Leap Day Blog

I hate to bump the mantas from the top of the blog food chain, but there's so much natural beauty here I thought I'd do a mostly photo blog of some new land and sea sightings. We went to a local cultural festival at the Annaberg Sugar Plantation and felt very underdressed. These ladies put us all to shame!

Beautifully dressed local ladies.... and a shabbily dressed tourist!

We've seen female golden orbs all over St. John and this was a pretty big one. (See June 2011: 'Underwater World Briefly') It was suggested by someone who heard us commenting on her size that perhaps she was full, having just eaten her mate. Mmmm... pass the salt please!

Another lovely local lady.... Female Golden Orb

Annaberg Plantation includes a garden that's being tended by a local guy named Charles who's absolutely devoted to plants. He learned bush medicine from his grandmother and passes along the knowledge to anyone who cares to ask. He gave us papayas, sugarcane, bananas, coconuts and more. Here are just a few of the other things he grows.... 

Pigeon Peas

Flowering Pigeon Pea

Cotton

Skip models painkiller leaves for backache. You can barely see the soursop leaves tucked under his hat to keep his head cool!

Soursop - has bright white flesh with dark seeds. It's sweet and sour and delicious.

Skip with the bush doctor, Charles 

Flowering Aloe  

Aloe and cactus

How a coconut palm starts

As always I'm working on my wildlife photography skills and have discovered, not surprisingly, that the slower something moves the easier it is to photograph. Here are a few slow fish we've been swimming with lately.

Queen Angelfish

Scrawled Filefish

Stoplight Parrotfish

We've seen some really interesting fast fish too, but you'll just have to take my word for it. Happy Leap Day!