Day Three

Today we helped clean up the high school grounds by picking up garbage. They don't have much recycling here and there seems to be a problem with littering. We tried to get the high schoolers involved with the clean up and about 10 to 15 of them got gloves on and helped us find the worst litter spots. We had a good time talking to them about what it's like to be in high school on South Andros. There is only one high school and there are about 170 students, grades 7-12. We also got a tour of their garden and greenhouse and were given some vegetables to take home.

Later we went on a tour of the blue holes in the island bush. Our guide was wonderful! She had lots of information to share with us. We learned about the medicinal uses of native plants and visited four blue holes. We saw termite mounds, some wild ducks, beautiful purple orchids, and got to explore a bat cave. At the fourth blue hole we had a lunch of crawfish salad sandwiches, sapadilli fruit, and fresh coconut juice out of young coconuts. Then we swam in the blue hole! The water was incredibly clear and we could see as much as 20 feet deep as though we could touch it with our toes.

After the hike we met up with our hosts who took us to the Straw Market where we bought hats and jewelry made by a native woman. After we were outfitted we went to dinner at Ezrina's where we were almost the only customers. The 3 course meal consisted of conch fritters, conch stew, fried grouper, and more fried conch! It was absolutely delicious and we applauded the chef (Ezrina) when she emerged from the kitchen. We have merrily returned home and are relaxing and preparing for our next day of excitement!