Greetings to our followers back home! Most of us would agree that today was the best day of our trip so far. Our morning began with a delicious pancake breakfast, followed by a return trip to one of our favorite sites, Snapshot Reef. This time around we focused on the shallow sub tidal zone, which was an interesting experience as the tide was extremely low. The mollusc group was very excited to find their first octopi and Dani was very excited to find a Comet Sea Star.
After our snorkel session, we packed up the truck and continued on to a gorgeous stretch of paradise on the South side of San Salvador known as Grotto Beach. We were joined by a friendly group from Chattanooga, Tennessee and we all enjoyed a picnic lunch together under the shelter house. Our group was also especially pleased to find that we had the next few hours to enjoy the beach, which was much appreciated after our exam yesterday. Some of us enjoyed floating around in the water, others laid out in the sand in an attempt to even out their snorkeling tans, and a large portion of our group got involved in an intense game of Ninja.
All in all it was a great day, though most of us didn’t escape getting sunburnt. But don’t worry parents, we all have applied copious amounts of aloe to our “future tans” and we’ll be alright in a couple of days. After a much needed relaxing day of fun in the sun, we look forward to starting our research projects in the next couple of days!
Hannah Hupp ’14 and Dani Wert ‘14