A Mantastic Week

Holy moly. I feel like I start every post talking about how quickly each week has passed, but this week especially flew by because I got to spend most of my time working with the fantastic Mantastic summer program!

The Mantastic program serves to bring participants from areas outside of Vieques in order to introduce them to the beauty of the island and the magnificence of the Puerto Mosquito, the bioluminescent bay, through hands-on and interactive activities and experiences.

On Monday, we went for a beautiful hike along the local river, or rio. We caught (and even ATE) freshwater shrimp, swam in a waterfall and learned about taking time to put on our nature goggles to actually appreciate the beauty that surrounds us in our hectic daily lives.

A picture of our puffer fish--he's huge!

Tuesday we had a fun filled day of snorkeling and fishing at the local sugar cane pier. It was a beautiful day, but sadly no one caught any fish using our fishing equipment. We did manage to capture a completely crazy looking puffer fish while snorkeling. We ended our day by doing an underwater cleanup, collecting an enormous amount of litter from the ocean floor along the Malecón.

Wednesday, the Mantastic group was graciously invited to the Hacienda Tamarindo for an evening barbecue and pool party, followed by a spectacular night at the bioluminescent bay; the bay itself is always an incredible and unbelievable experience, but the stars and night sky added a whole new element of beauty and depth to the night-- I have never seen the night sky so full of stars in my entire life.

Thursday, we had a somewhat overcast day for our Eco-Nautical Day. Nonetheless, the weather didn't stop our participants from having a blast learning about sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, paddle-boarding and jet skiing.

And today, is sadly our last day with this group! We have a small tour of the island planned for this morning and then a final presentation for the parents to share our exciting week with them!

One of our fantastic leaders made an awesome slideshow, highlighting parts of our week-- feel free to take a look.

So another whirlwind weeks draws to a close, and next week a new group of Mantastic participants will arrive for another exciting week-- I cannot wait!