SELMAAAA!!

Behold our Selma. From holland she came to Statia to carry out research on the effects of the black volcanic sands on the temperature in the turtle nests on the beach. All packed up and left the garden this week. We miss you Selma!

The Lesser Antillean Iguana

The Lesser Antillean Iguana is endemic to this part of the world and is one of only 2 species of iguana. It is an endangered species and during my time on the island I have been lucky enough to see them several times. The pictures above are from a sighting in the botanical gardens. We got very close to her without scaring her off and I managed to get some really cool pictures. On another occasion we managed to document a male and female mating on the forest floor on the slopes of the volcano. As far as we know this hasn’t been documented before. They get up to around 1.5 meters long including their tail. Real dinosaurs!  

The Botanical Garden Ranger

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Ms Clair Botan. (Stage name). Claire is the Garden Ranger and is my boss. She started out as a volunteer in the garden, then an intern and moved out here from the west country UK to be with her now husband Gadget. We mostly spend our days mocking each others accents haha.

Sonny

Claire's very cute pit bull puppy, Sonny. So tiny and oh so cute!

One-Chop-Liam!

Wild Passion Fruit

I found this one on the floor of the forest up the volcano trail.

The Island Parrots

These are the very beautiful but very noisy parrots which live in the town on the island. I think there are 2 pairs and they are so amazing. They dont look real. Im in pirate territory!

World Environment Day

World Environment Day was last week and as part of the reforestation project I have been working on in the Botanical Gardens, Claire the garden ranger and myself planted trees all day. We planted in various locations on the island including in the government office grounds and along the roadsides to prevent erosion. In the pictures you can see the commissioner and other government officials helping us do some planting. In the afternoons we were joined by a team of volunteers from the island to help us plant over 300 plants on the day in total. I think overall I must have planted over 50. I was exhausted!

Fell off the back of a.... ship!

A boat broke down on its way to Dominica. It came into Statia instead. it was carrying a load of fruit and veg for the markets. So i got myself some bananas, coconut, and pumpkin. I also tried a tropical peach (amazing!). Fell off the back of a.... ship.

The Strangler Fig

The picture above is of a strangler fig. From the canopy of a tree it often sends down vines (think tarzan). These reach the ground and set root. Now it has more growing power from the soil it begins to take over the tree and eventually covers it entirely. Often the tree inside dies leaving behind a cage. There is a fallen one inside the volcano crater. Of course you have to get inside!!!

The Crater Trail

The Quill Volcano - One of the most perfectly shaped volcanoes in the world.

 Last weekend, Emil and I went for a hike up the volcano and into its crater. The forest in the crater is primary forest and very old. The trees are some of the largest I've ever seen. Amazing to behold. It is very cool in there despite the heat of the day. Truly amazing.

The Atlantic side of the island

These cliffs are located at the front of the garden. From the entrance to the garden you can see out over the Atlantic sea. There is a nice walk along the cliffs which is perfect after the sun has gone down over the mountain. The sun sets over the other side of the island so in the evenings here is cool, breezy and perfect for walking. The garden is always busy and noisy so a walk down here is sometimes needed at the end of the day. Any excuse!

Weed wacking fashion

Here we have Emil rocking the weed wacking look. On all the catwalks of statia this hurricane season.

Vinnie, The challenge.

1.....2.......3...... And move away before you get attacked. Vinnie the garden cat is a strange one. Like a true cat he loves to lie sprawled out across the floor in everyones way. He loves to play with shoes and likes to bask in their glory. A fun game, when he is asleep pile as many shoes on him as possible until he gets annoyed enough to do something about it. You can reach surprisingly high numbers before he budges.