The wireless network doesn't reach to our cottage, so I'll have to walk out a bit to post this and to check my email. I probably should have checked my work email yesterday, but I didn't.
We got a lot of stuff done yesterday: we rented a car and found the grocery store. Alisa and I also had traditional island cuisine at a little restaurant called "Junie's". I got curried chicken and Alisa got conch in butter sauce. Her dish came with "fungi" as a side dish, which seems to be quite a bit like polenta, but more finely ground. We also had some plantain and an odd greenish sweet potato.
I was surprised to see that prices here are pretty comparable to what you'd expect to pay in Amherst. The selection is very similar as well -- there are a few novel things you wouldn't expect in Amherst, but not much.
This morning we set 24 mongoose traps in the Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is a desert region and the area we chose was covered with a dense, low scrub. It was hard work to fight through the vegetation to place the traps. You can get a sense from this picture of Buzz with one of the traps.
We put the traps about 10 meters apart in a grid 6 deep and 4 across. It was hot, exhausting work. Tomorrow we'll check the traps and bring back any mongooses we catch to study.
The plants here are almost entirely unfamiliar to me. There are coconut palms by the beach and a few things I recognize: hibiscus, coleus, and bougainvillea. Almost everything else is new. Right in front of our cottage is a huge tamarind tree that has a sheltered pavilion built around it. You can see it here.
I found a few tamarind fruits to taste: very astringent. There are lots of gorgeous flowers. Here's a detail of the little orchids in front of Buzz in the picture above.
The weather has been perfect. It has been sunny most of the time, though every so often some clouds will blow in and occasionally they will dump some rain. It rained lightly several times yesterday and heavily for a brief while last night. But it clears up again almost immediately. It is quite warm during the day, but it cools off deliciously during the evening. I haven't seen a mosquito, although in the the evening there are "jenjens", which are tiny biting flies. They're not really a problem.
Eventually, we'll get out and do some more serious exploring. So far, we're content to swim and hang out on the beach. And drink rum from time to time. Just another beautiful day in paradise.