monday was a pretty easy hike.  We went out to Wingfield Estates (where we went zip-lining), and hiked west to some more old sugar plantation ruins. I have no idea to whom they once belonged to, or when they fell out of use. BJ, a fellow VIP who leads some of the hikes, said that the main house was allegedly being restored and turned into a hotel. It was easy to see all the modern masonry from the outside, and Trevor said it was even wired already. Lame. So instead of checking out the house, I focused on the old sugar processing area. This area was pretty well preserved. I liked the windmill ruins and the smoke stack best. There is even a passage that takes you into the bottom of the smoke stack, so you can look up toward the sky. I think the building near them is called a Boiling House, but I am not sure. I really should study up on the old sugar plantations in my free time.  We wandered around the ruins for a while, waited out a brief rainstorm in the windmill, and then headed back towards the car. We walked through field of what is either sugar cane or guinea grass... I should look those up too!  I just found this website, and it has really interesting and helpful information about St. Kitt's old plantations. It has some wonderful pictures of various estates (not the one we hiked unfortunately), and the essay sheds some light on the sugar plantations and their history. Click here to check out my entire album from this hike.

Part of the windmill, smokestack, and what I think might be part of the boiling house

Windmill (just the base, the wooden top part is gone) and the smokestack.

Back to today's hike.  Rob was very excited to go hiking. It has been driving him batty (ha) because I pretty much hate hiking, and he loves it. I go because I don't want to sit at home all day, I like the people that go hiking, and St. Kitts is really beautiful! The destination today was the Bat Cave. Getting to the trail head is... interesting. You have to turn down what looks like a driveway, turn at what looks like the end of the driveway, and finally come to a dead end in a sugar cane field (or guinea grass, I really need to figure out the difference). Next you dive into the cane field (with stalks about 9 or 10 feet tall), and just walk until you come to a dry creek bed. Yep, you just walk blind through the field. Ok, it is possible there there was a trail, and I just couldn't see it.  Once you are in the creek bed, the hike is pretty easy; it's fairly flat, you just have to watch your footing, cause the rocks are uneven and loose in places, and some are slippery with moss. There are a couple tricky parts though- including a huge boulder you have to climb over. I hate that stupid boulder, it doesn't even have the decency to be easy to climb over. There is a rope that you can use to pull yourself up, but precious few footholds. The guys made it up easy enough, the other ladies and I required some help... Courtney's husband, Lance, was kind enough to give the girls a boost (basically he let us step in his hand) as we grabbed the rope. Once Lance had boosted us up a bit, and we pulled ourselves up a little ways, BJ grabbed our hands, and helped to pull us the rest of the way.  The creek bed past the boulder had puddles and pools along the final leg to the Bat Cave, but again was pretty flat. The closer you get to the cave the more high pitched squeaky sounds you hear- it's the bats using their super sweet echo location! Inside the cave, which is relatively small (it looked like another giant boulder leaning against a bend in the rock wall), there are bats EVERYWHERE!!! Hanging from the ceiling, flying through the air, pooping on the ground, squeaking adorably, BATS GALORE! i have posted a video of the inside of the Bat Cave towards the bottom of this post

The giant boulder you have to climb over

When you hike the the Bat Cave, you have the option of continuing on past the cave to a waterfall. You have to climb over another impasse. I was actually able to get my big bum up and over without too much help! I made Trevor stand behind me just in case I fell to my death (it was only like 7-8 feet, but it was very rocky...). The way to the waterfall was also pretty easy once you got pass the climb. The falls are pretty small, and the water comes from one small pool up top, down to the pool underneath. Rob went up to the top pool, apparently it was home to some craw fish.

Waterfall

The hike back to the car was harder than coming up because it started to rain, making the rocks very slick (I not so gracefully fell twice). I was really nervous about using the rope to get down from the boulder. It was less scary then I anticipated. It's just tricky because you have to edge out on your belly, while trying to curl your legs under the ledge to find the foothold! Again, Lance assisted by pretty much grabbing my flailing foot and sticking it in the right spot. After you have footing, you basically scooch over the edge, backwards, while shimmy-ing down the rope. Moments like that remind my why I am not wildery.  Oy vey.

To see the pictures from today's hike, click here!  Oh, and we signed our lease for next semester, so be sure to book a room in the Dolphin House soon!

T-Minus 1 week til BFF invasion!

In Egypt, Rob and I waited four months for our first visitors: Rob's best man, Zack (and his two bros), his cousin Kate (and her friend Jessie). They came to visit us around Thanksgiving, and Rob and I were indeed very thankful. I was so excited to see people from home I cried when Zack walked into our apartment. Seriously.

