Relishing in the Final Moments (Day 10: January 22nd)

It's 5:30 am and our crew is already up and getting ready to depart for the airport in Central Andros. Many of us are extremely tired since we spend the whole night up talking and trying to live these final moments together to the fullest. A couple others have had some sleep but for the most part, we are all pretty tired.


Our guide, Ken who has turned into a great friend or brother, is outside waiting for us to hop into the van. It takes us about an hour to reach the airport in Central Andros. It's the smallest airport that most of us have ever seen.

We check our luggage in and soon find out that we will not all be able to fit into the same plane. The first plane can only fit a maximum of 14 people, so 4 of us have to stay behind with Ken. The flight to Nassau is quite short--approximately 20 minutes. Again, this is the shortest flight most of us have ever been on. The four friends left behind arrive to Nassau about 30 minutes later. They spent the time between flights talking to Ken. We're really going to miss him.

Our next step is to find the bus that will take us to our hotel. It's a little late but we eventually get our ride. As soon as we reach the hotel, we unload the van, place our suitcases in the hotel lobby and hurry over to the American Embassy.

At the Embassy, we go through about 3 security checkpoints. Next, an escort takes us up to the conference room where we listen to a very interesting presentation of the embassy's work in the Bahamas. The presentation definitely stirs up some interesting conversation.

For lunch, we head over to Subway and once that's done, its' free time. One group of us goes the beach, another goes para-sailing and jet-skiing, some shop while others stay back and nap.

Dinner that evening at the Fish Fry, a row of local restaurants, the one we go to is called Twin Brothers (Ken's recommendation!). We order our meals but end up waiting for about 45 minutes for the meals to come. However, as good things come to those who wait, we are not disappointed. The food is delicious and we get to finish it off with a birthday cake for Camille.

Our bus takes us back to the hotel. We have our last reflection and then start writing this blog. In all, the last day was spent relishing the final moments.







Manka and Panos

Day of the Endless Van Escapade (Day 9: January 21st)

Day started off without a bang. We began with a quest to find paint and wood to make signs for blue hole-seekers. Of course, NO wood or paint was to be found, se Ken found some wood from a "cuz" of his.

We then had the pleasure of visiting the Androsia factory where Batik fabric is made. Many of us bought some wearable souvenirs. Then, back in Stanyard Creek, we divided into groups. Some picked up trash around our villas, some chopped firewood for our bonfire-to-be, and others painted the signs.

Next began the endless van excursion. WE hung siggs up at their respective blue holes. Then we headed to Morgan's Bluff which is the highest point on Andros; it has an amazing view and is where pirates used to raid ships that crashed into it.









We then drove to Red Bays to watch the sunset. We were told that watching the sun set over the Ocean on the shore of Andros island was infamous. After the beautiful sunset, we started our journey back home to Stanyard Creek. '









Burritos were made late at night for dinner and after washing 350 dirty dishes, we marched to the beach for a bonfire. Although there were many ants and insects, the night was fun. We played Mafia around the warmth of the fire, roasted several marshmallows, and shared stories reflecting change among the group and ourselves.

Looking back at the start of the trip, today is the day we realized how valuable these new friendships have become.

Matt and Dillon

Touch-ups and Blindfolds (Day 8: January 20th)

Approximately 1 week before arriving in Nassau, a group of students from Rockhurst University had been engaged in community service as part of their alternative break trip. They had come to Andros and had worked on clearing a trail around the blue hole "Hubcap." Today, Ken our guide decided to take us to Hubcap so we could see the work that had been done there and remove some of the remaining stumps from along the trail.

The Rockhurst students had done a great job with the trail. The trail was clear with the exception of a few stumps and the tall trees on the sides of the trail provided shade to those of us walking. Visiting the Hubcap helped us understand the importance of what were were doing on Andros--creating trails and paths to that people could come to enjoy the beauty of the blue holes but doing so in an environmentally friendly manner.

