photography:: day two

Bermuda is actually a 22 mi. long island with many small islands surrounding it.  As you will notice in my photos, some are very, very tiny.  The only other island we visited in the area was Nonsuch Island.  It is a protected habitat with only a few regular conservationist employees and it requires a permit to visit.  Since we were there for the purpose of conservation, we were granted a permit and were given a fantastic tour by Jeremy, the scientist who has devoted his entire adult life to saving 1 species of bird, the Cahow.  They look much like a small version of albatross, and when he began working on Nonsuch there were only 2 mating pairs.  Each couple spends about 3 years digging an underground nest in the side of the cliff.  Not only do they dig back into the cliff, but then they carve out an escape tunnel straight up to the surface as well.  Crafty little things, aren’t they?  Once they have survived 3 or so years of making the perfect nest, then they finally take the plunge and decide to have a baby.  So yeah, they were nearly extinct.  There are now at least 141 mating pairs on Nonsuch!

Hurray for bird-sex!

So, in the following shots you will see my trek to Nonsuch starting at the dock on the main island, the boat ride, the visitor’s learning center, and Jeremy’s domain from buildings to birds.  This was my absolute favorite day of my trip and I took hundreds of photos during the 5-ish hour excursion.  I hope you enjoy!

~the ‘Sunshine House’, also the house Bermuda said NOPE to Oprah when she wanted to move there~

~this is where H. Ross Perot ended up after his career in the US, not too shabby for a family compound…~

~and this is where Silvio Berlusconi hides out~

~fyi…that is a 400 year-old toilet.  on the edge of a cliff above the ocean. with gun turrets. and a very very large cactus growing at the base of the exit chute.  and I laughed very very hard about this~

~Jeremy told us to ‘hang on, let me grab a bird for you’~

~he then proceeded to measure and weigh and do sciency things~

~private, protected, un-touched beaches = paradise~