Location: Petit Piton, St. Lucia
A refreshing tropical rainstorm greeted the tribe of Ocean Star this morning. So, for the first time in over a month, we ate a meal indoors. How civilized. Fortunately, just as breakfast ended, a beautiful rainbow broke out and shined upon our dish crew. After breakfast cleanup, the advanced diving class did a knowledge review on drift diving, and then we were greeted by guests from the Soufriere Marine Management Area (SMAA). The SMAA works to keep this region of St. Lucia healthy and diverse by breaking the coastline into sections: marine reserves, fishing priority areas, recreational areas, multiple-use areas, and yacht mooring areas. This keeps each economic activity prosperous without damaging the area’s resources. Following this learning experience, the ranger of the SMAA led us on the “Superman’s Flight” drift dive, which is located at the base of Petit Piton. Such a stellar dive!! Just as the Piton has incredibly steep cliffs, the bathymetry underneath it is equally as epic. The coral life was abundant, and everyone loved drifting in awe. During the dive, Meghan visited some family and friends who lived on the island. She was quite stoked about this. After the dive, some of us practiced free diving next to the boat. With visibility so great, it was fun to watch each other swim all the way down to the bottom. Later, the crew learned the art of conch shell blowing. Most of us just made pathetic, spitting noises, but Jon was natural. Before dinner, some of us decided to “adventure” into the hot springs. A quick little mosey through a lush tropical forest, and we found ourselves at a warm waterfall with warm pools underneath it. We took this time to relax in the pools and talk about how cool the dive was. Dinner was held on the beach at some picnic tables. Two meals served at tables today?! How gourmet of us! As the sunset, we saw another green flash. It’s always a sight to get excited over. The awesomeness of today is not over yet! After dinner, we made a bonfire on the beach, and I must say, the sound of the ocean and the sound of a fire crackling set the tone for a wonderfully relaxing evening. After the bonfire shenanigans were over, the most exciting part of the whole day began! OCB class to learn about worms!!! Following the class, we then had everyone’s favorite pastime: the weekly scheduling meeting! This is a meeting where we all politely and calmly schedule the events and classes for the following week. And just when you think that this day must be over because we have already done so much, think again. After the meeting, we feasted on a post-Valentines Day dessert of Double-stuffed-oreo-pink-whipped-cream-frosting-cake. Nom nom! As the evening crawls into the late hour of 10 pm, we have scholastically driven students to sit down to do a bit of writing for a science paper and study for midterms. Day 34 is another perfect day.