Back in Ohio...

Well, I'm back in Ohio after an amazing summer. As of now I'd much rather be back in Saba. My family came down and spent the last ten days there with me, and here are some of my favorite photos from while they were there.

First, diving :) We dove for 7 days with Sea Saba. All of the dive instructors with Sea Saba were absolutely great, and I already miss them haha.

That's me with a big barrel sponge!

Very (surprisingly) friendly lobster @ Tedron

Sea horse!!! @ 50/50

K it's kind of hard to see, but if you look really closely you can see a Caribbean Reef Shark! @ Custom's House (click to make bigger)

Another reef shark @ Shark Shoal. This was my favorite dive of the entire trip. It is the one pinnacle that is kind of set apart from the rest, so the sharks are more inclined to hang around here. It was SO beautiful, with hundreds of fish around us at all times. There was even a school of bait fish being chased by some kind of predatory fish. It looked like the school of fish that makes shapes in Finding Nemo... You know what I'm talking about ;)

A closer look at the shark.

Beautiful anenome, also @ Shark Shoal

On the dive boat.

Chris, Bus, and me at my last Sabaoke

I fell asleep on the hammock, and of course the first thing my parents think to do is take a picture. Typical

On the Ecolodge quad :)

This is where I sat when I would update this blog and send emails. I passed my power cord through the window and had lovely chats with anyone who walked by!

Another view

And this was the view from that table. It was absolutely stunning on a clear day.

My home/workplace :) I miss it...

On the dive boat

A better photo that my dad managed to catch with his close-up lens.

More dive boat.

Yes, that's Chris wayyyyy up there. We were at the tide pools down by the airport and he decided to climb up instead of down to the pools.

So after a lovely ten days with the fam, they decided to drag me from my island paradise, back to the real world. If anyone who I met/worked with in Saba is reading this, please know that I miss you all terribly. Please keep in touch!

Day trip to St. Maarten!!

So on Tuesday Bus and I took the ferry over to St. Maarten for the day. We got some of the others to cover our shifts at the Ecolodge and took off. It was SUCH a fun day and we had beautiful weather! There were two cruise ships in Philipsburg - one Royal Caribbean and one Disney cruise. But even with a few thousand tourists there it still felt empty which was strange, but nice!

We wandered back and forth from the gorgeous beach, the restaurants, and the shops all over Philipsburg. When we got hot we'd go swim in the ocean to cool off, then head back out to wander around.

Shopping! And I don't even like shopping!

I love the Caribbean.

Cruise ships in the background

View from the lunch table :)

Beach :)

On the ferry heading back to Saba!

Tide Pools!

This past Tuesday one of the chefs at the Ecolodge (TJ) let me and Bus borrow his scooter for the day while he worked. We decided to head down to the tide pools near the airport. It was a really fun ride down the steep, windy road to the airport, and it was an absolutely beautiful day! This is Cove Bay, with the enclosed area for swimming safe from the waves.

Photo taken from standing out on one of the ledges, looking back at the water:

The tide pools are tucked in between these huge rock formations. It's so cool, and there are all sorts of fish and different sea creatures living in the pools :)

I didn't bring the underwater housing for the camera (dumb) so all of these photos are taken from above the water - shows how clear it was!!

Baby fish!

Gorgeous view.

closer
St. Eustatius in the distance.
This is why I love the Caribbean - blue waters

So yeah, that was really awesome. After this we went to a hotel pool for the rest of the day and I actually sort of got a tan! Not a bad life...

This is a photo of the current group that's working at the Ecolodge. It's Elizabeth, one of the cooks, Jorinde, Bus, me, and Dette. They're all great :)

I finally climbed Mount Scenery!

So working at a hotel, I naturally encounter lotssss of tourists. They ask me all sorts of questions about the trails and diving around here, and of course they expect me to be reasonably knowledgeable. Well, until now I’ve been very vague whenever people asked me questions about the Mt. Scenery trail…. But I finally did it! One morning I was supposed to go hiking with Nora but then she was called in to work early so she couldn’t come. I was awake, and was already in hiking clothes, so I decided to embark on my journey haha.

Mt. Scenery is a lava dome that forms the summit of Saba's stratovolcano. It's pretty cool, it is a dormant volcano, not extinct. They know this because there are still spots underwater near the island that are hot. I dove one of these sites the other day. The sulphur turns the sand a mustardy-yellow color, and when you bury your hangs in it it is actually a few degrees warmer than the rest of the water! It's really cool. I tried to take a picture of the color difference...

The Ecolodge is the closest establishment to the peak of Mt. Scenery, but it still isn’t that close. The Ecolodge sits at about 1,500ft, and the peak of Mt. Scenery is 2,855 ft – it’s the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands! From the bottom of the trail in Windwardside, it is 1,064 steps. It’s supposed to take 90 minutes one way, but it only took me 45 minutes to get up, and 20 minutes to get down! I’m pretty proud of myself. But I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I hike 1/3 of the trail almost every day to check my email ;)

It’s a beautiful hike through the rain forest, dry forest, and cloud forest. Tons of really cool vegetation!

There are two peaks that you can get to. When I got up to the top, first I went to the left which is the less-traveled path. It’s not rock steps like the rest of the trail, but more like soggy logs that have been placed in the mud for people to climb on. I felt very outdoorsy while doing this, which isn’t really me haha. I had BEAUTIFUL views from this peak, no clouds blocking the sight. I took some pics and then decided to head over to the other peak.

This is the one that has a huge communication tower on it. There are two scenic views, but unfortunately just as I got to the top the clouds came over :( I sat up there listening to my ipod for about an hour waiting for the clouds to clear but they never did. One of the two scenic views on the communication tower side takes you to the highest possible point that you can get to. You have to pull yourself up this rope to get to the top, and it’s quite slippery.

Well this was my mountain climbing expedition! I don't think I'll do it again until the family gets here, just because it takes quite a toll on the legs!

Pretty sunset over the mountains :)