[slideshow]

On 7/13 the community woke up and one group went to play water polo while the other group went to kayak prep. Then we had chores and then headed off to breakfast. After breakfast we returned as a whole community at our circle and finished up kayak prep.  This led up to lunch time and after lunch time K1 left. About 45 minutes later K2 left to begin their voyage.

K1 paddle for about three hours to reach their camping ground, which was Red Bay. Then we set up camp and prepared for dinner. After learning about the stars and night sky from some of our fellow classmates, we all went straight to sleep.  We started the next day with a lesson on the Lucayan people, which was very appropriate considering we were camping on a Lucayan site!  Soon after, we were on the move again, paddling to Green Castle. We had lunch and then everyone fell asleep on the beach—a much needed rest!  We hung out on the beach for a while before going to a blue hole.  There, we learned about the science of blue holes and mangroves from another group of classmates.  After, we paddled back to Red Bay. As we head back we then notice that this was the last day before ‘solo’. We did a ‘solo’ prep that night after dinner and then we when to bed. Silent was the order of the day, as we got into a circle, which meant that we were ready for our solo. The 24 hours alone made some of us appreciate everything we hadn’t before. One by one we were picked up for our ‘solo’, returned to the circle and finally allowed to speak again. After a quick lesson on plastic and the environment, we paddled back to campus. We were welcome back into the community with smiles and cheers.  We made it back in time for a hot lunch! Continuing this long day, we cleaned up all the kayaks, group gear, and personal items.

About 45 minutes after K1 left K2 started to pack up their last belongings and left for Broad Bay. We paddled north for about two and a half hours before we finally reached Broad Bay. Once we landed our kayaks at the campsite we unpacked all of our things and started to put up our tents. Once our tents were up we started making our fire and cooked pasta. Food always tastes better when you have to work for it. After we ate our food and made some s’mores, we headed off to bed around ten o’ clock. We woke up the next day and did a little brief on how the day would go then we started morning exercise. Morning exercise was running down the beach a little ways, and then we snorkeled around a blue hole. Immediately when we arrived at the blue hole we saw a sea turtle that wasn’t as excited as we were to see it. Then after about five minutes of snorkeling we saw two nurse sharks, two beautiful lionfish, and a spotted eagle ray. These aren’t sites that you see everyday! When we arrived back at our campsite we ate a little breakfast of granola and soymilk. Then we packed up the things we would need for the day and headed about two miles north along the coast to eat lunch. Since the winds were strong it took us about two and a half hours to kayak this. When we landed at our lunch site we unpacked our lunch and had peanut butter and jelly. When everybody was finished eating we took a nice one hour nap. Then when everyone’s food coma was gone we searched the coast for plastic, and we found a lot of it, which saved many sea animals. After picking up plastic on the shore we left to head back to our campsite. When we got back to our campsite we started to make dinner which was pasta and tomato sauce. After dinner we had a little history lesson taught by some of the students on the Lucayans. After this lesson it was time for the night sky team to point out some constellations to the rest of the students. We also played a few games based on stars and planets. After all this fun we headed off to bed because the next day was our solo. When we woke up the next day we had a solo prep and then ate breakfast. After breakfast we made our vow of silence, and then we headed off to where we would be staying for the next 24 hours. When we arrived at our destinations we set up our individual campsites and then it immediately started raining. During our solos the students did various activities stretching from sleeping for 24 hours to writing poems and making sand castles. This was really a time for us all to set goals and get to know who we really are. Once our solos were finished the next day we rejoined as a group and we gave each other hugs and were finally able to talk to each other again. Just looking back three weeks ago we would barely talk to each other, but now we are sad if we are even away from each other for 24 hours. Then we talked about our individual experiences and ate breakfast. Once we packed everything up and were ready to leave the campsite we put our kayaks in the water. It took us about 2 hours to get back to the Island School and we met our other ten classmates at lunch. When we got back we had a lot of work breaking down all of our gear and cleaning up all the kayaks. This led us all the way up to dinner, and after dinner we had a night class. In the night class we watched Food Inc. and we learned how animals are being treated as food and not as actual animals. After Food inc. we went to bed.

-Tamanji (K1) and Taylor (K2)