By Calvin Clapp

Here in South Eleuthera, the past couple weeks have been somewhat of a blur. Whether the blame falls upon camping trips, scuba diving or research, there is no doubt that we have been fully engaged in life on the island. Last weekend, the interns organized a small camping trip to Surfer’s Beach. So we started bussin’ it down the island, making any of the necessary stops to make it a proper camping experience. After sharing stories and laughs, with the fire simmering down, we all headed to bed ready for a fun-filled day of aquatic activities. The last minute decision to camp was not regretted by anyone.

With drowsy eyes and with a trailing stench of campfire, we rolled back to campus ready to take on a couple days of learning in the field with our respective research groups. We soon realized that our recent camping trip was only a pre-game for our exclusive DIT (Down Island Trip) for the gaps and our leader, Scotty.

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This served as a great opportunity to explore and experience almost every corner of the long island of Eleuthera. We stopped at two neighboring islands – Harbour Island and Spanish Wells. Setting up camp at the history-rich Preacher’s Cave as well as on the soft beaches of a former Navy Base under the stars proved to be a great team-building experience. From trekking through vast banana farms to exploring cavernous underground cave systems, it felt like we did it all.

Here we are again, rolling back to campus tired, dirty, and smelly, ready to take on whatever is on the horizon — our 6-day kayak trip is but a few days away.

A restful weekend allowed us to recharge our batteries and prepare for the week ahead. After completing a series of dives we are now Advanced Open Water Divers. The deep, naturalist, navigation, and night dive allowed us to put another set of underwater adventures under our belt.

On to the next one!