June 2nd, 2009 | Shelley
This is my last plant/animal information blog, I swear. Anyway, Gumbo-limbo is a type of tree, a tree that comes in two different types, one imported and one native. They can be found in abundance all over the island, and can be distunguished by their bark, which is red and peeling. Another thing is that they bear fruit that is red and shaped like an oval. Additionally, their wood used to be used for the creation of those horses on carnival carousel rides, but are not any more (that’s because plastic was invented). Lastly, it’s also highly adaptable to various environments, and can withstand wind and drought. The thing I think is best about it, though? It has has an awesome name. At least, that’s what I think anyway.
Source:
http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/BURSIMA.pdf
Today I worked with weeds (I’m sure you could have guessed that, but I’m just going to tell you anyway). Well, I also worked with some other things, but mostly weeds. One of my newest jobs here on Ambergris Cay is working in the nursery with a great guy named Steve McFarlane. He’s in charge of the nursery (and other things) and is what is called a horticulturist, which means that he works with plant cultivation. When I was there today, I helped first to eradicate some invasive species near the employee compound, then moved around some cacti and grasses later in the morning. Following lunch, I went back to the nursery , where I proceeded to first fertilize a large group of seedlings, then began to de-weed a ton of plants endemic (exclusively native to a certain area) to Turks and Caicos. These plants specifically are technically endemic to Turks and Caicos, but flourish only on Ambergris Cay. By the time I was done, my hands looked like they hadn’t seen a bar of soap for weeks.
Yes, you guessed it, today I went snorkeling. At about midday, my father, sister Hollis, and I went to Fish Cay with a nice fishing guide named Tucker Brubaker ( he drove the boat and helped us with our gear). Fish Cay is a cool little fishing spot about ten minutes’ boat ride from Ambergris Cay. It has a really pretty beach, but it’s illegal to go on it at this time of year as there are protected birds nesting on the little island. Anyway, when we reached it, Tucker parked the boat (called the Ambercat) a little ways away from the island and helped get us into our gear. I got ready in approximately a half a second, but dawdled for at least five minutes on the ladder because the water was chilly. Then, when I finally gathered up the nerve, I jumped in and immediately sucked in a gasp.
Well, he was at least important enough to have a beach and ridge named after him. When I did a little research, I discovered that he was Captain John Hawkins, the first known English visitor to the Turks and Caicos Islands in1563. But that’s beside the point. Today I visited the most fantastic beach in a whole series of fantastic beaches, namely Hawkins Beach. The beach is located an the southern tip of the island. It’s really picturesque, with jagged rocky cliffs averaging about twenty feet high surrounding a perfect sugar-sand beach. The water is a nice, clear blue, too. When I first arrived there, I walked for a few minutes, weaving in and among little tide pools, before arriving at the perfect spot for swimming. My family and I (including my little sister, Hollis, who’s in the picture at left) spent a few hours there before finally returning back to our rooms, where it took me forever to get all of that sand out of my hair.
Tarpon Point. That doesn’t say much about what it is, but there was a tarp on it (Ha ha). Tarpon Point is a place where the sea crashes up against the rocks on the tip of Ambergris Cay. Sometimes, a few random pieces of cargo from ships comes up on to the rocks. While I was there, I saw a fork, a lone flip flop, and a small fishing net. My dad laughed and said “Look for wallets!” I grinned and continued on with my mission, which at that time was to find a couple of large shells big enough for the hermit crabs at the ELC (who were all way too big for their shells and, living in a cage, had no way to replace them) to fit into. Speaking of crabs, there were also a few dead ones that had been thrown up on to the rocks during thunderstorms when the waves became violent. When we’d been there for about twenty minutes I’d found my shells, but unfortunately they were to far down to reach without jumping into the water (something I wasn’t too keen on trying, as the rocks were all very pointy). Since after the next ten minutes we’d seen nothing else really except a couple of iguanas, we decided to leave, and, much to my annoyance, I still haven’t found any shells big enough for those blasted crabs to fit into.
I don’t really know what’s up with me and the scientific names. I just sort of think they’re cool, I guess. Anyway, melocactus intortus is the scientific name for a species on the island called Turks Head Cactus or Turks Cap Cactus
. They are found all over the island and are especially plentiful around areas like the caves. One thing that I figured out in about five second with them, though, is that they have sharp, needlelike spines. Very sharp. I accidentally knocked one with the sid of my sneaker once, and came out of it with about ten fearsome little spines lodged in the side of my sneaker. I hobbled around for a couple of minutes trying to get them out and the same time silently resolving to be much more careful in the future. Later, I also discovered one in my shirt back when I leaned back into the maintenance cart seat. Ouch. Additionally, they flower and produce small, edible fuscia-colored berries that taste almost like kiwi. They are picked from the top, reddish part of the cactus and on the right I can be seen trying to pick one. Well, I have to go to close up the ELC now, so hope that I don’t step on one on my way there!
What better to do when you see a cave than to shout into it? Almost nothing, except maybe look and see what’s inside it first, because I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to shout and be rewarded by a huge bat colony swooping out at me.
