The next morning, we got up bright and early to begin adventuring. Our first stop was the Grotto Bay resort, where we went into our first cave of the day. After ducking beneath a very territorial, and very large, spider, we stepped underground to an area where you're welcome to go swimming. We didn't though - the water was too cold here for my Bermudian friend who had been spoiled all summer! We got to chat with a nice family from Montreal who also said it was too chilly - giving Canada a bad name! We also ventured a little past the sign that warned us to go no further - after all, we go to Dal, we make the rules right?
After re-emerging into the light of day, we ventured around the resort a little bit more. One group of friends was creating a feeding frenzy of fish, which was fun to watch for a little bit, until we eyed the real winner of the morning: The triangle, blow-up, slightly hazardous thing you see a couple of pictures below? Oh yeah, baby. We were the first ones to venture down that day, so it took a couple of runs down (it's a slide, in case you can't tell) to get it wet, but soon we had more people following our great idea! The only downpoint: at one point the water stole my hairband. Small price to pay for blow-up fun!
Next up: Crystal Cave. There are two caves you are recommended to visit - Crystal and Fantasy - but since we only had time for one, Jordan assured me that we picked the right one. Since I can't imagine anything more mind-blowing than this, I think he was probably correct. In 1905, two boys were playing cricket and lost their ball. In searching for it, they discovered was would later be known as Crystal Cave. If you folks have ever been in a cave without a lamp/flashlight, you know it's probably not ideal to just casually stumble upon one one day. They later lowered themselves down with lanterns, and slowly discovered what the pictures below attempt to capture!
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| The staircase leading down, down, down |
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| This is one of the many many formations in the cave. If I remember correctly, the white areas are dead areas, that people have touched - hands off! |
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| The stalactites and stalagmites stop growing when they reach water - these two were getting so close together when the water entered the cave, halting them in their tracks! |
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| So close! |
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| Waaay up there? That's where the cricket ball fell in. They still haven't found the ball! |
After leaving our second cave of the day, we headed to Horseshoe Bay, along the south coast of the island. I decided to try my hand at boogie boarding - how hard could it be? Well, José was still being a tease and so the waves made it a little tricky! The second casualty of the day - a hair elastic. I also brought home about half of the beach in my scalp - easy to get out, definitely. Sandy hair and bruised ribs aside, it was such a fun afternoon! Then we climbed "the rock". This giant rock recently cracked! I wasn't able to get a definite answer on whether it was from an earthquake or a storm, but either was I think it was around March of this year.
A rainbow was the perfect backdrop as we barbecued our dinner of fresh tuna. Yumm! Also, note the roof in the shot: the only source of fresh water comes from the water collected from the roof (which is white, to help keep the house cool!). The roofs are made of Bermuda stone and towards the bottom is a level that juts out, which collects the water.
