Scott's Head/Soufriere Bay and Champagne Beach

It was a wonderful day and totally worth the 3 hour round trip drive to get there. We went with the spouses group from Ross, with several kids and familiar people and so we really had a great time. The places are located on the very southern tip of the island so we drove from the black circle at the top of the map to the red circle at the bottom.

We met up with the other people going on the trip at the shacks near campus at 8:15 AM. The drive follows the western coastline of the island all the way past Roseau. The kids handled the drive down just fine and it was beautiful, as always. I was near a window and was able to get some pictures as we drove. I would love to fly around in a helicopter so I can get tons of pictures of this beautiful place, but I don't have that option so this will do. That hill is where we were headed. Notice the poor sunken boat in the front.

Once we arrived at Scott's Head, I chose to hike up the hill to get the view from above first. The girls went with me, but Ben headed to the beach with the only other boy, also named Ben. Once at the top the wind was really blowing from east to west. There was a rock wall and an old canon at the top look out point. The view was amazing. My girls would probably tell you the pepperoni was the best part - a friend shared with them. It was neat to see both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Since the trip I have wondered if I could have made it farther up the hill to see where they really meet but I didn't venture past the viewpoint.

There was a small sand beach that the kids really enjoyed. I took Marissa and Kemiah snorkeling with me and it was neat. The dark blue water that you see is where the sea floor drops off and it was neat to swim out to the edge. Luckily, the water was clear and it didn't drop very far so you could still see the bottom. I'm sure if you went out farther it would disappear but I wasn't that brave. The current was strong and kept pushing me towards the hill so it was hard to go very far, especially towing two kids. I don't think I will ever get tired of snorkeling but maybe I would still enjoy SCUBA diving, with the water as clear as it is here.

Once back on shore Kemiah really took to the water and would lay down to let the waves push her around. Marissa enjoyed a little more snorkeling by the shore. Ben, Emily, and Xiomara enjoyed all the other kids, building in the sand, capturing crabs and playing in the water.

After eating some lunch we headed off, back the way we came, and made a stop at Champagne Beach. It gets it's name from the bubbles that come up from the sea floor. I reapplied sunscreen on my kids and had one of them put sunscreen on my back. Then I was off again, to see what I could see. There were lots of different fish, colorful and big. I saw a squid family of 5, that I dove down and followed for a little bit. I really wanted an air tank so I could swim with the fish and explore without my ears hurting and my chest hurting because I was running out of air. Kemiah enjoyed watching me resurface though, and she would laugh every time. Xiomara came out with me for a little bit, saw some fish and bubbles, then headed back to shore with our neighbor. When I noticed Kemiah was falling asleep I headed back in so she wouldn't sleep

After this neat place, we headed home. I guess it is a tradition to stop off at an ice cream shop as you leave Roseau because that's what we did. The kids all enjoyed there own scoop, and Xiomara shared with Kemiah. It was so cute.

Kemiah was the only one who fell asleep on the ride home. She even stayed asleep as we walked home. I woke her up at our neighbors house because there were three cows standing on the side of the road and she loved to see the cows. We got home and ordered some Chinese for dinner. Kevin came home, grabbed a container of food and was back out the door to study. The nightly routine wasn't normal but that was okay because everyone was tired enough to just fall right to sleep. It was a great day!

If you want to see some underwater pictures and lots of squid, then click here to see a post on one of my friends blogs, who went to Champagne Beach with an underwater camera. Pretty neat stuff!