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Adults may associate the Cayman Islands with banking and high finance, But for a team of National Geographic youth explorers—including one from Sebastopol—it's a tropical paradise full of exotic wildlife.
Sha'anan Levy wrote about his particiaption in the Geographic Kids Hands On Explorers Club on their blog. That's his picture of a blue iguana, below.
This is the essay that earned Sha'anan Levy his place on the Geographic Young Exporers team:
In Pursuit of the Day
Morning,
Wet nose,
Dog.
From bed to porch seems like a million miles.
Deep breath.
Aahhh. The fresh morning air wafts into my lungs, creating a cold yet relaxing sensation.
I step off my porch to go inspect a large puddle.
Puddle.
Light rebounds in all directions. I turn and see a spider's web sagging with droplets of
water. It glistens in the sun like a dozen diamonds after the cutting.
Croak, croak.
The mating song of a frog. I start in pursuit of the call.
Green.
I reach to look under a log. As I see the frog hopping away, I hear the melodious tune of
the finches in the old willow tree.
Flutter.
A Scrub Jay lands in a nearby puddle to bathe.
Staring at the shattered puddle, it reminds me of a pond's expanse of glassy surface when
interrupted by a sudden gust of wind.
Pond.
The Great Blue Heron flies as I approach; crawdads scuttle back into the water with a
flick of their tail. There is a steady ripple on the water as a school of mosquito fish
pursue a new direction.
I lift a structure of boards and find a gopher snake stuck in between planks. I quickly
grab a pick and pry the board off. With a great hiss the snake slithers away without
acknowledgment.
Kill deer, kill deer!
I lift my head to look at the plain of grasses where the banded bird resides. I hear the
loud honk of a mother Canada Goose protecting her eggs.
Ice.
My breath comes like ice as the night's fog encroaches.
Like the raindrop that journeys through sky, earth and sand,
To the oceans of possibilities I travel
Till I am coaxed
Home again..
