A couple hours later, our teacher arrived and we were
given a short briefing by the Forfar staff.
The briefing included two main points:
1) Don't flush anything that didn't come from your body
down the toilet. Ever. But don't worry, there is a tool by the toilet
that you can use to scoop it out if you forget.
2) There is not enough water for everyone so you get to take
a "two-burst" shower, meaning you turn on the water to get wet,
turn it off again immediately, soap up,
and turn the water on one more time to rinse.
Good thing most people weren't too worried
about staying clean.
After the meeting, we moved our stuff into the cabins.
Here is #4, the best cabin ever,
complete with 8 beds and 1 bathroom.
given a short briefing by the Forfar staff.
The briefing included two main points:
1) Don't flush anything that didn't come from your body
down the toilet. Ever. But don't worry, there is a tool by the toilet
that you can use to scoop it out if you forget.
2) There is not enough water for everyone so you get to take
a "two-burst" shower, meaning you turn on the water to get wet,
turn it off again immediately, soap up,
and turn the water on one more time to rinse.
Good thing most people weren't too worried
about staying clean.
After the meeting, we moved our stuff into the cabins.
Here is #4, the best cabin ever,
complete with 8 beds and 1 bathroom.
And here are my awesome cabin mates.
After we had unpacked, we set off to startour exploration of the island's geology.
The Bahamas platform is essntially 100% calcium carbonate
in one form or another.
Because of this, the exposed rock easily dissolves in freshwater
causing the land to be covered in holes.
The holes can be small:
Or much larger:
The forests are full of them, and many connect below the surface,
so you can travel from one to the next through underground tunnels.
We walked around in the woods for a while,
exploring banana holes (the locals will often plant bananas in the holes
because they are full of organic matter)
and talking about when and how they formed.
After the walk through the forest, we visited a blue hole.
Blue holes are also formed by the dissolution of CaCO3,
but they are later filled with water, typically fresh water overlaying
salt water. Most of them are tidally influenced.
This particular blue hole was named "Charlie's Blue Hole"
after the unfortunate fellow who drowned there
(Quite a few blue holes are named after people who drowned in them)
Cave diving, one of the most dangerous sports in the world,
is a common on Andos and blue holes are a popular starting point.
(Divers will often try to make their way through the cave system
that connects the blue hole with the ocean... sometimes,
like in Charlie's case, it turns out not to be such a good idea)
After a quick dip with Charlie, we headed back to Forfar for dinner.
Day two coming up...
The Bahamas platform is essntially 100% calcium carbonate
in one form or another.
Because of this, the exposed rock easily dissolves in freshwater
causing the land to be covered in holes.
The holes can be small:
Or much larger:
The forests are full of them, and many connect below the surface,so you can travel from one to the next through underground tunnels.
We walked around in the woods for a while,exploring banana holes (the locals will often plant bananas in the holes
because they are full of organic matter)
and talking about when and how they formed.
After the walk through the forest, we visited a blue hole.Blue holes are also formed by the dissolution of CaCO3,
but they are later filled with water, typically fresh water overlaying
salt water. Most of them are tidally influenced.
This particular blue hole was named "Charlie's Blue Hole"after the unfortunate fellow who drowned there
(Quite a few blue holes are named after people who drowned in them)
Cave diving, one of the most dangerous sports in the world,is a common on Andos and blue holes are a popular starting point.
(Divers will often try to make their way through the cave system
that connects the blue hole with the ocean... sometimes,
like in Charlie's case, it turns out not to be such a good idea)
After a quick dip with Charlie, we headed back to Forfar for dinner.Day two coming up...
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