Pacific (Kaleigh)

Hi!

I may have mentioned that Pohnpei is kind of a boring place… well, the massive Pacific Ocean that surrounds it most certainly is NOT boring. We almost died today and I am not exaggerating. Lois’ husband, Konrad, took us to Ant Atoll (an outer island about 25 miles from Pohnpei) on his small fishing boat. On our way to Ant Atoll, we did some snorkeling first. It was the most impressive coral reef. I cannot even describe it. This is one of the best places in the world for seeing such sights and now I know why. It was just tons and tons of coral reef (a wall) that spans an entire island. Kim took some underwater pictures, so hopefully I will steal some from her eventually. Alyssa saw a couple of reef sharks (Konrad said we probably would), but I didn’t see them... they were far below us.

We arrived at Ant Atoll, an uninhabited island, and it is exactly what people picture when you think of deserted tropical island… turquoise waters, sandy beach, palm trees. It was incredible and untouched. The only animals on the island are things like birds, salamanders, and lots and lots of hermit crabs. We ate lunch there (pasta salad with mangrove crab, basil spaghetti, boiled eggs, and pineapple) and then napped under some trees. We also did a little bit of snorkeling, but there wasn’t a whole lot to see except crystal clear water and sand. However, we did see a little coral reef with an eel in it. Supposedly there are a lot of stingrays where we were, but we didn’t see any.

Then it was time to head back to Pohnpei. We were in unprotected waters and the wind was extremely strong and we encountered choppy 6 foot waves. The boat got airtime more times than makes on comfortable and it started pouring. At first we thought it was fun, and then it started getting scary. It just got worse and worse. Eventually I had to get a bucket to take water out of the boat. It was very, very scary. Luckily Konrad is a good boat driver. :)

Well, that is about all we did today. It is 8:15 and we are in bed. (It was a big day. )
By the way, I am back to my ORIGINAL research project, which is probably best because I had put a lot of work into it and was prepared to do it. We will see how it goes.

Take care,
Kaleigh