After breakfast we loaded into dune buggies, the main form of transportation, and headed to the airport where the road turned off for the trailhead. A short hike brought us to an overlook affording us a look down into the bay where the spinner dolphins rest in the morning before going to sea to feed. The spinners did not disappoint us as they alternately leaped acrobatically and swam about slowly getting on with their lives.
The trees below the overlook were festooned with birds, white-capped noddies in one tree, red-footed boobies in another. There was a continual 'changing of the guard' as birds arrived with nesting material or armed with some mission that escaped us. The effect was a continuous hum of activity that kept us fully engaged.
As we walked along the cliff edge we were rewarded with one grand vista after another. Near the end of the walk we arrived at the beach figured in the picture where the only way down was first by ladder hidden in a gap in the rock face and then by steps cut into the talus slope. Near the far end of the beach where we could look at two small off shore islands we watched a pair of white-tailed tropicbirds with their long tail feathers fly to their nest site which was somewhere just below our feet.
The local fishermen using a throw net of a style seen in the Amazon were cruising just into the surf edge, tossing their net, attaching a long line and motoring out of the surf before the next breaking wave. Then in the comparative safety beyond the waves they hauled in their catch only to repeat what looked like to us a daredevil stunt but one they clearly had done many times before.
After lunch we split into two groups. One went by boat to the bay where we had watched the dolphins in the morning and later to snorkel and to swim. The other learned about the turtle conservation efforts, a project that was featured on yesterday's website.
We got underway before five and headed to sea. The sky was most clear of clouds and some assembled on the bow to see if we would finally see a green flash. The first officer felt the prospects good. As the sun neared the horizon it, unfortunately, disappeared behind a cloud. As we stayed to the bitter end, however, the sun reappeared below the cloud and as it disappeared into the sea, we all saw a fine green flash. Our persistence had been rewarded as we recalled at recap the Scottish myth that Jules Verne had written about in his book, "The Green Ray."
