Our last day on the island... all day FUN!

Friday April 26, 2013

(Friday was a very busy day.  Here is the morning blog, the rest of the day to come later!)

Another beautiful morning!  Started with a morning swim in the ocean!!  I wish I had figured out to do this every other morning before going to clinics.  The water was warm and easy to get into (I normally take forever getting into the water, squealing all the way).  I swam and bobbed around for a while.  It was sooooo nice!  It was about a 10 minute walk back to the hotel… I pulled on my clothes to walk back… over my wet suit…my pants were soaked… looked like I had wet myself by the time I got back!!

White sand beaches and beautiful blue water.

I was bobbing around in the water with the local folks.

Woofie enjoyed a bottle of the local brew, "Ting" while I was at the beach.

The boat crew with Woofie!

After a light breakfast, we headed back to the beach to join our snorkel group.  We had a nice boat ride to a couple of dive sites.  There were also SCUBA divers with us.  Deb, Heather and I rode out on the front of the boat.  It was beautiful going along the coastline.

It is very pretty along the coastline.

I was really on the boat!!

Our first stop was the Underwater Sculpture Park in Moilinere Bay.  Moilinere Bay suffered considerable storm damage in recent years and the placement of an artificial structure has provided a new base for marine life to proliferate. The sculptures were also designed to create a diversion from  other areas of coral reef currently endangered by overuse from water activities.  Moilinere Bay is now home to sixty-five sculptures, covering an area of 800sq meters. It is located two miles north of the capital St Georges on the west coast of the island, within an area designated a National Marine Park. The bay is enclosed by rock headlands and has a small beach in one corner. Within the Bay the sea ranges in depth from 0- 25m. It can be reached by land, by walking down to Dragon bay and following the beach down in a southerly direction. It is roughly a 10 minute boat ride from St Georges and 15 minutes from Grand Anse (this is the area where we were staying).

One of the "sunbathers" statues.

Snorkeling allows us to see the sculptures from above.  I dove down a few times to get a closer look, but could not stay down for long.  SCUBA would have been a distinct advantage!  The sculptures are quite amazing, but it is a little disconcerting… the sculptures look kind of like bodies that have been preserved after an accident…

Mermaid sculpture.

 The sculptures of this underwater gallery very much reflect Grenada’s culture. Fashioned from a variety of media but predominantly from simple substrates including concrete and rebar, they create an ideal substrate, relatively fixed and permanent, on which marine life may develop. They are sympathetically located to enhance the reef, making natural use of its varied topography of craggy gullies and sun-dappled sandy patches.

Deb, Beth, Domino and Heather snorkeling in the Caribbean!

I was snorkeling, too!

The circle of adults (there is also a circle of children)

 As artificial reefs, these sculptures are proving highly successful so far in attracting a stunning array of varied marine life. In doing so and attracting visitors, they have indeed fulfilled a role in easing the environmental pressure on other reefs in the locality.

A Jesus sculpture that was a gift from Italy.

 A key aspect to the sculptures’ appeal has been the dynamic changes brought about by being exposed to the power of the ocean. Unique natural forces including sea surge, wave action and currents have imposed their own influence and changes on the sculptures.

One of many faces.

Underwater plant life

Domino with an urchin.

Going in for another snorkel trip.

Man at Desk sculpture.

Sea Fans.

Sea urchins.

We returned to the boat and snacked on the local bananas: they are very small and incredibly sweet.  They are allowed to ripen on the plant which is what enhances the sweetness (unlike the bananas we get, that are picked green and gas ripened…).  Then off to our second site at Flamingo Bay.  This dive site is located within the most northern part of Grenada’s Marine Protected Area and is one of the top sites on the island. Ideally suited to divers of all levels the reef is a treasure trove of marine species, including Elkhorn coral and ball, rope and barrel sponges. Fish life includes Spotted Drums, Yellow Tail snapper, Bar jacks, Banded Jaw fish and not infrequently Long Snout sea horse and pipefish.

Wearing my Ecuadorean "Panama" hat!

We saw many pretty fish.

We finally had to head back to Grand Anse Bay and our hotel.  What a nice morning!  But the day wasn’t over yet!  After a shower and lunch, we decided to travel like a local and take the bus to downtown St Georges to go to the open air market!