We didn't stay at Hubcap for long though. After about 45 minutes, we drove over to Rainbow to finish off the work there. Our work there didn't last long either. We were done in about 30 minutes. As a group, were were extremely proud of the work we had done at Rainbow blue hole. Despite all the sweat, bug bites, and one extreme case of poison wood that had come with creating the trail, we all experienced a great sense of satisfaction from our work.

Lunch was eaten at home. Our lovely chefs (aka our fellow teammates) prepared pasta salad with chicken which we happily devoured. When lunch ended, we all moved over to Colors (a beach house) where a marine scientist, Ian gave us a presentation on Bahamian history as well as his work on Andros with the organization Green Force.

The presentation was very educative and interesting and not only gave us info on general facts about the Bahamas but also gave us insight into the lives of Androsians.

Free time came after the talk. A couple of us wen tot he the beach while others wen tot take showers.

Dinner that evening was served a local restaurant called Cinderella's. (It rained on the way there, but stopped by the time we arrived.) we had conch, fried grouper, rice and cole slaw. The grouper was amazing!

After dinner, we returned to the cabins for reflection and some team building exercises. In the first exercise we all formed a circle with our hands placed on the shoulders of the person in front of us. The goal of the exercise was to have every person sit on the legs of the person behind them without clinging to a pole or touching the ground for support. The first attempt was a failure but after some great coaching from some of the team-members we succeeded.

In the next exercise, we all put blindfolds on an stood in a single line. The person at the front of the line had their blindfold removed. This person had to lead the group from the cabin to the beach ensuring that members did not hit a stone, fall into a pot hoe, or injure themselves. Once again, this was not an easy task, but we go there. And there, waiting for us at the beach, were two cold pails of ice cream.

Manka and Phillip

Rainbows and Spaghetti (Day 7: January 19th)

Today, we finished forging an entire path around Rainbow Blue Hole after two days of work there. Hopefully the work we did will allow researchers to collect data more easily and allow eco-minded tourists to enjoy the blue hole's beauty.

Also, Rachel has tried to get us to eat left-over spaghetti from Sunday for every meal for the past two days by proudly displaying it next to the fresh food on the table. Not okay. It didn't go over well.

In the afternoon, we visited a resort on Andros, quite different than the eco-lodge we visited early in the week. It featured non-native coconut trees along its pristine paths and on our boat ride to and from the island, we saw the dredging that was going on to allow for more development.

After dinner, we had a great presentation from Prescott Smith, a local activist and fisherman who has done a lot of work to keep Andros from becoming the tourist mecca that Nassau has become. He has appealed to big companies like Lockheed Martin and to the Bahamian Parliament to stop operations bad for the environment and to promote sustainable development.

Awesome day, can't wait to be in the van again.

Stefan and Camille

Clearing the Way (Day 6: January 18th)

After traversing a mile of rugged and winding trails we arrived at Rainbow Blue hole with Ken to begin a day's hard work. Our task was to cut a trail around the entire blue hole. Within minutes the thumping sounds of machetes rang throughout the bush. The smell of honest sweat mingled in the air with the earthy vapors of freshly felled trees.

A slow start soon gave way to rapid progress as our two teams forced their way ever deeper in to the forest on either side of the the blue hole. After several hours of hard work we trekked back to the van to return to Staniard Creek Primary school.


At the school, we split up into groups to discuss with the children who we were and why it was that a bunch of college kids from the United States were on their island. We found that the kids at the primary school were very aware of the unique beauty of their island and would never want Andros to turn into another Nassau. After our discussion with the children we played passionate games of Heads-up Seven-up, and Simon Says where Brad refused to succumb to the trickery. We then departed from the school to give the children of the island a valuable lesson of environmental friendliness.



