Bats have a bad reputation. Movies and media have typically associated them with vampires, black magic and things that go bump in the night. I can’t imagine they make the list of many people’s favourite animals but I’ve always felt quite ambivalent about them – I mean I didn’t want to cuddle up with one on my lap but neither would I want to exterminate them without mercy. After all bats have incredible value as a controllers of insects and some bats can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes a night providing a highly beneficial alternative to pesticides for mosquito control.

However a few weeks ago in the dusky twilight I watched to see a squadron of bats flying like a military air force crew out of my roof into the emerging night. Ok, I thought no big deal, we have bats around the place – a perfectly natural part of living in this region. Then a few days later it appeared that one of them lost their sense of direction and instead of flying outwards started swooping wildly through the house. I’m not sure if it was confused by the light or was just a novice at flying but it appeared pretty erratic in its movements and landed on the bathroom floor. Getting a close up view of this creature I shuddered and could relate to the sense of disgust people feel when they encounter these creatures. Let’s face it, in the realm of the animal kingdom a bat is never going to win a beauty contest, but according to the Bat Conservation International (BCI), our fear of them is not all that rational as bats’ pose few risks to human health. However living with them in close quarters is not entirely acceptable and steps ahould be taken to remove them if they become a nuisance.

Thankfully the bat managed to make its own exit from the house but the saga continued to intensify with an intense screeching noise coming from our roof over the next few days. Quite clearly the bats were celebrating something and getting very comfortable in their home. They started to wake us up at night with their noise and at around 5 o’clock each morning one of them would consistently swoop through our bedroom. Its fast beating wings sounded like a small remote-controlled helicopter. I hid under the covers whilst my partner opened the window in the hope it would fly out. As a person who strongly believes in the principles of non-violence towards all living things (except cockroaches and mosquitos), I did not want to kill them but I definitely wanted these bats out of my house and fast! Continue reading "Going Batty – My Experiences with Bat Exclusion"

Continue reading "Getting Into Hot Water – Experiences of Hot Sulphur Springs in the Caribbean."

We Caribbean islands are remarkably similar and diverse at the same time. One thing we do have in common is that as islands we are all surrounded by the sea. But then the distinctions emerge – on some beaches you find the seawater is a clear with a bright turquoise radiance and on others is a shady dark blue. On some islands you can wade out a far distance from the shore before the water reaches your belly button and on others you are plunged immediately into 20ft chasms!

Depending on where you are on the island you could be soothed by the calm Caribbean Sea or rocked by the rougher Atlantic Ocean. Beaches can vary within a country and even more dramatically between each island. Whilst some islands have finely ground white powder sand others have a coarser black volcanic variety or even stones and rocks. Whilst Antigua boasts of 365 playgrounds for sea and sand, Saba hardly has places for lazy sunbathing but instead claims to be of one of the finest scuba diving sites in the Caribbean.

All these differences aside, there is a great healing quality to be found in these seawaters. Indeed the benefits of seawater have been known and documented for millennia. The ancient Greeks even came up with a name for seawater therapy – ‘Thalassotherapy’. It makes our ordinary sea bath sound so scientific and important! I really wanted to go for some thalassotherapy yesterday but it rained so I had to change my plans! Continue reading "Life is a Beach – Examining the Benefits of Seawater"