Our Egypt BFFs come to town!

Rob and I have been really lucky to have a lot of friends and family come visit us since we moved to St. Kitts. My cousin Lia and friend Mauri came down in October for my birthday, my cousin JP came in Feb/March, my parents visited the beginning of April, and most recently, our friend Beth and Damian visited from the UK.

Damian and Beth by the river at Wingfield Estate.

We met Beth and Damian in 2010 when we moved to Egypt. Beth, like me, worked in Dr. Zahi's office. The four of us quickly bonded over living abroad in Cairo. We hadn't seen each other in a year; since Rob and I moved back to the states last April. I was really excited when B&D booked their trip to St. Kitts! The best part was they planned a nice long 10 day vacation!

They arrived on Tuesday April 17th, smack in the middle of Rob's finals! Luckily, he only had two finals to go (and yes Rob passed all his classes, is moving up to 3rd semester, and has a 3.0 GPA!), and was able to spend time with our guests for the majority of their trip. The first full day they were here was a beach day- Rob had a final and I had to work. So, I dropped them at the beach at noon and picked them up at 4. Thursday was Rob's last final of the semester, so Beth, Damian, and I met Rob and his fellow students at port from some salted cod johnny cakes and some frozen cocktails. Salted cod johnny cakes is local fare, and Damian was eager to taste one. Beth opted for a chicken johnny cake, I don't blame her (salted cod=
yuck).

Since Rob was done with finals, he had plenty of time to hang out with our guests. We had a beach day and Beth and Damian went snorkeling. Beth had never been before, and I was pleased that they were able to see some cool stuff. Damian found a bunch of sand dollars, and once back on shore he promptly sat on and broke all of them!  Rob also took Beth and Damo on an island tour, driving them completely around the island and giving them a lay of the land. We visited Brimstone Fortress and learned about its history AND saw loads of monkeys! That night we ate at Sprat Net's and watched a beautiful Caribbean sunset. Life is hard in the islands.

Sunset from Sprat Net

On our second trip into town we had more Johnny cakes, and Beth was the victim of an exploding hot sauce bottle. She twisted the top off, and it sounded like a champagne bottle being uncorked. Hot sauce flew all over Beth and the wall next to her. The hot sauce was coming out of the bottle like lava erupting from a volcano. It was gross. Needless to say, no one used THAT hot sauce. After lunch, we visited the National Museum, housed in the old Treasury Building. It was a small museum, only three rooms, but very interesting and educational.

Damian, me, and Rob at the Main Ordnance Store at Brimstone

We also went on two turtle walks. We went out to Keys Beach at 8pm, and met up with the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network, in the hopes of seeing some Leatherback turtles come on the beach to nest. The first night we were there from 8pm til 1:30am. No turtles. Well, we found out the next day one came up at 2am!!! We tried to go out again on Wednesday night, two days later, we stayed from 8pm-2am, NO turtles!!! We were really bummed out. Apparently, this year has been a very slow nesting season. I guess usually there are 1-3 turtles a night, and this year they will go days with no turtles nesting.

Wednesday during the day Beth and Damian went on a mini hike to the Bat Cave (although, they didn't climb over the boulder). They did enjoy the jungle-y scenery, the petroglyphs, and Beth got a wicked bruise on her thigh (although, I don't think she enjoyed that).  Thursday I took B&D to do some more sightseeing at Wingfield Estate and Romney Manor. They were able to buy a few souvenirs and gifts for people back home at Caribelle Batik. Friday morning we did a bit more gift buying in Port Zante, and then we were headed to Reggae Beach.  Of course, my wonderful island car decided not to start. It seemed the battery had died. I called Ross security, and they sent the mobile unit out to jump the car. Interestingly, it seemed that when the guy pulled the plastic off the terminal the lights came on... weird. But just to be safe we connected and jumped. Success.

