It was a bright, sunny day but I was feeling really, really hot! So I asked my Daddy, “Can I have some coconut water please?” He said, “Okay, no problem”.
I asked Daddy how he was going to get way up there in the coconut tree. He said, “Watch and see!”
Daddy got a ladder and began to climb the coconut tree. He was still a bit short, so he got a steel hook too so that he can reach the coconuts. Look at my Daddy!
He is way up in the tree. He is not scared of heights. He is brave and strong, like Merida in the movie.
I was so thirsty. I kept telling Daddy to hurry. “Hurry Daddy, hurry!”, I said.
When Daddy got all the coconuts down, he used a cutlass and opened the coconut with just a few chops like this:
Daddy gave me a coconut to drink from. It was so heavy! I used a straw to suck the water up while Daddy held it. I drank and drank. It felt like my tummy was going to pop! The coconut water was sweet and refreshing. Ahhhh!
Then my Daddy chopped it in two with one big chop!
There was jelly inside. I was so happy to get the jelly. Look at me eat my coconut jelly. I used a spoon at first, but it was so much easier with my hands. I dug all the way in!
Yum, yum……
Yummy!
Then it was all done!
I really wanted another coconut!
The second one was even more delicious than the first one.
Daddy cut open more coconuts and poured the water into bottles. He put the bottles on the fridge to get cold so that I can have more coconut water during the week.
Can you believe it? There was actually a pink walk. A PINK WALK! Pink is one of my favorite colors of all time. Pink and purple, but I really do love pink!
Some people wore blue, some people wore green and some even wore black, but lots and lots of people were dressed in pink. So pretty!
Here you can see me, my sister and her friend, Molly. We started at Lookout and we were heading to Little Bay.
We set off walking.
We turned the corner……..
and walked up the hill. Whew!
We walked past the hospital and I waved to a friendly Nurse who I remembered from when she visited my school.
We walked down past the road which goes to the airport. I usually say “Tunnel” when we drive that way.
My legs started to get tired, but my sister kept me going. Then my legs got really, really tired again, but luckily my Daddy was close by so I joined him in the car because I really could not walk anymore.
My sister and her friend continued to walk. When they passed Carr’s Bay there was some music playing.
When we got to Little Bay, we learnt that even Daddies need to go to the doctor for a check-up. They need to check for Breast cancer too, but I think I will call it chest cancer, because men have chests!
I also learnt that if you eat too much ice-cream, you can get really crazy, but I really had to have some strawberry ice-cream because it was PINK!
I heard on the radio that when it begins to get cold in North America that some birds come to Montserrat. I really wanted to see these birds that visited us! We signed up for a shorebird watching activity.
It was being organized early in the morning and I did not want to miss it. I told Mommy to set the alarm! I woke up very, very early at 5:30am. I invited my cousin, Nikho to come along with me because I remember how much fun I had the last time with the turtles and I wanted him to have some fun too! I told him to wake up early too!
We got to the presentation right on time and I guess who was there? Mr. Scriber! I was so glad to see him again. He told me all about turtles and now he was going to tell me about shorebirds! He is so smart!
I also met another lady. Her name is Ajhermae. She knows so much about these shorebirds too!
Mr. Scriber and Ajhermae showed us some pictures of the birds that visit Montserrat during the migratory season and how to identify them. Like looking at their size and their colour and the shape and length of their beak. They also showed us how to use the binoculars.
A very big bus came to take us to our first stop. It was so exciting to get on the bus. I hopped up all on my own!
Nikho and I chose our favourite seats and we were ready to go!
Our first stop was Maguerita Bay.
It was like an obstacle course to get to the beach. We went down a long narrow path, jumped over some muddy puddles, crossed some wooden bridges and slid on some tiny rocks.
Finally we got there!
It was beautiful.
We walked over to an area that had some water, like a little pond. And we saw our first bird. It was so tiny. I had to use my binoculars to see it.
Here it is……
Can you see it? Okay, Okay let me zoom in. It is soooo small, but soooo cute!
I used my ID cards to help me see what kind of birds they are.
I saw another bird called the Frigate bird. We only saw the female ones. Here is a video of them flying over our heads and swooping down. They glide and also fly!
I found that one quickly on my ID card too! It said, “The Magnificent Frigatebird”.
I saw something sad too. There was a dead bird in the sand. This made me very unhappy.
I asked Mr. Scriber, “Why the bird is dead?” He said, ” Other birds like the Killie Hawk preys on birds like those and kills them and eats them”.
I learnt so much about why it was important to protect the birds.
It was time to get to our next stop, so we headed out of Maguerita Bay.
Our next stop was Carr’s Bay. I was shocked, because I always visited the yellow van to get fries, but never took notice of the birdies right there on the other side!
These ones really caught my attention.
My ID card calls them the “Least Sandpiper” and the “Semipalmated Sandpiper”. They are so cute!
I also saw another one that had a red colour at the top of its head. It is called the “Common Gallinule”.
Here is a beautiful picture of it.
Then we crossed to the other side of the road. We saw some more beautiful birds over there.
I saw a blue Heron! Here is a picture of it.
Here is a picture of it on my ID Card. It says, “Little Blue Heron”.
