it's been very windy for a couple of days, .... not good for kayaking nor snorkeling ....so on Saturday, Laurie and i decided it would be a good day to hike around part of the island ... it would be way too hot to do it on a sunny day with no wind.
the waves were really rolling in ...
the eastern part of the island is called the Iron Shore because of the volcanic rock that lines the shores ...and that is the seaweed Sargassum in the foreground ... it is everywhere this year ... and all the trash that comes in with it :(
... lava comes in all shapes and forms depending upon how fast it cools .... the lava in this area has edges on it that are sharp as a razor ... seriously !
she took me to an area that she had explored previously... years ago, there was a civilization of people living in these underground caves ... at some point, probably during an earthquake, the cave collapsed when the top fell in ... this is an area where a huge section caved in ... not real easy to see in this photo ... :( ...but the part in the middle of the photo is lower than the lava along the shoreline ...
it left small openings and a 'window to the past' for anyone who dared to enter.
i mentioned before that Laurie is an adventurer ... and she likes to go into caves ... she is small, and it's a good thing, because the openings aren't very large ... and the edges are sharp as razors you don't want to slash yourself open ! ..she has found lots of pottery shards down in the openings ... proof of people living in there.
she didn't do any major exploring inside the caves today, just a little bit ... i was happy to stand outside, so i could go for help if it caved in on her :(
we spent a lot of time carefully and slowly walking around on top .... there are a few cactus growing in the lava ....
this one was blooming !
we also walked through a beautiful stand of Gumbo-Limbo trees ...
they call the Gumbo Limbo tree the Tourist Tree because the tree's bark is red and peeling, like the skin of sunburned tourists :)
they are beautiful trees ..
even though the wind was blowing, it was sunny, and the sun was hot ....
we decided a nice plunge into the Fresh Water of a popular cave would feel really good ... luckily we were the only ones there.... and could enjoy it in peace and quiet ...
i had visited this Fresh Water Cave the first year i was here in 2011 .... it is amazing ... the water is still crystal clear in spite of the hundreds of bodies who have visited here ... it was chilly, but felt really good ... i thought ... :)
we came out by the Airport and luckily a flight had just taken off, so we were able to catch a taxi back into town .... it would have been a LONG HOT SLOW walk back at the end of a LONG HOT fun day exploring :)
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