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Daily Journal

Meadowridge School

Day 6

The day started with a 7:00 am adventure to the
world's largest Cardon Cactus forest. Of course,
we had to stop for a picture before heading into it.

It was not a thick forested area that it looks to be from a distance.
We started up an arroyo in search of new discoveries.

Jim finds a Chrysalis of a moth or butterfly.

He cuts it open to find the remains of the moth/butterfly.

We continue our exploration of the "cactus forest".

A birds nest is found in the branches of a Palo Verde tree.

The girls seem to be finding their way through the tricky terrain.

The guys, on the other hand, are still working on it.

Finally they make their way back to the beach.

After a few of the students poked around in the rocks along the shore
we all meet up and head down the beach to meet the arriving pangas.

After lunch we head to the fishing village of Isla Pardito.

We arrived on the beach to find the fisherman busy
at work with the days catch. And what a day's work it was.

A very large, ominous looking stingray is part of the days catch.

The fishermen fillet the wings of the stingray.

It is then soaked in brine and dusted with sea salt.

Then hung to dry in the sun.

A barrel of Pargo "snapper" is also part of the days catch.

A small smoothhound shark.

Shark fins for the Asian market.

A scalloped hammerhead shark.

Ismael, the fisherman, cuts out the eye for us.

The cool part is the lens.

It's refractive power acts as a magnify.

A couple of the fishermen's wives make hand
made shell jewelry which they sell to visiting tourists.

At the top of the island is a mausoleum in
memory of several of the family members.

A gift from our friends - a large Pargo (snapper).

Day 6

At 7:00 am we started our day with a hike through the cactus forest on Isla San Jose. We walked up a dried river called an arroyo where there were many cactus species and lizards. Once back on the beach, we looked in the tidal pools and under rocks and found a lot of organisms.

After breakfast we visited this amazing fishing village. They had caught the largest stingray any of us have ever seen. They had sharks, rays and the normal catch of fish. We toured the island and spent a few dollars buying the hand made shell jewelry.

After lunch, we went to the sea lion breeding grounds in hopes to snorkel with them. Unfortunately today the sea lions were not playful and decided to ignore us. We returned to the boat and soon after we arrived at the cliffs near Lela’s Beach for cliff diving. We had to hike over the rigid rocks that make up Stasia’s landing until we reached Lela’s Cliff that is 40 ft above the water. After plunging into the cold water for the first time our fears were behind us and we were fearless as we climbed the rocks to jump for the second time.

Then we returned to the boat with large appetites and were relieved once dinner was served. We were thoroughly surprised when the platter of chocolate cake was served; it was just the cherry on top of a great day.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 6 - cliff jumping | Day 7 and 8

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