Une Journée Parfaite en Guadeloupe
Location: Guadeloupe
Today, we awoke to a horrific scene. Three CPR dummies were unresponsive outside our cabins, and Ben was screaming for everyone to get up and help. Sufficiently jarred with our newly learned skills from our emergency first responder classes, we groggily rose from our slumber and bravely saved their lives. After becoming national heroes, we had some delicious French toast for breakfast cooked by Eliza and Elis and got ready for the day ahead.
Emma, James, Theo, Audrey, Chloe, and Watson went ashore to pick up our kayak rentals that we would have for the day while the rest of us split up into our groups to go diving. The first group with Smash and Tom consisted of Ruby, Eduardo, Talia, Mac R., Grace N., Amy, and Eliza. They explored the nearby dive site at a place called Pigeon Island, where there is a sunken statue of Jaques Cousteau. They saw tons of marine species and swam through beautiful coral reefs. Once they got back, Dan, Jesse, Cat, Boston, Liam, and I (Brendan) set up our gear and took our turn out to the dive site with Claire and Michelle to experience it all for ourselves.
We returned to Vela to the incredible smell of the meatball subs that the chefs whipped up for lunch and promptly devoured our meal. Our group now had the option to take the kayaks out to the island while the group that retrieved them, along with Lillian, got their turn to dive. Dan, Max, Boston, and I jumped at the opportunity and paddled out across the bay. We pulled the kayaks up to a beautiful cove with crystal clear waters, where we did some snorkeling and practiced our free diving. We hiked to the top of the island to take in the view of the area, realized we were almost out of time with the kayak rentals, and frantically paddled them back across the bay.
We got the kayaks back with just five minutes to spare, along with eight incredibly tired arms. Mac L. swung by in the dinghy to take us back to the ship, where we took a quick species ID quiz with Ben and then got ready for some time in the small town on shore to get dinner. Dan, James, Eliza, Mac, Elis, Eduardo, and I found a breathtaking restaurant up on a hill that overlooked the bay, and we had some incredible food under the stars. James was even able to use some of the French he knew to help us order. We finished the night with a long walk on the beach, where we had a rather enjoyable conversation with a random French guy named Emile, who was clearly coming off of a fun night of his own and were scooped up by the dinghies to settle in for the night back aboard Vela. Safe to say, today was perfect.
It’s hard to believe that there are only five days left on our voyage. Being a part of this family for the last 85 days has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I never could have imagined that I would experience even half of the things we’ve gotten to do or accomplish all that we have. Saying goodbye to this trip and these people will be bittersweet, to say the least. I know all of us can’t wait to see all of you at home, and we’re endlessly grateful for the opportunity you’ve given us. Mom, Dad, Ryan, Patrick, I’ll see you soon. With that, and with great difficulty typing this for the final time, this is Brendan Tunkel signing off as skipper.