Pirate of the Caribbean : Dante's Adventure

Day 4: July 2

Today our beloved cook, Dante, took us on a hike to the other side of the mountain to check out the scenery and the native village. He knows the people over there because he purchases all of the fish for the resort from them. The hike over started off steep, had a breezy reward at the top, and a fun slide down.

natural Hibiscus plants

At the end of the hike, we saw a giant hunk of clay cut out from the side of the mountain.

We soon found out what is was used for!

The village was very small. All of the huts were handmade; very impressive.

We visited the school. It serves children from a few different islands, bringing them in on a 'school boat'. It is painted yellow. Some of my peers brought some candy to give to the kids. It was cute and the children were sweet. But I can never help but feel uncomfortable in that situation. It's like the western people are coming in and providing something great for these obviously less-well off people. Who are we to just show up when we want, and go into their school and give them processed sugar becasue we think it is cute? I know our small encounter was harmless and nice for both parties (maybe just for a change of pace if nothing else) but nonetheless I think it is an obvious showing of the social inequalities our society has. I do not think the solutions to those problems will be fixed by an 'other' who knows nothing about the actual culture of the people being 'fixed'. But again, this small encounter is nothing but a magnified version of the larger issues, a small showing of cultural ethnocentrism, if you will. Rant over.

banana tree

noni fruit tree

We came across this abandoned boat. According to Dante, this boat, and many others like it are used for transporting drugs. The substances are beached in a boat, a helicopter waiting on shore that takes the goods and motor from the boat and hauls out. Not sure how the helicopter goes under radar but, I'll believe it.