Diego Garcia Tip-2-Tip bike ride ... an epic event!

What do you get when you combine 85+ Diego Garcia residents, a ferry ride, 36 miles of muddy trails, dirt road, paved road, rain showers, blistering hot sun, humidity, bugs, birds, rats, coconut crabs oh and bikes ... you get an epic event of muddy proportions (or something silly like that).

This Saturday Jared and I participated in the Diego Garcia tip-2-tip bike ride.  In a nutshell we woke up a 6am, had a quick breakfast, rode our bikes down to the Marina, took a ferry ride across the lagoon to the other side of the island, rode our bikes (mountain bikes that is) on 10 miles of dirty, muddy, coconut laden trails, then 8 miles of compact dirt road, followed by 18 miles of road.  The entire trip took us 5hr 15min, in which we saw amazing things (coconut crabs, red footed boobies, beautiful oceans), took a ton of pictures, and tortured our bodies.  A few lessons I have learned after this ride ... when you travel always bring with you a pair of bike shorts and your bike gloves (you never know when you will need these things, and my butt and my hands REALLY wish I had them on this bike ride), bring more than one pair of shoes (poor Jared only has one pair of shoes ... and they are not doing so great right now), Gatorade is probably one of the best drinks in the world (haha, if you have ever worked out with me Anna, then you might know that I really dislike Gatorade, but on this ride, I really think that I finally learned how amazing a beverage it can be).

The following is my photo journal of the event ... sorry for the length of this post (but it will mostly be pictures!)

Map of Diego Garcia Tip-to-Tip Bike Ride 

Early morning breakfast - fuel for the day!

Loading up the bikes - right one for bikes, left one for us!

Me and Jared before getting on the boats - yes it was already raining.

GRRRRRR......

On the Boat ... somehow I couldn't stop thinking about Saving Private Ryan

On the boat, looking awesome in our life vests

Made it to the other side, on the beach waiting for our turn to hit the trails!

Getting pretty excited!!!

Red Footed Boobies!! - These birds were like "humans what are you doing here, we live on this side of the island so that we don't have to deal with you" oh and they smell pretty bad ewww

The trail!

More of the trail. (It was raining at this point)

Coconut obstacles! 

Here I am ... looking hot and sweaty (and my helmet is always lopsided!)

Trails + cool trees

And the mud begins ... hahahaha (better to ride through it sometimes)

Coconut crabs on the Beach!

More Coconut crabs!

Red Footed Boobies!

This is where the fun really began ... rode down the middle of this and got stuck, haha!

More muddy trails!

The Indian Ocean :) 

And then we hit the road ... 18 miles of HOT HOT HOT.

Super tired at this point, wanting to be done!

Yay the finish!!!!! Just a little muddy ...

OK a little more muddy this way!

All and all, it was a fun trip.  And now the only places I am sore are my butt, my shoulders (from my pack) and my hands... which were rubbed raw from the handle bars and sand!

Oh and just for you non-believers or those of you who are saying "those trails don't look so bad" ... at times when I was riding I was literally in water mud pits that reached my waist ... while I was riding eek!!! So fun :)

Update about the blog (Dad read this!)

So I have recently been informed that you have to have a "blogger" account to comment on my blog ... I just changed this so that I think as long as you have a Google account (gmail etc) you can now also post on my blog!  In in the past I have had a lot of trouble with spam comments, so hopefully this can eliminate some of that, but still let people like my Dad post comments!

Photo Journal of Diego Garcia Life

So the internet has been very very slow lately and I have been having a lot of trouble posting.  While things seem to be a bit faster ... I am going to post a few pictures from around the "city" part of Diego.  

The an example of the really "beautiful" architecture on Diego Garcia ... this is the building I live in second story, 4th door from the left

The Gym that I work out in ... where being a girl makes you stand out alot.

Awesome outdoor pool!!!!  I miss swimming outside in CO :(

The sing for the "Galley" where we eat ... apparently it also has a 5 star accreditation ... and I guess compared to MREs it is 5 stars

Eating lunch in the Galley ... Arnold Palmer all the way!

Beautiful view of the Lagoon ... such BLUE water!

This is what $20 bucks can buy you in the Ships store (note the yummy yummy mango!!!)

Beautiful cloud :)

Jakes beach ... which is pretty much my own personal beach almost any time I visit

My feet enjoying some sun!

Still here, just a little more tan :)

I have finally really settled down into a routine here.  I am over the "shell shock" of being on a tropical island, so now I am able to actually balance having fun, launching balloons and getting some of my PhD research done :)  Here is a picture of me working in the "crate" enjoying my new favorite drink ... Coconut Water (really really yummy and pretty darn hydrating after a long day in the salty water).