After meeting with the students we began service at the beach right outside Mr. Johnson's cottages. We split into two groups, one picking up trash while the other improved trails and removed invasive plants along the beach. As we worked, the children from the school rode over on their bikes to check out the commotion. David, "kitchen", and "bobo monkey" along with many of their friends helped us by walking along the beach and picking up trash. We rewarded our dedicated helpers with chocolate bars and made sure all the wrappers were thrown away.

The birthday boy Shane cooked up a delicious meal of jambalaya that we all enjoyed. After the birthday festivities, we each drew a picture representing our service for the day.

Meanwhile, Kaitlin, Ken, and Lizeth were out on a mission to clear up at the local clinic. After a long and exhausting day, our wounded warrior returned with new medication and was eager to get right into service the next day.




Brad and Shane

Looking Forward (Day 5: January 17th)

We woke up today to to go to a local church, Wesley Methodist Church. The church itself was very rural, simple, and over a 100 years old. We all sang some hymns together and 3 girls from the church got up to sing on their own.

A visiting pastor gave a sermon about being patient with your current situation and working towards the future without worrying about the past. After church, we were welcomed to their luncheon, and had ham, rice and pigeon peas, macaroni and cheese, and bread pudding.

Afterwards, we cut down tress and brush with our machetes in the are we're staying to open up public access to the beach and limit the growth of invasive species. The kids came down to help us pick up trash under the brush. We also saw which of our guys could chop down the largest pine trees first--Panos won.

Originally, we were going to go to Cinderella's for dinner, but our plans changed so we had pasta for dinner instead. Only we used 8 boxes and way too much with plenty of leftovers--pasta was literally falling out of the bowls. Later that night we went to Colors, a local beach-house/restaurant and had reflection based around the sermon at church. Afterwards we made s'mores, walked on the beach, then went back to the house after an eventful day.

Katlin and Shane

An Untouched Blue Hole (Day 4: January 16th)

Today we woke up around eight to drive to another blue hole. We were split into two teams: one team cleared the entrance and the other team cleared all the trees around the blue hole. It was the first time we really had to use the machetes-and it's hard work! We also had to pull up all the ground plants while the sun was beating down on us. It was awesome, though, to see how all our work had made a great trail to and around the blue hole. They plan to put benches on the trail and a sign that the University of Maryland helped build it.

After that, we took a long van ride to another beach. We found an area where you could walk halfway into the ocean in only a couple inches of water! The Bahamas are so unique in that they are surrounded by more shallow water than anywhere else on earth. You could find conchs, hermit crabs, blue crabs,and other interesting wildlife.

Then we went to Stafford Creek Eco-Lodge, stopping for popsicles on the way. We took a tour of the lodge and saw how the owner built a resort out of all natural materials. The view from the deck was breathtaking and relaxing. After our long day, we went home, had dinner, and did a short reflection. Each person shared something new they did that day, a challenge, and their favorite part of the day.

We then left for Ken's house to watch the end of the Ravens' game. We played games, learned some Bahamian dance moves, and walked on the beach. It was a long, tiring day but we had fun together and had a very rewarding experience on the trail!

Jessica and Camille

Island Hopping! Nassau to Andros (Day 3: January 15th)

-Woke up early in Nassau to catch our ferry to Andros at 8am

-Very pleasant ride- the sun was shining and keeping us warm while we continued to play ice-breakers, bond and take lots of pictures

-Pulling into the port, we were all so excited about the crystal clear water--we could see the bottom of the sea floor! We even spotted a flock of sting rays soaring along!

-Arrived at Stanyard Creek and got settled into our cozy cabins, then explored the area. The beach was so beautiful! No one else around on the entire stretch... except for a few friendly stray dogs who really wanted to play with us.

-Ken, our guide from the Bahamas National Trust, picked us up and we had a bumpy ride to Captain Bill's to clean some trails. We got to learn a lot about the vegetation--it was so awesome to see the different plants. (But the poison wood was hard to differentiate!)

-Ken talked about how "the Americans can just go to the pharmacies and pick something up while the Bahamians come out and pick leaves to boil for medicinal uses." Talk about a thought-provoking statement.

