Seaside Shenanigans
Location: Ans Du Public, St Barthelemy
Hello Everyone!
Today was a crazy day filled with some amazing activities! Jaxson started our day with some delicious breakfast burritos while we were split into two teams: odds and evens (each person on Ocean Star was assigned a number at the beginning of the voyage). The Even team was Claire, Owen, Zoe, Chloe, Jaxson, and Max. The Odd team was Will, Mani, Robert, Rhianna, Kathrine, Annika, and Me (Nadia)! The teams were set up for our very own Olympics! Once we cleaned up, we all piled into the dinghies and set off to a nearby beach, where we covered ourselves in sun lotion and blue “war paint.” We began the competition with a game Allie dubbed the “Sea Turtle Game.” The activity consisted of circling a broom pole five times, diving underneath your teammates’ legs, rushing to the ocean for a mouthful of water before then… urm…, and placing that water into a cup, all while being chased by Meg and Ben. How in the world does this have to do with sea turtles, you may ask. Well… it’s difficult to explain, but essentially, the game was meant to simulate the difficult beginnings of sea turtles.
Anyway, the second game involved flipping a towel completely over. Easy, right? The only catch was that all of your teammates needed to be standing on that same towel without touching the sand. Mani came up with a plan, and our team managed to win by putting Annaika on Robert’s shoulders and giving each other one continual group hug—though a lot of feet were stepped on during this process!
The next game was more of an individual game. We had to lay on our stomachs, facing the ocean, while Allie, Meg, and Ben hid our shoes in the sand. They would then count down from 3 and at “GO!” We would all get up, spin, and dive for the nearest shoe. It was close, but Claire ended up winning the entire game after successfully tackling Jaxson. Since Claire was on the even team, the overall Olympic score for the teams changed to 2-1.
After Claire’s victory, we went back to team games. This fourth activity was a sort of scavenger hunt. One player was blindfolded and searching, another was blindfolded and giving directions, and the other could see but could not speak. Mani and Robert successfully helped Rhianna locate the “mysterious” items (life jackets), but Rhianna did have to wrestle with Chloe for one, and she may have run into a tree once or twice.
Jaxson was the MVP in the last game. Each team was given two life jackets to safely get from one spot to the other without touching the floor or the “lava.” The rule was that the first team member from each group to make it to the other side would be immune to the lava and could, therefore, get the rest of the team to safety without having to worry about the life jackets. Will made a valiant effort for our team, but before he could reach safety, Jaxson had already turned the life jackets into shoes, thrown Zoe onto his shoulders, and reached the other side before returning to the start to sling two more of his teammates over his shoulders to rush back.
Although Team Odd did win, we decided that both teams were victorious in the end!
After trying to scrub off the sand and blue paint (we were mostly successful), everyone jumped back into the dinghy to spend some time in town. The group split up for about two hours before meeting back at the dock for a taxi ride to the other side of the island. There, we took some surfing lessons or rented boards depending on our varying skill levels. Although there weren’t many waves, the group made the most of it and still enjoyed our time at the beach. Once we had made a quick run to the nearest grocery store, we all went back to the boat to take ocean showers, study, and change for our sign-out night!!
At 6:30, we went back to shore, dressed in our fanciest clothes, to eat at a local bar. There, we had a brief photo shoot, got drinks, and were treated to a wonderful dinner. To end our night, we all got ice cream (yes, again), which was absolutely delicious.
Anyway, that’s all for today. But we have even more fun things planned for tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Au revoir,
Nadia