Then we looked through the telescope and looked at birds which were in the ocean resting on something like a tank.
Look through the telescope with me. I counted 5 Royal Terns and 2 Brown Boobies.
There was also a Snowy Egret. Do you see it?
See if you can find it on the ID Card.
I really had a good day looking at these shorebirds! Thank you Mr. Scriber and Miss Ajhermae.
Miss Ajhermae was really nice to us . She gave us some stickers and a really nice bracelet! I think I am now a Bird Buddy! I love birds!
Miss Ajhermae gave us some bird tattoos and I couldn’t wait to get mine on! It says, “Conserve Migratory Birds”.
Here is a picture of them on our hands! So pretty. Hope it stays on forerver!
I have been waiting for this moment forever! I finally got to see a green turtle laying her eggs.
Mommy told me that it would be best if I had a nap, because we were going to go turtle watching again. I really wanted to see where the hatchlings came from, so this time I rested and rested. When I woke up, I was ready for the adventure!
Mr. Scriber was our guide for the night. He is so kind. He really wanted me to see the turtles laying.
First, we went to Isles Bay, but there were no turtles there. Then we went to Old Road Bay, but there were no turtles there. Next, we went to Woodlands Beach, but there were no turtles there either! I was getting so tired.
Then we went to another beach called Bunkum Bay (sounds like Bum Bum Bay), and guess what… there it was….. a green turtle!
I was so excited. Mr. Scriber, told us to sit really still in the the dark until the turtle finished digging its hole. We waited patiently! I sat on a blanket and waited and waited. I was getting so sleepy, but then Daddy said, “Come Kearah!” I jumped up so fast!
Wow! What I saw was so amazing. The turtle was dropping her eggs, one by one. I began counting….. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20…..
The turtle dropped so many eggs that I even lost count. There were probably around 60 eggs there.
Scriber said that the turtle was in a trance. It was not bothered that we were there. We kept the light at her back and she was just focused on laying her eggs. When I looked closely, I even noticed that she had water coming down her eyes. It was like she was crying! Maybe they were tears of joy, because she laid her eggs and her hatchlings will soon come out of their shells.
When she was finished laying, she covered up her eggs with the sand so quickly using her back flippers. Scriber said that she “compacted” them.
I got a chance to touch her too! The shell was hard. It felt a little bit like the hatchlings.
My sister touched the turtle too! We really had a good time.
I gave the turtle a nickname. I called her Kusha, because she laid her eggs under a “Kusha” tree and I got a little bit of the kusha tree in my hair too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When Kusha was finished, she made her way back down to the water. I got to say one last bye bye to her and touched her back one more time. Then she disappeared quickly into the ocean.
Teacher Yvonne said that she has a surprise for us. I did not know what it was. I thought it was a toy, like a lego or something like that, but can you guess what it was?
Okay! Okay! What do you call a baby turtle? A hatchling!
Mr. Jeffers brought the hatchlings to my class in a blue box. They were so cute!
I put up my hand and I said to Mr. Jeffers that I went turtle watching. He asked, “Woodlands Beach?” and I said, “Yes!”.
He then gave me a hatchling to hold. It was awesome!
Photo Credit: Facebook @Brades Primary School
The hatchling felt like it was vibrating in my hand. It was soooo ticklish. I was so happy I got to hold one. I held it ever so gently.
There was also a rare one in the bunch. It was white. I really wanted to hold that one too! This is how it looked. Very RARE!
Mr. Jeffers said that he would release them back in the ocean soon and when they are ready to lay their eggs, they will come back to Montserrat!
I wanted to tell Teacher Yvonne that I want Mr. Jeffers to come back to our class and also go to all the other classes, one by one, because they would like to hold the hatchlings too!
I will ask Mommy, Daddy and Sissy if I can have a turtle as a pet.
Although it wasn’t Sunday, it was still a Funday. I went back to Teacher Emmy’s pool. Today I practiced my rocket ship and I stayed under the water so much longer!
I also practiced my back float with kicks and the board. That was cool!.
My most favourite part was when I jumped into the deep end at the same time with my sister! Yay!
Soon I will be swimming like my sister. She is really good.
My Mommy and Daddy said that it was time for another visit to the dentist. The last time we went was before the COVID-19 pandemic, so this time we had to obey different rules. I had to wear a mask!
The dentist was wearing a mask too and also a shield over her face and eyes.
She invited me to sit in the chair. It was fun when she pumped it up a little higher.
The dentist then put a bib on me. It was a turtle bib and you guys know how much I love turtles! I was so happy with my bib.
The dentist told me to scoot up a bit on the chair so that my head was on the headrest. Then she inspected my teeth with a bright light. She was so happy to see that I had two new teeth. Two of my baby teeth were gone! She said that I was becoming a big girl.
The dentist then started cleaning my teeth with a tool that looks like a pick. She cleaned my teeth in the front, the sides and the back.
Then she got the electric toothbrush and started brushing my teeth. I asked her to “be gentle”. Here is a video:
And just like that I was done! The dentist said that I was a really good patient, so she gave me a sticker that says “star patient” and she also gave me a star ring!
My visit to the dentist was good. I am not scared of the dentist. She helps take care of my teeth! Here is a picture of my gifts from the dentist:
