Saturday afternoon our group began wrapping things up and preparing for our departure. Dr. Griffith, Miranda, Harrison, Gavin, Nolan, and I went to East Beach to pick up the trash we had collected earlier on Wednesday to take it to the local landfill. The landfill was a large pile of sand where trash is dumped and then covered by layers of sand into a sloped mound. This helps to contain the trash while keeping it from blowing around the island and allowing for the decomposition of organic materials. Like the orange peels that were scattered in such a large amount from all the field lunches students from the GRC enjoyed, for example. The rest of the group went to the lab to wrap up putting away the sand, algae, coral, and rock samples we had collected to study at the research center. Once we were done cleaning up the lab and properly disposing of beach trash, we headed to the dormitory to finish packing. Some of us had to strategically pack beautiful conch shells in our checked bags to bring back home.
With the help of some kind students from Tennessee, we loaded our luggage onto the truck and departed for the airport. Our flight was delayed, and because it is a small airport with normally one flight in/out a day, we were waiting on the incoming plane that was behind schedule to land. We enjoyed talking to locals at the small gift shop and some ice cream before going through security. When we finally departed, we were able to view San Salvador from the air, and really appreciate how many lakes are on the island! Below is a picture from the plane where you can see the ancient dunes, now ridges, defining the inland lakes of the island. We flew from San Salvador to Nassau and a Bahamian group dinner was offered at the Orange Hill Hotel. Miranda and I went to a local restaurant in Nassau with her family friend. After dinner, some groups swam in the cold hotel pool, played a Coral Reef card game, and relaxed the night before we left while others went to Baha Mar, da plantation bar & grill.
Everyone had a great trip with our hands-on experience examining the geology and natural history of diverse ecosystems and discovering the impact humans have on the island. We all had so much fun connecting with our surroundings during our international field experience on spring break on the beautiful island of San Salvador! Special thanks to Dr. Jill Leonard-Pingel and Dr. Liz Griffith for all of their efforts to teach Buckeyes passionate about earth sciences with a unique and real-world applicable experience on this trip!
This post was contributed by Mandolyn N.
Comments