Down to Reggae we went! We had some lunch, waited for a small rain shower to pass, then grabbed some beach chairs and lounged away. Well, I lounged away. Beth and Damian did some more snorkeling alone and with Rob. They found some really cool shells, including a small conch that was perched atop a large sponge. They couldn't figure out how it got there, but it looked cool so they grabbed it. Later, as we were packing up to head home, Damian was deciding which shells he should keep. Rob had found the one sitting on the sponge, so Damo handed it to me to hold. All of a sudden the shell jerked in my hand. I, being a huge baby, freaked out and threw it on the chair. Beth peeked inside, and sure enough there was a HUGE hermit crab living in the shell! We decided to set him free, and put him back in the water so he could climb up his sponge to his penthouse apartment in the sea.

Beth and me at Brimstone

Saturday was the day Beth and Damian had to fly back, but first Trevor and I took them over to SNAPPER, where the rehab turtles live. We got a "free" tour since those selfish Leatherbacks refused to show during our night walks! Beth and Damo got to meet some cute little hatchlings, Brimmie and Frodo (my two favorites), and poor two flipper Olivia. No giant, wild, Leatherbacks, but I am glad they got to see some sea turtles nonetheless.

Damian and Rob and a cannon.

Later that afternoon we had to say goodbye and part ways at the airport. It was so great to have Beth and Damian here that it was hard to say goodbye to them. I hope we don't have to go another year before seeing each other again. Maybe next year, Rob and I can make a trip to England... even though it will probably be cold and rainy... ;)

Oh... and if you haven't hear, I'm pregnant! If you are interested, I have created a pregnancy blog, and you can follow it here.

Monsters of the deep!

I love snorkeling. I love being in the ocean. However, I also tend to panic the first few minutes of snorkeling in the ocean (or sea). I'm positive I am going to touch the reef and destroy it as I swim over it, or that I am going to get poked by an urchin and immediately die, or that I'll spook a puffer fish and get poked and immediately die. Once I get over the reef, I'm fine. I stop panicking and have lots of fun.

When I go snorkeling with Trevor and he sees something cool, he usually yells out, "Holy Shit!" underwater (excuse the language).  Of course, this causes an immediate panic attack in me, cause I know I'm about to die. This was the case a couple weeks ago when he saw a big old spotted eagle ray flying through the water around us. Once I saw it, and realized it wasn't a giant squid, great white shark, or killer whale, I was just fine. Actually, I was super excited I got to see it! It was really big, and just cruising along looking for a snack. Of course I didn't have my camera (cause I hate swimming with it), and missed an awesome photo op.

I usually snorkel at Shipwreck, down along the beach, and then around these big huge rocks, and what is called the old dolphin enclosure. I have no idea if there were ever dolphins there, but whatever. Once you get out by the big rocks, the water gets much deeper and the water is more cloudy and murky. Anyone who has ever watched shark week knows that murky water is prime shark hunting ground. So, even though I have never seen a shark (while swimming) in St. Kitts, I am on high alert when I'm near the rocks.

This Wednesday I remembered my camera while snorkeling. There wasn't anything too spectacular to see, just the same fish in their usually hangouts.  We got all the way down to the big rocks, and I got a wicked foot cramp. The kind where you can't even move your foot or leg without crazy pain shooting through you. I slowed down to try to rub my foot through my fin, with my back towards the open ocean. Of course, this is the moment Trevor chooses to scream holy shit while back-peddling (is it still back back-peddling if you're swimming?). I think my life might have flashed before my goggle clad eyes.

Giant stingray. A terrible picture, cause it's hard to imagine how big he really was.

Before my heart rate could return to normal, I saw the cause of my near heart attack. A GIGANTIC stingray, just chilling on the ocean floor below us. Thank God the water is deep out by the rocks, and thank God stingrays are so lazy. There was no way I was diving down close to get a picture, and since it is sand colored, I couldn't get a good shot of it from the surface.  Trevor was brave enough to dive down a bit for the photo.  This picture does not do Stingy (that is what I've named him) justice. He looks small and not terrifying. He was enormous, maybe 6 feet across, or more, maybe 60. I can't be sure. Needless to say, I was ready to get the hell out of the water. I was pretty sure that with my foot cramp injury I could easily be eaten by a 60 foot stingray.

