Today was a very long day...in a good way. We were set to leave this morning a little later than planned but we made it work. We jumped on a boat that was set to pick us up from our hotel and drove a short way down the beach so we could meet up with Rondell, the captain of our riverboat tour. We met up with Rondell and headed walked a short distance to where his boat was. His glass bottom boat. Normally I would not allow myself to be put into water with something as dangerous sounding as a glass bottom boat but it was interesting to see the ocean from a different perspective. We headed up the river quite a ways and went to the Royal Palm Reserve which is pretty much a National Park type of thing. We had to walk about a mile down a dirt road but we made it somehow : ). Once we were there we were taken down wooden walkways around the park. We learned about the animal life that lived in the reserve and many of the plants. It was really cool being able to see such lush plant life in such a small area because it's very different from the hardwoods back home. At the reserve we were able to see a crocodile, or we attempted to see him but he wasn't so happy about that. We went back to the boat and all of the sudden a man started yelling to Rondell to stop so Rondell pulled up on the shore. At the time it seemed like a really bad idea just because almost all of us were very hungry and just wanted to get outta the boat. But a couple of us went ashore anyway and found out that the man, Norman Scarlett, was a coconut farmer and he was just going to show us around. We were all in flip flops so we couldn't go to far in all the brush but when we got to a tree he showed us how it was done. He took his maceti and started chopping down coconuts. After he was done they chopped off the tops and had us drink the water that is inside of the coconuts and it actually was not bad at all. It tasted just like water but there was an extra little zip to it. He also chopped one down that could be eaten because the insides of the ones with water are just hollow. So after that experience we came back to the hotel and had lunch. Our group split up after that and some people went snorkeling and some went shopping. I decided to go snorkeling. In one of my earlier posts I said that I wanted to defy one of my fears, well today was that day. I am afraid of the ocean and before we left I had told everyone that they would not get me to snorkel. I decided today that if I wanted to make the most of this experience I would have to snorkel. I have to say though that I was terrified the entire time I was in the water. Rondell and one of his crew members were nice enough to come in the water to make me a little more comfortable. Rondell took me in and helped me around and showed me a lot of plants and fish. I think my favorite one was the sea cucumber just because it is so weird looking. We swam around there for about 30 minutes and then hopped back on the boat to go back to the hotel. When we got back we all got ready and went out to eat at Cosmos where Nicole said there was excellent lobster. I decided to just get the fried fish but I was able to try the lobster and it was indeed amazing. I have fallen in love with some of the food here. There is some vegetable thing here that tastes a lot like coleslaw but it is so much better. I also have fallen in love with the bread because it's so rich and filling that you can eat it as a meal itself. Well I"m really tired now and we have to be outta here by 6 a.m. tomorrow to make it to the tech college in Seaford town. Until then : )
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