After a slightly restless night on the beach we awoke already excited for the journey back to the Island School and the adventures it would hold. While watching the remnants of the sunrise, students packed up their tents and began to prepare a breakfast of cereal. With heavy hearts we left the beautiful beach that had been our home for the evening and started on the road back to south Eleuthera.
After a short ride, we arrived at our first destination: Preacher’s Cave. We took a short hike to the beach where William Sayle and his adventurers first caught sight of the beautiful Bahamian shore. Luckily for us, we did not have to deal with the “death rock” which surrounded the beach and had marooned the adventurers 330 years ago. After experiencing some nature and history combined, we traveled back to the entrance of the cave where Patrick the Preacher (one of our trusty instructors) gave his sermon. After a historical and enlightening sermon, we headed back to the vans to go on our next journey.
We packed back into the vans, the anticipation mounting as we awaited the next stop. The drive was quicker than expected as before we knew it the vans had come to a stop and Liz began to prepare us for a “20 minute hike”. Everyone groaned, tired from the long drive, and dreading a long walk through the woods. Therefore we were excited to learn that Liz had been joking when minutes later a gaping blue hole appeared before us and we learned we would have the chance to jump the 25 feet into the deep crevice below. Some students immediately took the plunge, while others hovered anxiously above, slowly building the courage to jump and then snorkel in the unique space. Though the plummet was frightening, and the rock climb out challenging, everyone left with a feeling of accomplishment.
Exchanging our wet clothes for dry ones, we all packed back into the vans for a 40 minute drive filled with summer hits of the 90’s.
Along the way, we paused our jam session for a short look off the so called “glass bridge” that Stan (our third instructor, native Bahamian) claimed was made of all glass windows. Fortunately for us, it was a bit sturdier than that, so we took the opportunity to get up and look out over both the Atlantic and the Caribbean. After soaking up the views and seeing a sea turtle from above, we loaded back into the vans and headed off to stop by a gift shop located in Gregory Town.
A few minutes later, we arrived at our destination, which claimed to always stay open except during “Sundays and hurricanes”. After cleaning out the store, we all headed back to the vans, hands filled with holiday gifts for everyone back home.
Our stomachs began to growl when we were told the next stop would be a return to the Governor’s Harbor Bakery which we had visited the previous day. Excitedly we ran into the small shop gorging on lemon donuts and coconut Danish pastries. We made a final stop to the grocery store to grab chips and candy to accompany our lunch of peanut butter, jelly, and cassava chips. We sat on a beach in the small town of Governor’s Harbor admiring the pink sand before we headed to our last stop.
We filed out of the vans for one final time to crowd around an enormous banyan tree, which is a tree that overtakes other trees and has incredible roots that shoot from the branches down into the ground. We learned about the history of the 150-year-old tree and watched a gigantic banana spider in awe. After a few photographs we left the sprawling tree, and finally headed for our home at the Island School.
Josh & Parker
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