Paradise Found

Shipwreck beach, on South Friars Bay, is quickly becoming my favorite beach on St. Kitts. It has great views, a reef to snorkel, and some tasty drinks! Yesterday and today were beautiful here in the Caribbean, and I had two spectacular Shipwreck days!

Shipwreck beach on South Friars Bay on Tuesday
The water was like glass

Tuesday I met Catherine and Diana at the beach for some snorkeling. We could not have picked a better day. The water was so calm that waves were barely breaking on the shore- the water was lapping up on the shore like a lake. The calm water plus the sunny sky made for sparkly clear conditions underwater.  We saw puffer fish, octopus, squid, trumpet fish, big fat starfish, and a baby conch! There was also about a billion minnows swimming around in huge schools. It was by far the best snorkeling I have done since arriving. Everything was so colorful and beautiful! The best part was that I actually remembered to take my camera with me, so I was able to capture some great pictures of the reef and fish; I also got shots of how calm the water was and some of the resident monkeys!  Click here if you want to see them all! Oh, and the pictures are in the same album as Rob's football pictures that I posted last time, so the new ones start after them!

Me with a big fat starfish!

Puffer Fish

Today was another beach day. On Wednesdays, Trevor and I head to the beach to relax and talk about how awesome our life is here in St. Kitts. Today was no exception. What made today even better was the sweet 5 mast pirate ship anchored in South Friars Bay!  Ok, it wasn't a pirate ship, it was the Royal Clipper, part of a swanky cruise company that sails the Mediterranean Sea in the summer and the Caribbean Sea in the winter. I hope that the crew speaks in pirate slang... and that passengers have to walk the plank... I want to get on that ship so bad. This evening, after the ship left and the sun had set, we saw it off the coast all lit up. It was amazing!  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera today when we went to the beach, so I did not get any close up shots of it. However, my friend Candace got a picture from campus with it's sails up. It was really amazing! I can't wait til it comes to port again so I can get a better picture!

The Royal Clipper leaving port with sails up

I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but I am really thankful to be living in St. Kitts. I know I don't have a job, and I'm giving up a career or pursuing my PhD to be down here, but I am really glad to be able to spend part of my life in St. Kitts! Paradise suits me!

Sandstorms and Snorkeling at Shipwreck!

Yesterday was a sunny, sandy, snorkel-y day at Shipwreck beach!  Trevor, Candice, Vanessa, Jessica, and I all headed to the beach at about noon (Rob, Brayton, Kate, and Leann came later, after the Microanatomy study session). It was a real nice beach day, sun shining, super clear water- perfect for snorkeling!

Candice and I snorkeled a bit right off the beach and saw some real cool fish and reef balls- concrete balls sunk to create artificial reefs. The reef balls looked pretty new, not to many fish or corals had moved in yet. I can't wait to see how it changes over the next two years.

Shipwreck Beach.

Later in the afternoon Rob, Trevor, Kate, Leann, and Brayton walked to the end of the beach to go snorkeling around some big rocks. They were gone for quite awhile, and they missed what was the closest thing to a sandstorm I've seen since leaving Egypt! It was REALLY windy at the beach, it was blowing so hard the sand hurt when it hit you. It went on for about 20-30 min, with varying levels of wind-speed. By the time it was over I was covered with sand... I looked like a breaded cutlet! I still have sand in my ears.

The non-snorkelers- Candice, Vanessa, Jessica and I decided to go find our fishy friends. We followed their path to the end of the beach, discovering a really calm, clear cove- with a nearly complete restaurant (allegedly opening next month- I hope it's good). At the edge of the cove there was a rocky outcropping with a murky lagoon on the opposite side. We didn't see the snorkelers at first, but eventually we saw them swimming back our way.

Kate and her awesome conch shell

Kate had found a HUGE, beautiful, orange and pink Queen Conch shell. Rob also found a conch shell, but it was smaller and pretty bleached out.  Rob did get some really great snorkeling photos- so, if the vet thing doesn't work out, he clearly has a future in underwater photography. (I kid, I kid! We all know he is going to kick butt in school!) He saw a sea slug (he thinks), squid, and a Lion fish.  Seeing the lion fish is interesting because they are not native to the Atlantic or Caribbean; they are an invasive species and they are harming the local marine ecosystem. Rob's classmate Alyssa said they people are allowed to KOS (kill on site), but I don't know if that is true. Plus, lion fish have nasty venomous spines... so, I not sure I am interested in fighting one to the death!

