Today we all met at 7 am for breakfast before going to the Carambola Botanical Garden. The botanical gardens are right across the street from Anthony’s Key so we walked there all together.
The owner of Carambola Gardens, Bill Brady, greeted us by showing us different fruits from the gardens like star fruit, cacao, cashew, and more. He taught us some history of the island’s fruits and how to safely eat them. Then, he took us on a tour of the gardens, where most of the fruits were not in bloom yet. We then got the opportunity to take a 30 minute hike up Carambola Mountain to see a view of Anthony’s Key from above. It was really cool to view the islands from a different perspective.
When we returned from the gardens we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Some people took the opportunity to go snorkeling, while other went swimming, read, or napped, but almost everyone coincidentally met up for happy hour reflective discussions at the pool. We finished the day off by having dinner all together as a cohort and discussing next steps for coral and fish identification practice.
- Cadet Yanna Albarracin
Professors Stephen Kielar and Ariel Setniker contributed to this blog entry.
Check back often and follow the adventure with our blog series that gives the latest news from the International Experience summer 2024 program traveling through Morocco and Honduras prior to returning to Vallejo on May 27, 2024.
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ABOUT CAL MARITIME
Established in 1929, California State University Maritime Academy is the only degree-granting
maritime academy on the West Coast. Located in Vallejo, California, the campus offers
undergraduate degrees that prepare students for careers in engineering, transportation,
international relations, business, and global logistics. Cal Maritime also offers
a master’s degree in Transportation and Engineering Management, as well as a number
of extended learning programs and courses.