July 10, 2023 - Walsingham Caves, Mangroves, Fort St. Catherine and St. George Town.

We started the morning by hopping on the bus with Kenny to go to the Walsingham Caves, with Alex as our guide. First we learned about mangroves and their importance to Bermuda. We even found a few of their propagules and planted them in open spots in the sand. Next we got our first cave experience. Off the trail there was a huge cave opening where you could barely see some water at the bottom. We learned about the freshwater lenses which form in caves over salt water from the nearby ocean. Next, we came to a beautiful natural pool of mixed fresh and salt water and over the water were rocks perfect for jumping off of. This activity emerged as a clear favorite for the group. Sadly, we had to move on to the next cave. But wait, the next cave was a popular stop as well. After getting down a super slippery slope of mud, the group made it into a big cave opening with a big pool of water. We got to take a dip in the crisp cave water, which was extremely refreshing and almost rivaled the jumping experience. After this cave we hiked back to the bus to get back to BIOS on time for lunch.

First we went back on the bus to Fort St. Catherine, and walked through the museum. From there, we walked into the historical town of St. George where we all had free time to go into shops, get ice cream, and so forth. Back on the bus we went, and we had dinner back at BIOS.

After dinner we had a snorkel at Turtle Beach, up and at em again! We drove to the beach and took a fish survey in the water (and saw a rainbow). While the sun was setting we ended our snorkel… but got right back in 15 minutes later, for a night snorkel! We grabbed our flashlights and swam back to the island off shore, where we saw some pretty cool creatures, including a few gold spotted moray eels! Then we were finally on our way back to BIOS for the night where we maybe went to sleep or maybe worked on our journal or played cards. And finally, we get some rest for tomorrow, another full day of fun activities.

- Aleah and Molly