March 5: Blue Holes

Small Hope Bay Lodge's nature guide Tarran took us on a blue hole tour this morning in the nearby national park. Certain trees along the trail to Rainbow Hole were labeled, and Tarran shared with us each tree's value to bush medicine. At the hole itself, he encouraged us to take off our shoes and let the swarms of tiny gobi fish nibble our feet. We jokingly called this the spa tour. The fish tickled.

In Maidenhair Coppice, while trying to track down a Great Lizard-cuckoo, an elusive species we finally heard calling, we heard an even more elusive bird: the Key West Quail-dove. Given the density of the foliage in the coppice, I couldn't imagine how we'd actually see it. I guess our best bet would be for it to fly across the road in front of us. Its voice sounds like the moan of a distant foghorn. Unfortunately for us, a very distant foghorn. We didn't end up seeing either bird. But we enjoyed our tour, which culminated with a swim in 400-ft deep Capt. Bill's Hole.

In the afternoon I rode one of the lodge's bikes to Androsia, the batik factory started by the second wife of the lodge's founder. Meanwhile, my husband was bonefishing all morning, and learned how to scuba dive all afternoon. A little nature, a little culture, a lot of exercise in the subtropical air.

In the coppice's heat

dove's call a distant foghorn--

I'm thinking of home.

Paul fishing at Small Hope Bay Lodge

Capt. Bill's Blue Hole

Androsia Batik Factory

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