Buenas noches,
As we do every morning, our day began with devotions followed by a breakfast of fresh fruit, sandwiches, and cereal. Well fed, we headed out to begin our tour of Westpunt which is the western portion of the island. Lucas gave us a fantastic tour of places where tourists go but also local places most visitors to the island never get to see. Our tour began with a visit to San Pedro which is a huge area of private land along the rough coast. We went tidepooling along the shore and observed hundreds of pieces of driftwood which local artisans utilize in their artwork and carvings. Then we hopped into the van and headed to Playa Charumba Ascension where we saw a single flamingo in the estuary. The shades of pink against the water, lava rock, and cacti was beautiful. Pictures taken, we went on a short hike through a small cave and toward the mouth of the bay. The area has many cacti similar to organ pipe and prickly pear with the ocean as a backdrop, the vista is incomparable! Our next stop was further down the coast at the Watamula which is a giant blowhole. Unfortunately, the tide was at a point where the waves were not crashing up into it. However, when we hiked further down the coast there was a smaller blowhole and it was pretty spectacular. We observed live coral, crabs, urchins, and waves crashing along the rough, worn edge of the coast creating incredible water displays.
After all of the hiking and sightseeing we went to Playa Forti for lunch on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The food there is delicious and the view is second to none. It is also the highest place on the island for cliff jumping so we observed probably twenty to thirty people jump. Many of the kids wanted to jump but it was far too high and I vetoed the jumping. Our beach visit this afternoon was at Playa Santa Pretu. This is the perfect place to snorkel and see many types of coral. It is also a beach where very few people go. The island has been full of tourists from three cruise ships so it was nice to essentially have the beach to ourselves.
Today was the day we visited the local grocery store. It is always fun to observe the different products on the shelves here and it is nice to replenish the snack supply. The kids had a great idea and each bought different items so they could share with one another and try more things. Snacks and items to share with families in hand, we headed back to the church to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.
Once again Jerseley blessed us abundantly with an amazing Italian dinner of lasagna, salad, and homemade tiramisu. It was unbelievably delicious! We have just finished our evening devotion and planned out the games we will play with the children tomorrow during our service project. The kids are going to have a karaoke night which I have a feeling will be brief as they are all already yawning from all of the hiking and sun exposure.
Praising Him for another glorious day,
Lisa
As we do every morning, our day began with devotions followed by a breakfast of fresh fruit, sandwiches, and cereal. Well fed, we headed out to begin our tour of Westpunt which is the western portion of the island. Lucas gave us a fantastic tour of places where tourists go but also local places most visitors to the island never get to see. Our tour began with a visit to San Pedro which is a huge area of private land along the rough coast. We went tidepooling along the shore and observed hundreds of pieces of driftwood which local artisans utilize in their artwork and carvings. Then we hopped into the van and headed to Playa Charumba Ascension where we saw a single flamingo in the estuary. The shades of pink against the water, lava rock, and cacti was beautiful. Pictures taken, we went on a short hike through a small cave and toward the mouth of the bay. The area has many cacti similar to organ pipe and prickly pear with the ocean as a backdrop, the vista is incomparable! Our next stop was further down the coast at the Watamula which is a giant blowhole. Unfortunately, the tide was at a point where the waves were not crashing up into it. However, when we hiked further down the coast there was a smaller blowhole and it was pretty spectacular. We observed live coral, crabs, urchins, and waves crashing along the rough, worn edge of the coast creating incredible water displays.
After all of the hiking and sightseeing we went to Playa Forti for lunch on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The food there is delicious and the view is second to none. It is also the highest place on the island for cliff jumping so we observed probably twenty to thirty people jump. Many of the kids wanted to jump but it was far too high and I vetoed the jumping. Our beach visit this afternoon was at Playa Santa Pretu. This is the perfect place to snorkel and see many types of coral. It is also a beach where very few people go. The island has been full of tourists from three cruise ships so it was nice to essentially have the beach to ourselves.
Today was the day we visited the local grocery store. It is always fun to observe the different products on the shelves here and it is nice to replenish the snack supply. The kids had a great idea and each bought different items so they could share with one another and try more things. Snacks and items to share with families in hand, we headed back to the church to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.
Once again Jerseley blessed us abundantly with an amazing Italian dinner of lasagna, salad, and homemade tiramisu. It was unbelievably delicious! We have just finished our evening devotion and planned out the games we will play with the children tomorrow during our service project. The kids are going to have a karaoke night which I have a feeling will be brief as they are all already yawning from all of the hiking and sun exposure.
Praising Him for another glorious day,
Lisa