This morning we woke up at 6:30 AM. Crosby ’28, Jay ’27, Gavin ’26, and I, packed our bags for the long road trip ahead: swimming attire, cash, sunblock, flashlights, and entertainment. After gathering our belongings we headed towards the dining hall for a quick cereal breakfast to keep our bellies full for the 1 hour and a half drive towards our first stop, “The Island Farm,” an open market store owned by parents of Deerfield alumni. It was a well decorated and friendly market that had plenty of goods such as coffee, an assortment of beverages, and various types of fruit. Afterwards, we went to a wonderful coffee shop for a more established breakfast. We were all astounded by the beautiful furniture and layout of the Café. Everyone indulged in delicious breakfast sandwiches with a choice of coffee or tea. Once everyone was done, we all gathered back into the vans and were driven to “The Glass Window Bridge”. It was given this name because of its unique feature: the parting of the Atlantic Ocean. To the west was a beautiful picture-perfect beach filled with a clear light blue ocean with shallow and calm waters. However, on the east side was an ocean with a dark and ominous deep blue coloration, it was carried by strong currents filled with aggressive white caps that attacked the shores beneath us. After this breathtaking sight we gathered back into the vans for our trip to a small gift shop. We all walked around the shop as we decided what souvenirs to purchase for our families. We learned how buildings in the Bahamas are colored coded based on their roles. For example, government building are painted a bright pink.
After lunch, we drove back down Eleuthera. While driving we spotted a huge cow, which Becca, the island staff who was in our van told us that they were very lucky and rare as she only sees one every about 40 down island trips. However today must have been a very lucky day because we spotted two during our day. Soon we arrived at Hatchet Cave, a historical cave in Bahamas that was used by the Lucayan people, and is said to have the pirate Blackbeard’s name inscribed within it. As we traversed through the cave we saw graffiti of other groups who have ventured throughout the cave dating back to the 1700s. In addition to the graffiti were bats, who nest very high and deeper into the cave. Gracie and Becca told us about the stalactites and stalagmites which form on the top and bottom of the cave respectively. Next was relaxation time on the beach. While on the beach, we swam in the water, ate some snacks, played with a ball, and most importantly built a sand sculpture complete with a beach house and pool. Sadly, the beach marked the end of our Down Island activities. Back at the island school we ate dinner, which was delicious a chicken parm and spaghetti. Lastly, we had the night wade activity. We learned about the different scientific phyla of sea creatures. Fun fact, octopus and clams are in the same mollusk phylum because they each have an external shell or beak. After our lesson, we saw many different types of the sea creatures we learned about in a simulated coral reef made by island school students, including spiny sea stars, a needle fish, a sea cucumber and a sea hare that emitted purple ink when we picked it up. Me and Artie found a Hermit crab with a white shell that had red splashes. We assumed it was pretty tired as it did not come out of it’s shell, but we still connected with it, as we named it Freddie. That concluded our wonderful fourth day of the Bahamas.
