Hike to The Source

"The Source"

I attempted to spend the afternoon at the Four Season's driving range, but was informed that reservations were required. This was no big deal, considering it was already a rather wet and rainy day. Instead of sitting around at home and oh, say, studying, I decided to venture out and make an afternoon hike. "The Source" is a waterfall located about 2,500 ft up the mountain, and is the main source of water for the windward side of the island. It has been raining for a few weeks now on Nevis, so I figured it would be a perfect time to check out the falls. Now I hadn't been to the source yet, but I was told that the 125 foot (ish) waterfall was really just a trickle, but was still a great hike. My expectations were low, so when I finally reached the falls, what I experienced absolutely blew me away. Not only did I get to experience an amazing 125 foot fall (and walk underneath it) at full strength, I also encountered some other incredible falls on the way. Speaking of "falls" -- all the rain made for one slippery hike up and down the mountain. Not to mention, we timed our hike so poorly that we were still about an hour up the mountain/in the rainforest when we lost all daylight. Needless to say, the tiny flashlight that I packed at the last minute was able to keep our falls to a minimum. There is definitely going to be a Hike to The Source: Round 2 in the very near future, but this time, in the daylight!

[For a few more videos of the falls, check out the YouTube links at the bottom of the page]

Rainforest pics

The huge falls, before The Source

Going up! (And across)

View from the other side (we had to climb up, and walk across that dam)

Stairway to Heaven -- almost to the source

Refreshing!

Climbing under the falls




More Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7yaCceDgoE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZwVYlWtiJA

Cockroach

On the way to school the other day, I was just about asleep behind the wheel when I noticed a familiar face. My roomate Hunter, who drives the infamous "Blue Thunder" moped to school every day, was in the back of a flat-bed truck, still sitting on BT. Lucky for him, a guy named Cockroach saw him broken down on the side of the road and gave him a lift to school. Lucky for me, I had my camera in my car that morning...

All smiles

VIP Parking - thanks to Cockroach

In real-time --

Ballpark Snacks

Ice cream at the park

While taking in the cricket games, we couldn't help but indulge in all they had to offer....at the concession stands! I managed to eat a ball-park hot dog, cherry flavored soft serve ice cream (my first soft-serve ice cream experience in the Caribbean), a snow-cone made with real coconut, a rack of ribs and garlic bread, and topped it all off with some cotton candy. In addition to the food, we took advantage of the free visors and signs they were handing out to the fans. Not to mention, sportscasters from Yahoo.com Sports interviewed me and my roomate Hunter regarding our thoughts about the women's cricket game, and featured it on the website. Check out what fools we made of ourselves (considering we know NOTHING about the game...) Click Here: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/videos/fvideo/050911women/category-Features .

BBQ Ribs!

Doesn't get much better than this

Tourist.

Drunk Englishman playing the trumpet

St. Kitts On A Whim

Warner Park Sporting Complex

As I packed up my backpack in preparation for a long Saturday night of studying on campus, I heard the famous last words come from my roommate Hunter’s mouth – “How dangerous are you feeling?” Of course, to which I responded, “…as ever!” To make a long story short, we had 25 minutes to catch the last ferry across to St. Kitts, where our friends had a couple rooms at the Marriott reserved for the night. After a whirlwind night packed with NBA playoff games, UFC title fights, Stanley Cup playoffs, MLB matchups, some Marriott casino gambling, and finally a trip to the bars at Frigate Bay – we were back on our way to the ferry docks at 9am to catch the 9:30am ferry home to Nevis. We arrived in what we thought was plenty of time, only to find out the ferry LEFT EARLY. The next ferry wasn’t scheduled to leave until 12:30pm. Our group of friends decided to spend their couple of hours in a Subway restaurant, while Hunter and I ventured around the island. We bumped into a local St. Kittian who, after chatting with him for a little while, led us to a gem. We scored free tickets to the Women’s World Cup of Cricket . . . and the rest is history.

England vs. South Africa

England at bat

West Indies vs. Australia

Up close and personal

Australia at bat

Tourists.

Game in action

Sweet Sunset

My return to Nevis after this break was quite different than the last, in that I relocated to the other side of the island into a small community known as Fern Hill Estates. This community is located a few miles off the main road, in the direction of "up the mountain." Here are a few pics of the route (once I leave pavement) to the house, and some of the house itself.

The first dirt road going up

After a few twists and turns, the second road going up

There she is. Almost home!

Sweet Sunset

A glance around the yard

More of the yard

Our front porch

View towards St. Kitts, from the porch

View to the southwest, from the porch

A couple of our neighbors

Home Sweet Home

After spending nearly a week in the Caribbean with my parents, I jumped a plane back to the great old state of Michigan to finish up the rest of my break between semesters. This was the perfect way to unwind after a stressful 2nd semester, with some home-style R and R. While much of my time was spent sleeping in, lounging around the house, and watching TV with the fam, I was also able to spend time with Katie and her family. Katie and I went out for our "date night" that I had promised her, we watched her little sister's high-school play at Spring Lake High School, spent a night out at the local favorite, Whitlow's Bar in Fruitport with some of my high-school friends, and I also had the opportunity to attend Katie's college graduation from Grand Valley State University, in downtown Grand Rapids. Judging by all the things I was able to squeeze in, I'm not sure my break could have come at a better time. Here is a quick look at my time back home...

Downtown GR for date night

Downtown GR

Katie, Lynn, and Me after the play

Whitlows with the guys

Whitlows on a Friday night

Jodi stole the mic, and stole the show

The next morning before graduation

The ceremony at Van Andel Arena

Action shot after the ceremony

Cheers! Dinner after graduation

Farewell Sweet Nevis

Farewell Nevis

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. This was such the case with my parents' visit to the Caribbean. I, however, am always looking to squeeze one last bit of enjoyment out of any adventure on which I embark. This held true with our departure from Nevis. Mom, Dad, and I all flew from Nevis to St. Maarten where we had about a 3 hour lay-over. Now most people would find a seat, open a good book, listen to their ipod, or watch a movie on their laptop while waiting to hear their flight number called over the loud speaker. Well, for starters, there is no loud speaker in the St. Maarten airport, but rather you must be present to hear the airline worker walk through the crowds of people shouting your flight number. Secondly, I would rather explore than sit around in an airport. Luckily, I had the opportunity to explore St. Maarten on a previous layover with a good friend of mine, and this time, I took the reigns as the tour guide. We hopped a taxi at the airport and headed to Maho Bay for lunch at the famous Sunset Beach Bar. This bar has become famous due its extremely close proximity to the airport. I'll let the pictures explain this one...

Maho Bay, from Sunset's Beach Bar - St. Maarten

In coming...

This is no joke!

Another big one

We came to watch the planes, I swear!

Let's eat

Mom and Pops, enjoying Maho Bay