Travel Journal
barbados day nine:
the tortoises and the mules

The ninth installment in a journal of the Muhlenberg field hockey team’s trip to Barbados by senior Jess Kasza:

Hello everyone! Today was a pretty relaxed yet tiresome day. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we got to see turtles, shipwrecks and more of the beautiful island! I had a rough afternoon and because of that some of my teammates are helping me out with the writing this evening. So thank you to those who filled in writing and thanks to everyone who continues to read about our trip!

This is Courtney DeAngelis stepping in tonight; Jess had a rough day (details to come later in this entry) and is getting an early night’s sleep, so I’ll do my best to fill her shoes.

Breakfast today was, once again, served at an ungodly hour (7:15 a.m.), as we had to leave by 8:30 for our catamaran cruise. It’s tough to be on vacation, I know, and despite being tired from the long, previous day, we all perked up rather quickly and were ready to go for another great day.

Our boat was named Jammin’ and appropriately so - the crew was a lot of fun and spent a great deal of their time dancing around the deck to the lively Bajan music. About a half hour after setting sail, the boat stopped and we all got off to snorkel. This was my first time snorkeling, and once I got past my fear of the fish touching me, I was swimming around like a fish myself and really enjoyed the experience.

The crew came out with us and guided us toward a spot full of sea turtles, which a few of the girls got to touch; even after getting over my fear, I still lacked the burning desire to touch any sea creatures that my teammates all seemed to share, but from what I heard their encounter with the turtles was pretty cool.

We were then called back on board and sailed to another area, where we got off again to snorkel. This time, however, the vibrantly colored fish and the turtles went unnoticed, as we got to see a shipwreck. Our student coach, Lamar Long, even ventured down to the wreck and sat on the deck with a few of the crew members. Needless to say, it was definitely not something you get to see every day, and it was rather incredible in my opinion.

Once we returned to Jammin’ again, the water started to get a bit rough and we had a few Mules down because of motion sickness. Fortunately for them, we did eventually stop at a beach, and lunch was served at this time. We were able to get out and swim, float on rafts and/or jet ski; this is where Jess’ day started to take an unfortunate turn. While jet skiing, Renee Norton and Jess hit a wave that sent them flying off, and Jess hurt her ankle. Renee drove them back and the crew helped Jess back on to the boat to care for ankle.

She, of course, was a soldier about the experience and spent the remainder of our excursion resting with her leg propped up and without any complaints.

Following lunch and more time in the water, the captain warned us to find a place to sit on the boat since it was going to be a little windy on the ride home. Now, without sounding dramatic, “a little windy” was a bit of an understatement, as the wind and rough waves rocked the boat the entire way back and we hit a bad thunderstorm. Most of us moved underneath to find shelter from the rain, but the crew helped to keep spirits high by entertaining us all with their impressive singing and dancing talents. The captain even made a “bonus stop” once the storm passed and we were close to shore, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Everyone was doing all sorts of flips/dives/failed-flips-which-became-belly-flops off the deck and into the water, and some of us (myself included) were dangled off the side of the deck for some time before being thrown into the water by the crew.

All in all, the cruise lived up to all of its expectations in spite of the weather. We returned to the hotel around 3 p.m. and I think it’s fair to say that everyone was asleep within five minutes of entering their rooms and their heads hitting the pillows.

We had the rest of the day to ourselves to do what we wanted, so we naturally slept and then ventured out of the hotel for dinner and ice cream. We leave at noon tomorrow (I still haven’t actually accepted this fact yet), so most of us decided to hang in and pack tonight so we can spend our final hours on the beach tomorrow.

It’s hard to believe the trip is nearing its end but I am sure we will enjoy our last day together!