Blogs from US Virgin Islands, Central America Caribbean - page 8

wooooo last week went by fast! i've been busy working out in the fields harvesting lettuce (the first salads i've had for awhile!), harvesting baby pineapples to plant soon, weeding, harvesting limes (70 pounds today!). when working with pineapples you should wear long sleeves and pants because you will get scratched up, no joke. well, i was stubborn (hey, it's humid and hot here!) and now my arms and legs are a bit inflamed. but kyle found the VERY last ripe pineapple and let me eat it because i haven't experienced a pineapple here yet, and it was so delicious and sweet! oh yeah, and i have a little mango rash again (i can't help it if mangos are the most delicious fruit and i keep eating them. and i'd do it again!). however, we're nearing ... read more

So I've just completed my first week of farmwork, which was definitely a little labor intensive prepping this area for growing. We planted beans (lots of varieties), cucumbers, eggplant, passionfruit, basil, lettuce mix and arugula, and we've still got lots of room to plant. Everyone here is great - we have family dinners on wednesdays and jen made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream with the mint we've got (not vegan...but delicious). A few days ago we had some excitement in the morning when some pigs were wandering on the farm (introduced species...but so is almost everything else). So ben got his gun and killed them, and then a guy who's working on a house on farm came down and gutted them...so now we've got pig galore (and those were BIG pigs), our freezers are all ... read more

What a gorgeous day here in St. Thomas! I decided today I'd go to Magen's Bay. National Geographic rated it in the Top 10 beaches in the world. All my times in St. Thomas, yet I hadn't been. I figured it was about time. So today, I took a taxi on my own. Except also in the taxi was Brendan, a Glory dancer, and his friend from home, Kale. We chatted a bit in the taxi. And by the time we reached the beach, they'd decided to adopt me for the day. All afternoon I spent swimming, sunny, chatting and drinking with them. They're super fun, funny Australians. I really enjoyed them. It is so beautiful at Magen's Bay. Green hills rising to either side of the bay. Sparkling blue water. The sea is the most ... read more

Today was the day I was most excited about of my entire month down here. Today we’re in St. Thomas. And scheduled to be with us, is the Carnival Miracle. Onboard the Miracle are three very good friends of mine that I know from previous ships, two whom I haven’t seen for a year or more. We’ve had this marked on our calendars for weeks and we’d planned a big day. But then along came Tropical Storm Hanna. This storm, which at times has had hurricane status, has really had its “fun” with the ships down here. First of all, our itinerary had to be changed to avoid the storm. We skipped Nassau two days ago and instead had an extra day at sea. This means that during this one week cruise, we are having FOUR ... read more

After all the commotion of St. Thomas, such a big port town, we were ready to get back to St. John again. So we set sail, well not literally because we still have no main sail, but that is another story for another blog. More accurately we motored on to Leinster Bay, only 5 miles away on the north side of the island. Luckily all the islands here in the USVI and BVI are incredibly close together so it was a short trip. Not only can you see the next island in the chain, but almost all of the islands in the Virgins are visible from any vantage point- it is amazing. And the best part is that moving around from island to island only takes an hour or two, maybe even less, and it is ... read more