Lia and Mauri at my bachelorette party

Luckily, we have waited only 2 months for our first St. Kitts guests! My cousin Lia, and my sorority sister Mauri, are arriving next Tuesday! I cannot wait to see them! The best part is that they will be here for my birthday!

Mauri and Lia at my wedding

I consider myself really lucky to have family and friends like Lia and Mauri. Lia and I have grown up together, gotten in trouble together, traveled together, and had several international adventures together! In fact, this is Lia's second international trip this year- she visited Egypt in March. While I have only known Mauri since college, she is maybe the best friend anyone could ask for. She is selfless, generous, caring, and she is so damn pretty! I couldn't ask for two better friends! Only 7 days til they get here! YAY!!!

Room with a view $

Our new house overlooking Half Moon Bay.

After three weeks of searching, I think we have found our new home here in St. Kitts!  Initially, I was searching for a one bedroom place for Rob and I to live in starting in January.  After a fruitless search, we decided to team up with Trevor and Kate and find a bigger place. Trevor and I engaged in some more fruitless searching, but finally found a great place Wednesday morning. We dragged out butts out of bed at 8:30 AM to meet with our realtor, Jo. She took us to the "Dolphin House" in Half Moon Bay. Totally worth getting up before 10 AM!
The house has three bedrooms (perfect if anyone wants to come visit!), 2.5 baths, garage/car port, papaya and coconut trees, a pool, and an INCREDIBLE view!!!

This is the view from the back patio toward the pool, golf course, and Atlantic Ocean!

Hopefully we will sign the lease early next week, and we'll only be 10 weeks from our rad beach pad! I am mostly excited to have a real kitchen again. I am also pretty excited about the view... ok, and the pool. Alright, I admit it, I am excited about the whole place!

One more thing. You might be wondering why it's called the Dolphin House. Well, the property slopes down toward the back, so the rear of the pool is above ground. What to do with a blank wall? I know, paint a huge underwater themed mural! Also, no dolphins are present in the mural- just orcas (which I think are in the dolphin family, but it's still a stretch). The paint is fading at the top where the pool water spills over. I can't decide if I hate it or if it is so outlandish that I love it. Either way, you can only see it from the very end of the backyard... or if you are playing golf on the course behind our house. :) From now on I will be calling it a fresco, cause it sounds fancy.

If cement counts as plaster, it's totally an a secco fresco. There, rationalized.

No Coddling Zone

First: Happy Birthday to my amazing brother Zachary! 

I miss you like crazy!

Today was a pretty routine day, but tonight I did something pretty fun!  Our friends Brayton and Leann volunteer for the turtle research program here. On Monday nights they feed and check up on the baby turtles in rehab. Guess who invited herself along! The sign outside the door said in bold letters: THIS IS A NO CODDLING ZONE. It also had useful information about not changing the temperature and sea turtle safety... Seriously though, how do you coddle a sea turtle?

One of the babies

There are three babies right now- all three washed up, dehydrated, on the beaches. Sad day.  They are Hawksbill sea turtles.  They can grow to about 3 feet in length, and on average weigh 180lbs. According to wikipedia, the largest was 280 lbs. That is roughly 2.25 Stephanies. Hawksbills are listed as Critically Endangered, which is only one step above Extinct in the Wild, and two above Extinct! That is why they need our help!

In their "feeding bins" waiting for dinner of pellets and fish. Yum!

The babies are named Marine, Gibbs, and Munchkin (in descending size order). They get feed three times a day, and they get some outside play time in the sun as well. Once they are healthy enough, they will be returned to the wild. Brayton and Leann also help out at the larger turtle facility on St. Kitts.  That's where the more grown up turtles are rehabilitated. I hope next Monday I can meet the big boy turtles! I think next semester I might volunteer my time to help the sea turtles that need saving.

Mt. Liamuiga

Tuesday morning I had to wake up at 6am. I HATE waking up early, but it was worth it- along with some other VIPs, I hiked up to the crater summit of Mt. Liamuiga, a volcano on St. Kitts.

Mt. Liamuiga is 3,792 ft high, and the crater is just over half a mile wide. It is the tallest peak in St. Kitts, and one of the highest in the Caribbean archipelago. It is a stratovolcano, and the last verified eruption was about 1,800 years ago. Two alleged eruptions took place in 1692 AND 1843. I am unsure how they are uncertain about whether or not it erupted, but Hey I'm no vulcanologist.

View of Mt. Liamuiga from the trailhead.

