Guess who’s back with a brand new rap…
I don’t have a rap, but I tell you when I have quite a bit to tell y’all, but one adventure at a time. So next blog post will have a hiking adventure. Sure, I’ve also been really busy with work – wrote my first grant outside of school (that was hard and my brain is a tad bit fried) but I did it! – and I’ve also been busy just trying to continue getting outside. Sometimes I feel extremely lazy and lay in bed and don’t leave my house, which I guess is good for quarantine, but it’s not good for my motivation.
Let’s begin the adventure story because as we all know, that’s why anyone comes to read this anyway 🤪
Ok, so Matt wanted to show me one of his favorite places on the island. This dude is definitely a great adventure partner because he knows all the best spots. He told me how all he did was go out the first couple months he moved here, and just randomly went walking places. That’s cool and all, but I have major reservations of adventuring by myself. Not only is it because I am female and I’m afraid of running into a person or two who may be dangerous, but also because if I decided to go hiking on the side of a cliff and trip on a rock and am dangling as I contemplate my life choices, I wouldn’t have anyone to help me. That’s probably my biggest fear. Basically, getting into any situation by myself that I could not get out of without another person, scares me.
That was a bit of a tangent… anyway, we head off towards the rainforest. We go up the winding roads that have more potholes than I can count, and we make it slowly to this fork in the road. To the right, this abandoned building that is surrounded by trees so much so that it legit looks like a scene from Jurassic Park (Lost World), but is next to the entrance to a hiking trail that leads to a lighthouse at the top of this mountain. To the left, the way we decided to go, we are led to a beach. This is not a traditional beach in the sense of nice soft sand. No, this beach is just a ton of eroded rock and some palm trees to the side. Well, Matt brought his machete, so he got us a couple coconuts and opened those bad boys up!
The coconut milk is definitely refreshing, and definitely does not taste how you think it would. I’d like to blame those companies that have sugarfied a good thing. I had to not think about the past times I had coconut milk – because that milk was more manufactured and processed. This is straight from the coconut itself and I had to really take in the actual taste of it. I totally would have added one of those Splenda Natural packets or two because I definitely like things sweet (thanks a lot, junk food), but overall, it was tasty.
So, once we got our coconuts and proceeded to walk north along the coastline. This place was incredible. The waves were crashing like crazy, you can see all the tidepools with animals in them (I saw a sculpin!), and it was the start to a beautiful evening. Matt told me this wasn’t even his favorite part yet. He turns and says to me, “How do you feel about climbing?” I’m in my head thinking I’m about to have to climb and scale the side of a cliff and I start freaking out a bit. But, I remember that he had done this before so I said, “well, if you could do it alone, I’m sure I can handle it.” So we started walking along the rock beach. By the way, this beach looks like what we think the surface of Mars looks like, no joke. It’s got a reddish tint, it’s rocky, and has little holes in places. It just overall looks like you’re on another planet. Plus, I now have a prime location to get me some succulents because they were all over the ground!
Anyway, the rock beach eventually ends and now we are walking on what can only be described as a “coral graveyard.” I mean, there are dead coral pieces ALL OVER this place. I literally can’t stop myself from walking on them. It made me sad, but it also was a realization that sometimes we really can’t see the anthropogenic impacts we have on the world without being directly face to face with the evidence. I guess all I can say to this graveyard is that it will make a sandy beach in time, and the pieces will go back to the earth in the circle of life (cue Lion King music).
We reach the end of the graveyard, Matt puts his machete in the ground, and starts climbing some of the rock structures. I follow suit, and to be honest this climbing was quite easy, and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought. By the way, we are both wearing Keene shoes (I got that toe safety) and they are absolutely perfect for this time of activity. We reach the final destination and when I tell you the pictures I post don’t do it justice, believe me when I say it. It was absolutely gorgeous and it was like this secret hideaway where you could climb the middle rock and just sit up there watching the water, waves, sky, and sun. You could camp there, or picnic there, and no one would bother you because no one seems to dare to check that area out.
We stay for a little bit longer while I look out and appreciate this gift God has given us, and then we start to head back. No one would want to be out here while it was dark because of how careful you had to walk the entire time. I did bring a flashlight, though, in case we got caught out in the dark. But, I’m glad we didn’t have to use it.
We head back to his SUV and I take one more look at the waves crashing. What an amazing image. I tried to capture the beauty, but sometimes you just have to appreciate the fact that you are one of the few people who get to witness this beauty in person.
I guess that’s the moral of this adventure. Sure, I live on a tropical island so it may seem that I get to have beauty all around me all the time, but I realized these things living in Michigan as well. You have to take a second to just look around you. Appreciate the beauty in your area. I guarantee if you take a moment to appreciate the world around you, you will not only feel better, but you will have a sense of how life is so much more than just you. That gratefulness will open your heart and your mind, and you will be better for it.
Take that time.
-Curby
CURBY IN THE SEA 