Tortuga Island and the Last Day

Well the wireless has been very unreliable the last 12 hours, so I am just going to type a quick update on the lobby computer. I think the rain sometimes knocks out the wireless signal. David tried for a few hours to get on last night and didn't have success, and there are about 5 Joshua Expedition groups here right now, so the two computers are usually very busy, except around this time of day (6 in the morning).

** Note: Because I don't have pictures for this day, I have included links throughout the blog that will give more info from the day. I'll upload pictures as soon as possible**

Yesterday was a full day of going to the beach. We were picked up by our tour group, Calypso Cruises at around 7 am. They were a very professional organization with a great guide who spoke fluent Spanish and English. We were also with about 30 other tourists, which was interesting at times. Regardless, we drove up through the mountains and stopped for breakfast at a place called "The Garden." They had a toucan in a large cage that you could see, and it even jumped up on Cameron's arm! They also had a nice gift shop and a very large garden.

Then we drove down the windy roads to "Sandy Point" where we got on our Catimaran boat, the "Manta Ray." On the boat there were complimentary drinks (soda, water, etc.) and fresh fruit (pinapple, mango, watermelon) as well as music and of course wonderful views of the mountains and the water. It was about a 1 1/2 hour boat ride out to the island, but you were able to relax on the front of the boat on these large nets, or dip your feet in little wading pools. It was very enjoyable. (You can see some pictures from the tour company here)

At Tortuga Island, we had a set area that was just for our tour group. The workers set up beautiful canopy tents, another open drink area, and then began to prepare lunch which consisted of a typical salad that had fish (pretty good!) and then a chicken over rice (of course, we've had that almost every meal) with coconut for the main course. There was also dessert and coffee.

On crazy thing was that while we were waiting for lunch, a "wild boar" came out of the jungle and just plopped down amongst all the tourists. It turns out she wasn't so wild, but rather domesticated like a small dog, about the size of a beagle. She was very friendly and allowed everyone to pet her, bury her in sand, rub her nose, etc. It was really cute. There were also many wild birds, turkeys and lots of cococunts falling from the trees.

Before lunch, the snorkeling crew went out to a small reef area for about an hour. I didn't go, but the report was that it was a lot of fun, there were many fish (lots of the same kind though) and apparently Mr. Schneider claims he saw a shark (we think it was just David Strawser messing around though). Nevertheless, everyone really enjoyed themselves.

After lunch we had a good game of sand volleyball with Jordan and Emily showing off their skills, and then we all enjoyed swimming for another hour or so. Kelsey and Alicia fell asleep on the beach, until the tide came in and surprised them by washing up to their waists. In the water, Tabby, Madison and Alex had "chicken fights" and Natalie took great pictures with her water proof camera (I'll be working on uploading those soon). Overall, it was a beautiful day at the beach.

Of course, in the afternoon it rained. Luckily, it didn't really start until we were back on the boat. However, there were a hundred or more tourists now crammed into the bottom section of the boat, so some of us chose to stay out in the rain and wash off. But it was a little cold! That was an adventure in itself. Regardless, we made it back to the pier and to the tour bus, changed clothes, and headed home. The drive home was very, very rough. It was probably the most jerky, fast turns, stop-and-go drive of the trip so far. The bus drive was very good, but not very patient. Many of our students felt sick and couldn't sleep. So when we got back to the hotel (around 9 pm), we quickly ate dinner, and then many went to bed right away.

This morning we are meeting at 7:30 for group devotions by the pool, breakfast at 8:30, and then we have to be on the bus headed to the airport at 9:45. Our flight leaves at 1 pm, and we are scheduled to eventually make it into CMH around midnight. Check your information packets for detailed flight info, and I'm sure the students will be calling from the Atlanta airport. I probably won't be able to post anything from Atlanta, because their internet is pay-as-you-go. But we'll see.

For more pictures from our cruise, you can go here and they are supposed to update the pictures from our tour soon.