Day two

Quite the morning coffee spot... can't think of many better. Another Bermudiful morning! After a great night sleep for all, we headed to a fantastic breakfast of pancakes, eggs, homefries, fresh fruit, and more. Immediately following breakfast, we then headed to Cooper's Island (a former NASA station, now a Bermuda Natural Reserve) to hike, remove some invasive species, and plant an endemic tree. We ripped out several Brazilian Pepper trees, Casuarinas, and other vines then digging a hole for our Olivewood that came directly from a Nonsuch Island nursery. After all that hard work, we headed down to one of the pristine beaches and set up a transverse of 28' to pick up washed ashore plastics and other trash. As we were all sweaty and hot, we had to hit the ocean for a relaxing swim and some snorkeling just to make sure we were adequately cooled off. We were lucky enough to see a few "baitballs" of fry and jacks forcing them to jump out of the water. A school of pompano, stoplight parrotfish, and a remarkable puddingwife seemed to have no care whether we were 5 inches or 5 miles away. So amazing!

As our morning came to a close, we headed back for lunch and to prepare for an afternoon jaunt to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum & Zoo. Luck would take over and a friend of a friend, whom just happened to be in charge of several of the animals, met us and took us for a behind the scenes tour. Wicked awesome! We learned so much that we would never had access to... all about how they acquire and procure the different species and why. A few hours well spent ending with the coolest harbor seal feeding and of course some light snacks for us. Back to BIOS for a great dinner and some well deserved down time including some rest to prepare for hiking, a cliff jump, and more snorkeling. Jut when you think you've seen beauty... more beauty pops up! Ending with an awesome sunset.