We had a little extra time this morning so Carol fixed her amazing eggs benedict as a special treat for our friends. We figured we needed a little extra protein for the day's activities.
After breakfast, we hiked back into town to check out the turtle activity at the pier. This is the island's main claim to fame. A local will call the turtles in for breakfast by beating on a conch shell with a hammer. When they arrive, he feeds them bits of conch & teases them into getting close enough he can grab them.
Though he's a pretty strong guy, he's no match for the turtle who quickly heads back to the water.
While that is going on, another local makes conch salad. Notice that the fresh lime juice he squeezes onto the salad actually cures the raw conch.
Well of course!
There was a noisy rooster right down town strutting his stuff while across the road was a quiet group just waiting on him to quit showing off.
While downtown, one of the locals invited us to come to his home to see his garden. His wife had died a couple of years ago and the neighbor's dog had killed his he-goat so we figured he was lonely.
He let us try a variety of different things from his garden. Some good, some not so much.
He broke open a ripe pomegranite and let everyone try a handful of the seeds. Interesting.
We finally made it back to the boat, regrouped, grabbed a couple of granola bars & apples & headed for our next adventure.
We pulled the dinghy up onto the rocky beach near to where we thought the trail might be. While Greg held the dinghy, Jim looked for the trailhead - - and found it - woo hoo!
The trail led through some pretty thick brush and up a hill. After looking around a little bit, we found the hole in the hill.
Once inside, there was a fresh water lake with crystal clear water. Quite a find in the middle of the arid, salty island. There were also lots of stalagmites & stalactites as well as some flowstone formations.
Once we left the cave, we headed for the Atlantic side of the island to see the beach there.
This was a lovely, deserted area - not a soul for many miles. What fun!
This was our lunch stop.
Greg & Sheila Cobb
Jim & Carol Pattison
By the time we bot back to the dinghy, it was high & dry due to the falling tide. Greg & Jim hiked over to the rock in the background to check out an osprey nest on the top.
The nest wasn't very impressive except for the enormous amount of sticks the birds had accumulated.
Tomorrow is Cobb's last day. Sad.
