Never in my life have I been in such a beautiful place. I am so blessed to have been chosen to be here. We’ve snorkeled in beautiful clear waters and been so welcomed by the locals. Our lagoon cruise yesterday in Rarotonga was so much fun. Hearing the music and seeing the culture here is […]
As we landed on Rarotonga the sunlight was peaking over the mountain and we were greeted by a drum band and dancer. Instant smiles and dancing ensued in the group. ‘Kia Orana’ ‘Welcome’ in Maori is what you hear from everyone here. Once were thru customs we headed to our hostel. In […]
Another day of poor Internet connectivity but great goings on! We started today with an island cruise off of Muri Beach where we got to see some giant Tridacna maxima inside protective cages. Individuals were brought over from Aitutaki (and they were not native there, but that’s a story…). The cages are more of a […]
Today we were fortunate to be able to hang out with the great Gerald McCormick. Our group was too big to fit into his office, so we set-up shop on the patio of Trader Jacks. Gerald ran through his history with the Cooks, discussed black rat (Rattus rattus) and Mynah Bird eradication projects, the downsides […]
We’ve landed safely, the students have had their first quick snorkel, and we’ve just let them off to go explore the BCI Trade Days for a few hours in Avarua (on Rarotonga).
Everyone is at gate 132 waiting on this here jet plane.
As we take off in a couple of hours, I look forward to immersing myself in another culture. I have traveled throughout Europe and spent time in high school studying a few European cultures. Being in a culture is vastly different from reading and learning about them at home. Last semester, I took the Issues […]
Gardenia taitensis or Tiare Maori is the national flower of the Cook Islands. This flower was introduced to the Cook Islands from Western Polynesia. The flower grows on shrubs that can reach four meters in height and is white with five to nine petals. In Novemeber, there is a week long Tiare Flower Festival where […]
We will be monitoring the temperature across the lagoon while in Aitutaki with Hobo Dataloggers. We will be deploying them in PVC cages build from off-the-shelf plumbing materials.
The classic marine ecology pastime of Pass the Pigs is about to rear its swiney head in our Cooks 2015. Many a scientist has wiled away the hours at an airport terminal or lounge on an Antarctic ice breaker passing through the roaring 40s either the help of small rubberized pig dice. The rules are […]
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