Catamaran trip, snorkeling, and zip lining!

We have had quite the weekend! We began with our island tour on Friday with Sackville (the subject of my last post), went on a catamaran/snorkeling trip Saturday, and did some rain forest zip-lining Sunday!

Saturday morning we headed to Port Zante to catch our boat- the catamaran Swaliga. One of the crew is on St. Kitts' national football team (by which I mean soccer), and had played in an Olympic qualifying match the night before!  All of the incoming Ross students were invited, so there were three cats all together.

We left port and started our fun in the sun! Not 10 minutes after leaving, we saw a dolphin (according to our captain- it was kinda far off) doing some serious jumps, twirls, and flips off the starboard side of the cat! Unfortunately, I didn't have our camera out, and our aquatic acrobat had finished the show!

Shipwreck at Shitten Bay

We headed to Shitten Bay (yes, it is pronounced the way you are thinking) for some snorkeling. Shitten Bay (stop laughing) is a rocky beach with a shipwreck! The ship is on it's side on the beach and in the water, and is basically split in half. The water was so clear we could see to the bottom while still on the cat.  We donned our goggles and fins and jumped in.  Rob and I, plus some of our new friends, headed straight for the wreck. We saw urchins, puffer fish, squid, zebra looking fish, rainbow looking fish, a half purple/half yellow fish... I sound very knowledgeable, huh? I even saw a yellow snapper that looked to be a couple feet long! All I could think when I saw him was, "yum, you would be delicious in my bouillabaisse!"  Swimming around the ship was really neat because the waves echoed as they were breaking in the hull, and there was some kind of pipe (which was once on the deck of the ship) that would spout out water every minute or so.

Hello Squidward!

I could have snorkeled there all day, but alas, it was not to be. Once back on the cat we were treated to a tasty lunch prepared by the crew. We had pasta salad, red beans and rice, coleslaw, hot dogs, and bbq chicken. Yum yum yum!  From snorkeling we were to head to the island of Nevis, sister island to St. Kitts. Unfortunately, there was an unusually high swell and the catamarans couldn't (or perhaps wouldn't) make the journey. So, instead we went to cockleshell bay, home to Reggae Beach! (which you should ALL remember from my earlier post). My favorite part of the whole day was when the crew let Rob play the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song on his ipod. I felt like a pirate... of the Caribbean...

Snorkeling near the shipwreck

At Reggae we played some frisbee (or Bee as Rob and Trevor call it), did some more swimming, and just hung out. There was even a little sea snake swimming around with us. He was one cool dude, especially since he decided not to bite any of us!

Sea Snake at Reggae Beach

At around 4pm, we got back on the cats and sailed back to Port Zante.  We saw a bunch of flying fish on the way back. Those little suckers are fast, no way I could have snapped a picture of them if I tried!

Once back on dry land we got ready to go to Elvis' Love Shack for a beach bbq hosted by the upper semester Ross students.  We hung out for awhile and played bag-o (or bean bag toss, or cornhole, whatever you want to call it), and then walked up the beach to the Shiggidy Shack for karaoke. Our group was very brave; Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, Rehab by Amy Winehouse, It must have been love, Jesse's Girl by Rick Springfield, and Lean on me were ALL performed by  various members of our group. We had a few more songs planned, but putting your name on an organized list was a waste of time. The karaoke man basically called people in whatever order he deemed fit. By far the best part of karaoke was Rob and Trevor singing ALL of the songs from the side lines. Although I had a great time, I also had a wicked headache due to dehydration (and crappy singing), and was ready to go when Sackville picked us up at midnight.

Just when I thought the fun was over Trevor and Vanessa got into a friendly argument over how to Dougie (it's a newfangled dance) in the taxi just as we were pulling into Ross. Vanessa made mention that she was a black and/or orange belt in karate and Trevor took that as a challenge. Once out of the taxi, Trevor and Vanessa "stretched" and then began what I assume is drunken karate. It was freakin' hilarious. It looked as though Trevor was to be the victor, when Vanessa's friend Aaron threw Vanessa's sandal at Trev. I thought I saw the sandal wiz by Trevor's face and he fake fell. Apparently I saw the sandal ACTUALLY hit him the in right eye, and I totally missed the second sandal hit him square in the nuts. Of course I missed it; anyone who knows me knows that I was laughing my ass off. I always laugh when people get hurt- not my best quality. Things only got funnier when Rob insisted that he bounce Trevor up and down on the ground because he would feel better faster.  Oy vey. I was on the floor laughing. Literally. I couldn't stand I was laughing so hard.

Saturday was a good day.

Sunday we had even more fun! We went zip lining through the rain forest! We did five different zip lines (including the Monkey Trainer). The first one was "De Boss," the longest (1350 ft) and the slowest. It is 250 ft above the rain forest! I have never "zipped" before and I was a bit nervous.  They put you in this crazy harness, and clip you to your little wheelie thingy (the thing that rolls on the cable), and let you go! Once I was on my way, I realized being scared was ridiculous, because it was so much fun! I could see the rain forest below me, the mountains to my right, and the Caribbean sea to my left. Amazing.  After De Boss, we zipped on Mango Tango (1000 ft), then Brimstone Blast (900 ft, going 45 mph and a view of Brimstone Hill Fortress), and finally the River Rocker (only 500 ft, but really fast!). On the River Rocker there are double cables, so Rob and I got to race each other to the end.

Coming in for my zip line landing

Of course, my favorite part of the day was after zip lining. Sky Safaris is located on part of Wingfield Estate, and there are some amazing ruins from the sugar production buildings AND last year an excavation team discovered the remains of a rum distillery dating back to the 17th century! Jack Sparrow would be thrilled! The excavation team was volunteer based; I plan on doing some sleuthing to see if I can find the leader and maybe join up!

Wingfield Estate Ruins

After returning to Ross our group had to say goodbye to our wonderful orientation leader- Cassie. She has been friend/mentor/guide/badass volleyball player/dance partner/karaoke ringleader to all of us for the past 11 days.  I hope that once school starts and she is back with all her 6th Semester friends she still wants to be seen with all us "first-ies."

Tonight  we had a bunch of our group over to eat dinner and watch Pirates of the Caribbean (come on, can you blame us?). It was a great way to end our transition to island life.

Tomorrow is Rob's first day of vet school! Make sure to wish him luck!

As always, you can see ALL of our new pictures by clicking here for the catamaran trip, and here for the zip lining!