-We also go to use machetes to cut the weeks out of trail they were heavy and quite effective.

-After we got familiar with the woods and the machetes we went to the actual Blue Hole and it was so pretty!

-We got to jump off of a 15-foot doc

k into the brackish water. the water was so refreshing. We learned that the blue hole was connected to the ocean thru a series of deep caves, making it a hot spot for scuba divers.

-We had our first dinner in the BERC of flat-bread pizzas then had a discussion comparing Andros to Nassau based on our first impressions.

-After reflection, we got to play with the locals at the basketball court. They were so welcoming and patient. The little kids even joined

in.

-It was great to see everyone so interested and open to learning--we taught some how to play soccer.

-Overall, it was an incredible 1st day on Andros, we can already tell we're going to love it here!

Ali and Susan

Cleaning-Up with Rockhurst (Day 2: January 14th)

After arriving in Nassau, The Bahamas yesterday, we learned about the city where we would be making a difference. Today we cleaned up trash from a Bonefish Pond National Park with the Bahamas National Trust. We worked with students from Rockhurst University to clean up the entrance and surrounding areas. While cleaning we encountered several creepy crawlers!! These such creatures included a giant snake and many cockroaches. One of the Maryland students, Phil had an up-close-and-personal encounter with one of the cockroaches. It seems we made some new friends! :)

Once we had cleared the majority of the trash, we walked the newly constructed boardwalk that led to the mangrove trees that line the coast. Casper, our friendly BNT hook-up, enjoyed watching us pick up trash, and offered valuable insights into the ways of Bahamian trash disposal. One thing we learned from Casper was that recycling is not practiced in the Bahamas currently. To have materials recycled, they have to be shipped to the U.S.


After picking up trash, Valdez took us to visit and talk with students from the College of the Bahamas. This offered valuable insight into how they live their lives and highlighted the similarities between our two groups. We showered and Rockhurst College came with us.

For dinner we went to the Green Parrot, which overlooks Paradise Island. It was a great time and we got to learn a lot about each other. From this night we learned how to budget our money, since we couldn't eat anything over $8. While tiring, the day was a success and we are looking forward to the following week in Andros.

Grace and Abbie

Off to Nassau... (Day 1: January 13th)

After staying up all night stuffing food to bring to Andros into our luggage at Rachel's house, we woke up (well, some of us were woken up) before the sun rose to stuff ourselves into the vans heading to Reagan airport. We all arrived safely in Nassau before lunch. (Except for the peanut butter and chili that didn't make it through security.)

We went out to lunch at Conch Fritters and many of us had our first taste of conch. After settling into Towne Hotel, (which has a friendly parrot in the lobby) we had a private safety briefing on the sun deck with two police officers dressed in their handsome British-inspired uniforms and we met the famous Valdez, our contact at the College of the Bahamas who helped coordinate our trip.

Then we went on a walking tour of Nassau with Wanida our tourguide/police woman. (She flashed her badge a couple of times at passerbys.) With her as our animated leader, we were invited into several government buildings and some of us broke records for the number of pictures taken.

After discussing the local spots with Sean, a 12-year-old baseball player outside a church across the street from our hotel, we all split up for a little. Some went to the pirate museum, others went home to shower, and the rest went on a photo shoot by the docks.

Before dinner, we met by the pool in the courtyard and discussed our observations about tourism in Nassau and the hospitality and friendliness we encountered. We started to try to guess what it would be like to grow up in a town where you are constantly playing "host" for countless tourists each day.

Dinner was difficult, as we discovered that most Nassau restaurants only stay open for cruise ship hours. After what seemed like hours of walking around looking for a place to eat, we had to settle for Dunkin Dounuts Sandwiches and Imperial Take-Out "chicken in a bag."

It was an exhausting but fun day. It was great to begin to get to know everyone on the trip and we got our first taste of The Bahamas.

Rachel and Katlin