We started out at the trail head, at the end of some old sugar cane fields (a new resort is being built in the area), and entered the rain forest. It's my kind of rain forest too, no scary animals or bugs. In fact, I only saw one bug the whole time and I heard a few birds here and there. It was super lush and green, and VERY humid. Luckily the tree canopy kept us shaded, and it wasn't that hot.  The scenery was indescribable. It was beautiful, creepy, breathtaking, and weird all at once. The Banyan Trees were by far the coolest plant I have ever seen. At least I think that's what they were! Their trunks split apart near the bottom in all different directions. The climb up was easy-moderate for the most part. Although, there were some steep areas and we had to climb up some dry rocky river beds. My legs were killing me half way up... I'm such a wuss!

View into the summit crater.

At around 3,000 feet the rain forest turns into a cloud forest. It wasn't too cloudy while we were hiking though. Almost at the top, we had one last major obstacle- fairly large rocks (in my opinion) that needed to be scaled. Side note-if you have met me, you know I am not very outdoorsy. I am trying very hard for the sake of my very outdoorsy husband. So, I did manage to get to the top of the rocks... with some help from Matt (who pulled) and Trevor (who pushed). I also earned two scraped knees, a cut up shin, and a skinned elbow. It took two hours to get from the trailhead to the top.

The view down into the crater is magnificent. When the clouds near the rim, they are sucked down into the bowl. It's really amazing to see. The walls of the crater are completely green and near vertical, and at the bottom is a small lake. It is possible to hike down into the crater, but the guys said it's pretty challenging. We hung out on the rim for a while, eating lunch and enjoying the view. We didn't make it to the tippy top of the rim; the actual highest point was opposite us. We were behind a jagged peak, and were facing toward the island, so I couldn't see the ocean. I hear the view from the opposite side is even better. On a clear day you can see Saba, Statia, St. Maarten, St Barths, and Nevis. Next time volcano... next time!

The hike down was nearly as hard as going up. It had rained a bit when we started our hike, and the humid nature of the rain forest made the rocks and trees slippery. We took another two hours to get back to the cars. It was totally worth all the effort. I would really like  to hike it again, I just need to forget how hard it was first!

For my entire album click here.

Here are some more interesting links about Mt. Liamuiga:
Global Volcanism Program
Peakware.com

Weekend Recap

What a great weekend! Rob and I are really enjoying our time in St. Kitts, and this past weekend was a great example of that. Friday night we had a couples night with two other first semester couples. Brayton and Leann are from upstate NY, and Trevor and Kate are from Massachusetts. Friday afternoons are when intramural volleyball games are played, and Leann, Trevor, and Rob are all on different teams, so after everyone was clean and fresh we headed to Ciao- an Italian restaurant in Frigate Bay. Our date night was really nice, I felt like a grown-up!  After dinner we went over to the Marriott Casino where some of our friends were trying their hand at the slots and roulette. Jessica even won $70 bucks at roulette, which is awesome considering she had no idea what she was doing! If I was better at gambling (or had a job and money to waste) I would have given it a whirl. Unfortunately, I do not have a job nor money to waste! It was still fun to hang out and socialize with my vet school friends who I don't get to see much.

Saturday morning Rob took me to get my driver's license! I was very excited, I couldn't wait to get behind the wheel again... just on the right side of the car, and the left side of the road!  Saturday afternoon Leann, Rob, and I went to a fundraising 5k (or 2k walk) to support the St. Christopher Children's Home. The home is a safe place for children to live if they have been orphaned, neglected, abandoned, or abused. Over $150,000 was raised. Leann and I opted to walk the 2k path, and Rob ran the 5k. He ran it in 16:43 (ish) minutes. He beat me and Leann to the finish line. In fact, he beat all but one other guy! Rob placed 2nd overall!  Leann and I were approaching the 2k side of the finish, and we saw Rob run across, stagger, flop down on the ground, stand back up and rip off his shirt, sunglasses, ipod... He was pretty hot, and dehydrated when he finished. He said the final minutes of the race he had tunnel vision and was really out of it. After the race, the Marriott held a bbq and gave prizes to the people who raised the most money, and to the winners of the race! Yep, Rob won himself a super sweet trophy! Yay Rob!

Cooling down after the race!

Rob's cool trophy!

Post race bbq

On Sunday I went to the beach with Jessica while Rob played intramural football. Rob missed last Sunday's game because he was really dizzy (turns out my crazy husband partially tore his ear drum while snorkeling...). Rob's team not only won, but Rob made several interceptions! Next week Rob plays against Trevor's team, so I am going to tear myself away from the beach to watch them. Rob spent the remainder of the day studying for his physiology test on Wednesday. I headed to Kori's apartment pool (she's a VIP), because she was hosting water aerobics! It was great, I had fun and felt the burn!

Today, Rob headed back to class and I went to scope out some possible apartments. I found a place I love, but it's expensive. I plan on doing some more searching later in the week. Hopefully we find something perfect for the rest of our time here!