today was an especially enlightening experience, as I went inside a cave for the first time in my life, and met the man responsible for re-establishing pre-colonial animals and vegetation on Nonsuch Island (one of Bermuda’s finest)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The trip to the caves in the morning was short (which was refreshing after spending most of\u00a0 yesterday on our mopeds) and the caves themselves did not disappoint. I had a good idea of what a cave looked like based on pictures and movies and such, but actually getting to go inside one was really awesome. There were hundreds of icicle looking rock\/mineral formations hanging from the ceiling, some of which hung down so low that they almost touched the ground. I really can’t do the caves justice by using words alone, so I will refer you to the pictures that my classmates and Bruce will surely put up in the near future. We were only able to walk inside two caves (the others were mostly cut off or too small to go very deep inside), but one of the caves housed beautifully still and warm water that was just as, if not more, clear than Bermuda’s famous shoreline. A few of us are actually thinking about going back to that cave to go for a swim. It might be a little creepy at first because the cave is pretty dark, but the water is much warmer than the ocean and I am sure it would be a blast to swim around and get an even better view of the cave.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon we took the boat out to Nonsuch Island, accompanied by David Windgate, who is basically solely responsible for recreating the original vegetation and animal population on the island. He told us in great detail how invasive species, mostly brought by settlers, combined with natural disasters and other environmental mismanagement had almost completely wiped out any plants or animals that were native to Nonsuch island. He started his work back in 1960, and has been able to slowly re-establish the vegetation and animal population to about 90% of what it was like before colonialism. He specifically focused on bringing the Cahow bird back from extinction by balancing the populations of other living organisms (such as re-introducing organisms like the West Indian Topshell and exterminating rats) on the island to make sure that the Cahow has a chance to survive. He also constructed a freshwater marsh to give Nonsuch island all of the environmental and ecological aspects that are found on the mainland of Bermuda. It is really incredible how one man could have such a massive impact on an island, I cant imagine how much patience and dedication it took to continue this project. It is really a testament to how much he cares about maintaining the native species of Bermuda and simultaneously trying to control the impact we have on these species as humans. He is really a special person.<\/p>\n
The only difficult part of the trip to Nonsuch was the fact that we had to swim ashore from the boat, as there is no place to dock (which is by design so tourists and other vessels cant accidentally introduce invasive species back onto the island). Needless to say it was pretty cold water, but it was more that the air temperature was chilly so once we got out of the water it was tough to stay warm. It was well worth the swim, however, and I guess I really cant complain about being cold when I think about all my friends and family back in the Northeast.<\/p>\n
The trip is starting to come to an end unfortunately, but instead of letting that thought drag me down I am determined to enjoy every last moment we have on Bermuda, and based on how much fun the last week has been, I dont think that will be very hard to do at all.<\/p>\n
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