First Week On Catalina

Well it’s been a busy week and we have gotten to do so many cool things already!  We have gone hiking almost every day and snorkeling four times and a bunch of kayaking.  There has been a lot of work too since this was the first week of camp and we were still in training.  Next week we get to teach all the cool stuff we have learned to our own classes of kids.  The views here are beautiful and it is so clean.  Catalina Island is protected by the Catalina Island Conservancy so everything that gets built has to go through them first, keeping a lot of the natural beauty intact.  Sometimes it’s annoying though, like the fact that we really can’t get high speed internet or decent cell service and there are many steep mountains but very few switchbacks.  When you add it all up the good definitely outweighs the bad.  If I haven’t mentioned it before the organization we are working for is called Mountain and Sea Educational Adventures (MSA).

The picture above is of the best snorkeling spot on the Island, Doctor’s Cove and to the right is Whale’s Tail and Emerald bay.  The Boy Scout Camp that the organization we work for is leasing is on Emerald Bay, on the West end of the Island and is on the Leeward side, which means we are on the side that is closest to the mainland.  We will get to snorkel there at least once a week.  Also the small rock formation just past Whale’s Tail is called Indian Rock and we get to take the kids kayaking there at least once a week, and on weekends we can kayak anywhere we want!

We had the coolest ride over to the Island on MSA’s very own sailboat!  It was a really long ride and gave me a whole new appreciation to the men who sailed that way all over the world.  I got seasick about half way out of the Port of LA and spent the rest of the trip on my back but Richard got to drive for a little bit.

We are really excited for all the work we will be doing and also for the fun things we will get to do on our weekends.  There is even a backpacking trail on the Island called the Trans Catalina Trail or the TCT.  It’s only 26 miles long but to get back to camp we have to hike it there and back because boat rides are very expensive like most of everything here is.  We are having a blast!