Sea Slug (we think)

Lion Fish

We all stopped to get dinner at Pizza Boys, one of the local pizza joints. Verdict? Meh. As anyone who has met me knows, I am something of a pizza snob. It was better than Egypt, but not as good as back home. Oh well...

Rob and I stayed in last night so he could get some more studying in before his big test Monday.  We went to bed around midnight, and at 7 this morning Rob had me awake. For the first time in over 5 years, the first time since we have been together, Rob was sick. My poor hubs was so dizzy he could barely stand, and when he did try to stand, the dizziness was so bad it made him sick-physically sick. Rob said it felt like the world's worst hang over... which is unfortunate considering he didn't have any alcohol yesterday. Rob has been in and out of bed all day, all while trying to study without the room spinning. He is now attempting to study with Brayton downstairs in the study room. I was not pleased since he was swaying down the steps. Oh well, Mr. Stubborn Pants does whatever he wants. I just hope he's better by 10am tomorrow when his test begins.

If you would like to see the rest of our pictures from yesterday, click here!

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!

Reggae Beach- Live De Life!

The past few days have been kind of a slow whirlwind, which incidentally, made sense when I heard the unofficial island motto- Rush Slowly.

Southeast Pennisula

Saturday we all loaded up in our taxi, Sackville Grey has been our driver, and he took us to Reggae Beach, at the very tip of the island. Reggae has a motto if it's own- Live De Life.  I plan on following this motto during our time here on St. Kitts.  Reggae Beach is really nice; like Shipwreck, there is a beach bar, chairs and umbrellas (free to "Rossies"), oh, and there is a giant wild boar named Wilbur, a goat, and a monkey (I think the monkey and goat are Bff; I saw the monkey hug and kiss the goat, and on the website, they look like they are cuddling). I also made friends with an adorable little kitten!

Part of Reggae Beach

The water was really really clear, and Rob and others in our group when snorkeling. Rob came back with two giant sea urchin shells... or at least we think they are urchin shells!  There were a bunch of upper semester students at Reggae, and a friendly beach volley ball was started, and then interrupted by Wilbur. He apparently hates volley ball and tries to stop any attempt at playing. Rob, which his innate pig wrangling skills, quickly got Wilbur off the court and the game going again. Wilbur, quite dejected, when for a dip into the Caribbean.

After the beach, we went to Rock Lobster for dinner. I had some super tasty sangria (for free!), and some nice shrimp and mussels. Nothing to fancy, but it was nice to finally eat some seafood!

Yesterday we went to the Marriott hotel beach. The Marriott itself is really nice, the pool is pretty, and the beach is nice too. At the back of the lobby, leading out, it has a scale replica of Christopher Columbus' ship, La Nina. It has a manmade beach on the Atlantic side of the island. The water is a bit cooler (just barely), and is a bit more choppy.  Rob snorkeled again, and I slept for just about the whole day, excluding during lunch and the two times I went swimming. I probably slept for four hours.  Live De Life indeed.

El Nino is Spanish for, The Nino!

Last night I cooked my first meal in St. Kitts. Nightmarish. I hate electric burners, I have no oven, and about 8 square inches of counter space. I was out of my element, but managed to pull together a decent meal. I can't wait to start looking for apartments for next semester!

Snorkeling at the Marriott

Today is the official first day of orientation. We got up early and had breakfast, turned in part of Rob's paperwork and got him measured for his white lab coat, and various other odds and ends. Later we have more stuff planned- banking, financial aid, security meeting, getting our ids (yep, I get a Ross ID too!), etc. Orientation is all week, and luckily I am not required to go to everything. The week ends with an island tour (Friday), Catamaran trip to Nevis (Saturday), and Zip-lining through the rainforest (Sunday). I can't wait for Friday.

Marriott Beach

Oh, for those of you without Facebook, you can see all of the pictures we have taken if you click here.