We went to see some iguanas yestrday. They were big. We fed them Cheeze-its and bits of apple with our freinds on Starry Night. Then we dived on a wreck and I killed a lionfish. My dad killed three and one had its tail bitten clean off by a moray eel. When we got to Staniel cay we saw some huge dog fish and went snorkiling in this cool natural cave.
Browsing Posts published by Jasper
We are in the Bahamas and, breaking news, there is another kid boat! this brings us up to a startling total of…3. Anyway my father wants to check out every wreck we pass. We checked out a plane wreck and we mistook it for a strange rock. Luckily, we’re coming home in 30 days. I miss the States. This morning we went to a grocery store and they had 1 loaf of moldy bread 7 cans of soda and a can of chef Boyardee spagetti and meatballs cost 6 dollars. The Bahamians like their music REALLY loud.
Right now, we are in Culebra, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico. Nothing much is happening. We’re just hanging out and swimming, snorkiling, and having fun in the sun. We are going to have a 3 day over night passage in a few days, from Culebra to Turks and Caicos or, as I think of them, turkey and cake flavored Cherios.
Right now, we are in St. Marten, a french island. So, we have good bread and, hallalulia, internet. Also, we have friends with kids. One night, we went with our friends to the weekly Tuesday night thingamajig. We went to cafe Palmos for dinner, had a paper airplane contest, did a lot of acrobatics, and eventually ended up spying on our parents. After we were captured, we headed back down the road to get to their rental car. When we were about half way there, we started hearing the hooters and honkers as I call them. So, here come these women, with not much more then colorful bras and underwear on, parading down the street and shaking their butts. When we finaly got to the car, it was pouring. So we used the old pile in method from the old days.
We got up early this morning to go zip-lining. When we got there, we bought our tickets and sat down to wait. A few minutes later, the 9:15 tour group started coming down the “Screamer”. About half way through, a little girl went down and something white fell off her foot. Now, if your shoe falls of 75 feet above the jungle , you can’t just reach down and pick it up. Obviously, the girl knew this, so she started crying and sobbing. A little while later, after we had all tightned our shoes, it was our group’s turn. On the first zip-line a woman stepped up to the platform and didn’t move. After a little coaxing, the woman slowly lifted her feet and started going down. Now, these zip- lines aren’t very steep so if you don’t go fast enough you wind up in the middle. And that’s just what happened. So, the workers told her to pull herself backwards hand over hand. After we finished zipping, my family and I decided to go on the advanced ropes course. About half-way through, when I was way ahead of my family, I saw something white on one of the platforms. It was a shoe!!! So I picked it up and guess what it said on the sole in big capital letters: GULLIBLE.
Yesterday we went to Carnival opening. The only reason I agreed to go is beacause all these big events are one big advertisement and sometimes they give away free stuff! So, we kept asking around and we eventually ended up on some steps downtown. Fifteen minutes later, a dog walked up and lay down by the steps. But, before you hear that story, you have to hear this story…
We had just pulled into Dominica, and we had to go to customs. Unfortunately, I had to come along. After about 15 minutes, my sister said, “Mama, there’s a dog following us,”. And sure enough, there was a little tan dog with big ears, which looked like it had puppies or was going to have puppies. A few minutes later, we passed a bar with two dogs outside. We all looked back, and sure enough, there was the dog. The two dogs went over to sniff it, and we thought we’d lost it for sure. But a minute later, who came into view, but the dog. Thirty minutes later, when we walked into customs, the dog was right behind us. When we went inside, it sat down on the steps to wait. We saw our friends from Scott-free who we met on a river tour with our guide. After we told them about he dog, they left, and the dog got up to follow them. At the gate, the dog paused and looked back at us for a few seconds, before running after them.
Now, back to the present. Right down to the Chinese-like markings on its collar, it was the same dog! After a while, my dad decided to go get fried chicken, and he asked us if we wanted some. While we were eating our chicken, four dogs came up and parked themselves by the first one. Later, we heard some loud music and saw a truck inching its way toward us. Then, when it was about twenty-five yards away, it stopped. Thirty minutes later, some people in costumes with plastic strips glued all over and fright masks, started parading down the street. After these people, who I have nick-named the evil chickens, had walked down the street a couple of times, my dad and I decided to go down and see what was the hold-up. Nothing much was happening. There were some people drinking beer and sitting around.
When we came back, a lady had taken my spot and my dad asked, “Hey, do you know what the hold-up is?” She said, “Oh, they’re just setting up for the parade. It takes a while.” And sure enough, thirty minutes later, the truck started moving again. Let me tell you, it was loud! If I didn’t have my ears plugged, I’d be deaf by sixteen! I also know why Portland has an open container law. People were drinking rum straight from the bottle and getting refills from people in the trucks.
Now, my dad had had enough of waiting, so he said it was time to go. When we were walking back to the boat, a few trucks were giving away stuff. I got a hot pink blackberry shopping bag and three pieces of candy, but I ate them.
Right now we’re in Les Saints, a few small islands near Guadaloupe. One day, my father, the hiking maniac, decided that, surprise, surprise, we all had to go on a hike to Fort Napolean. Well I’ve never seen a castle, but if I had, it would look like that. It had a draw bridge and everything! Archery slits, check, moat, check, cannons, check, dragons, check. Unfortunatly, the moat was dried up and the dragons were iguanas. But anyway, it was cool.
5. my mom bargaining with a guy selling jewelry on the beach. (true)
4. having your friend’s dog pee on the dock (true)
3. going to Devil’s Bay and having a huge wave wash away tourists: camras, towels , snokels, and even 1 lady’s bathing suit bottom (true)
2. rub a dub dub 2 men 1 women and a dog in a 5 foot wooden dinghy without an engine (true) (they had 2 oars and a kayack paddle)
1. watching an old man in a 5 foot wooden dinghy with one oar pass them (true)
The weirdest thing of all: seeing a naked couple on the beach!!! I was dropping my dad off to go on a hike in the dinghy. We were looking for a place to land when a guy walks down to the water to wash off his feet. At first I thought he was wearing a flesh colored bathing suit, but then I saw this thing hanging down… so I looked at my dad and he looked at me and said, “Let’s go a little farther down”. But when we drove past we saw a woman under an umbrella with the guy next to her. True story no lie!!
The Christmas winds have been making themselves a nuisance lately, so we have not only been in St. Martin longer than John would like, but we’ve been unable to really dinghy anywhere for a good explore. So a couple of days ago, we took the “bus” (sort of a van) over to another bay reputed to have a good beach. Crew from Starbound joined us and we spent a couple of pleasant hours watching the kids play and eating snacks.
John made a point of taking Jasper for a walk down the beach. The attraction? Topless ladies in all their glory. The fact that my son claims he is bored here, is a telling indicator of his maturity level, indeed.
We were not in any particular rush to hoof it back to the bus, when we were startled by a woman tossing a bag of garbage out of her upper floor window onto the beach, not twenty feet from us. It looked, mostly, like her used toilet tissue. John’s memorable summation of our mutual reaction – “When people start to throw garbage at you, you know it’s time to leave the beach!” Welcome to the third world.
A few days ago my dad took me paddle boarding on a reef with waves that broke so I was on the paddle board holding on to a rope while he was up in the dingy driving toward the waves trying to get me to surf but if he got too near the it I let go.
