Isla Iguana

The school is on trimester break, so we have a bit of free time before it resumes on Monday.  We have Peace Corps and Ministry of Education meetings this week, but we managed to squeeze in a visit to the town of Pedasi and its famous Iguana Island.  Pedasi is a quaint small town with many wilderness beaches.  It is rapidly developing into a tourist site.  Its population of almost 3000 consists of 25% foreigners from all over the world.  There are lots of restaurants and hotels to cater to the tourist population.

Iguana Island

Edwin was our captain for the day.  He took us on the 20 minute ride to Iguana Island.  It was pretty choppy heading out into a fresh breeze, but the way back was much smoother.

The island is a nature preserve, so there was lots of wildlife.  Of course we had to look for iguanas, given the name of the island.  This one didn't mind standing still for a photo op.

These little guys are actually quite endangered.  People here like to eat them!

These little multicolored crabs were everywhere, especially in the woods. They tended to stay out of the open so the birds wouldn't get them. There were literally hundreds of them.

These are frigate birds, quite large, with forked tails.  This is their nesting ground, so there are lots of them.  They like crabs for a meal!

These little hermit crabs didn't mind crawling around in the open where the birds could get them.  I guess the shells they carry around with them really do work for protection.

They're everywhere!

Here we are enjoying the beach!  There is a coral reef just offshore, so we were able to see lots of tropical fish.  It really is a beautiful spot.

There was another beach on the back side of the island.  There was no coral there, and there were more waves, but it was a pretty spot.

We found a lovely quiet bed and breakfast inn in the town of Pedasi.  It was a short walk from the beach.  The owner, Robert, is a wonderful guy and speaks several languages.