Island Times Blog

Day 2 / June 17 – Day 2 was another fun- and learning-filled day. Early morning our taxi driver, Jermaine – aka “Mr. Reliable,” gave us a history lesson on the island of St. Thomas as he drove us to the Red Hook ferry dock. We hopped on the ferry and arrived in Cruz Bay, St. John. There we looked around the Virgin Islands National Park Visitor’s Center, enjoyed refreshing tropical fruit smoothies, and broke up into groups to complete a cultural scavenger hunt! With the items we learned about and gathered on our scavenger hunt, we enjoyed a traditional West Indian lunch and sampled a variety of local food/drink products, discussing their origins and importance. The owner of the smoothie stand (Thomas, Our Market Smoothies) shared stories with us and posed for a picture. Later in the afternoon, we drove along the North Road and enjoyed some spectacular views and stopped at Maho Beach for a swim. We continued on to tour the Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins and discussed the different historical periods of the Virgin Islands. Then it was time to check in to our new home at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station (VIERS) and enjoy some dinner. After dinner, we reviewed the students’ prep packet work/videos and had an interesting discussion about the challenges to conserving natural resources. Ok, time to run….more adventures await the FATHOMS crew!!!