So last week we continued the interviews in Island Harbour meeting a variety of fabulous characters!  There is a definite reluctance to do interviews with us and I recently discovered there were marine biologists who came in a couple of years ago doing interviews and suggesting a 6 month closed season for fishing and all kinds of other regulations!  No wonder everyone is a bit nervous.

We held the first community meeting at the primary school.  The whole night was quite manic with just Pia and I to control the rabble but I think everyone enjoyed themselves and a lot of the important events that came up in the historical timeline validated what we heard at the National and Sandy Ground meetings.  We are booked in to do some fun marine stuff with the children at the school and also during the huge Festival Del Mar at the end of the month.  We might possibly be giving out free tasters of lion fish.

Saturday was my birthday!  I have managed to survive until the grand old age of 32 😉  As a mini-break I went to Saba – the most beautiful volcanic island two short boat trips away from Anguilla.  I spent the day climbing the mountain, diving the gorgeous coral reefs, eating tuna steaks and watching the sun set over the windward islands.  The diving there really is spectacular – sea mounts and pinnacles surrounded by sharks, turtles and black coral… coral gardens full of invertebrates and colourful hard corals….I saw a lovely seahorse, some great nudibranchs lots of huge black Jacks.  I would definitely recommend it as a destination for coral reef fans.  It is such a shame Anguilla’s reefs aren’t in half as good condition.

Some photos to follow.

This week we are scoping West End and will be continuing with the interviews.