Today was unbelievable. We had our last class of the trip, but really it was just a party with a bunch of food and games and songs and awards for the kids. During the afternoon we went to L'Ile au Benitier, a tiny uninhabited island just off the coast of Mauritius, on a small boat to do the "Coconut Challenge".

This essentially amounts to climbing a coconut tree, reaching for a coconut while maintaining your balance, climbing down, breaking it open, and then drinking the milk/juice/water/whatever inside. If it doesn't sound like a marathon to you, maybe I didn't describe it adequately, because that shit was TOUGH. In order to break the coconut you have to whack it repeatedly against a rock for about an hour. It's only very infrequently that I feel like I'm some kind of mountain man, but today was one of those days. It was pretty damn rewarding.

I have a great video but unfortunately the internet is too slow to upload it. I fell from the tree the first time I tried to climb it and I've got some nasty gashes on my legs and my arms, but I'm happy I didn't break anything. Here are some pictures, and I think my ridiculous jubilation shows:


Climbing the tree


Excitement after nabbing my coconut


After breaking the coconut open

Tomorrow we are taking a field trip with the students to Chamarel and then I'm having my farewell dinner with my family and Sam's. Then I think I'll hit the bar for one last time on this awesome little island.

My flight is on 10:30 PM Saturday (2:30 PM in the States) and then I connect through Paris to Boston. I'll be back Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM EST. I'm excited.