At work drinking my new favorite beverage :)

I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday here.  I had to work the night shift (11pm-4am) so I made myself promise that I would not do any work during the day!  Heather and I went for an off road bike ride (coconut crab holes and everything), then Jared and I hung out on the beach and swam in the water, and Jared, Adam and I went to the CPO Club for Mongolian BBQ.  Here are some pictures

Here I am in my super safe dorky helmet that doesn't fit, but you know we are being "safe"

Here I am in my super safe dorky helmet that doesn't fit, but you know we are being "safe"

Here I am at Jakes Beach on my birthday!

Here I am at Jakes Beach on my birthday!

We have been making a lot of friends here on the island.  Seems like most of the military people working here are stationed on Diego Garcia for about a year, and they all are interested in talking to new people.  Tomorrow I have plans to go to the British police station for afternoon tea ... which I think will be hilarious.  This surly british police officer said that he would make us a cake for this special occasion, which I think is amazing.  I also met the guy who wrote the book on birds on Diego Garcia, and I was very happy that my Dad gave me a good list of birds to look out for so that I could sound really smart :) 

When you think about it, it is pretty darn amazing that we are in the middle of nowhere (seriously, nothing else is even close to us) Yet we have running water, power, cable, internet.  But of course, being a "first world girl" things I find somewhat annoying are that - whenever I try to use my microwave, i blow a fuse (even though people in other rooms seem to have no problems with theirs), my cable TV doesn't work half the time (even though it works in other peoples rooms) and my phone tends to ring a lot in the middle of the night and no one is there when I drag myself out of bed.  Oh well, if these are the major things I have to complain about, then things must be pretty awesome here!  Its probably a good thing my cable doesn't really work, because I have read 5 books while I have been here (The Help, The Hunger Game series, and the sequel to Pillars of the Earth!!) My Kindle is the best thing EVER!!!

Other things that I wonder about are ... why don't they grow their own food on the island, seems like that could be more efficient and even cheaper (and way tastier), and why do people need to drive around the island in F150s and other big trucks, when they don't pull or haul things and there is only one road?

OH well enough complaining.  I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but the military (or well ... something related to the military) hosts a series of fun activities on the island.  Swim/bike races, kayak races, golf tournaments etc.  So far Heather and I did a 500 m Kayak race (which doesn't sound so hard, except that it was!!), but tonight I plan to attend the "moonlight wander" 5K race, and on Saturday we are going to do the tip-to-tip 36 mile bike ride!  Wish me luck!

Pointe le est (East Point) plantation

Our first Sunday here Jared (a student from Penn State working at NCAR), Heather (a student at CU who works at NCAR) and I decided to visit the old plantation site on Diego Garcia.  Unfortunately Adam (the other CSU student) had to work ... but I really want to go back to this part of the island and so  I will try and drag him with me when I do :)

I am not going to go into the details of the history of Diego Garcia here (mainly because I just googled it myself... and you can do that too) but I found this blog which has an interesting explanation for the early settlements on Diego Garcia ... so If you want to know more than what I put in here, check it out!

Things I find a bit "funny" are ... originally Diego Garcia was a French territory.  And after dropping off pigs, sheep and goats on the Diego in 1774, and after sending lepers from Mauritius to Diego, they eventually they set up a few coconut plantations.  In 1810 the British acquired Diego Garcia during the Napoleonic Wars and they placed donkeys on the island in 1838 (this is important for pictures later).

The plantation is "open" to the public on Sundays, but you still have to get a key from the British military (BIOT .. British Indian Ocean Territory) and pay $2 a person.  So we bought our passes, jumped into the truck and headed out.  None of us had been beyond the research site, so it was quite exciting to drive farther than 6 miles on the roads.

As I mentioned above, the British imported Donkeys to the island in the 1800s, the Island is still home to a "pack" of wild Donkeys ... they are fenced out of the area that most people work/live, but to get to the plantation we had to go through the Donkey territory.  This is the first guy we stumbled upon ... he was smart and was waiting in the middle of the road.  He looked so sorry and mangy I actually fed him my apple!!

Donkey in the road :)

We also saw quite a few more donkeys on the way (including babies!!!)

After the donkeys we ended up on a dirt/gravel road, and we were in crab territory.  Diego Garcia is home to a number of fascinating crabs (some of which are quite fun to play with) ... but on this trip we saw the biggest hermit crabs I have ever seen, emperor crabs (which I apparently don't really have any pictures of, but I will fix this soon), and the coconut crabs (they are huge, and eat coconuts ... scary).  It is illegal to eat coconut crabs on this island (but people claim they are pretty yummy...).

Huge hermit crab!  

Coconut Crab!

Along the way we also passed by the british military's shooting range on the island ... where we just had to stop and take pictures in front of this very serious (but also hilarious) sign warning us of the dangers that we could encounter if we entered that part of the island.  Don't worry ... we did not actually go into the shooting area so I think that we were pretty safe!

Sign outside the British shooting range area

After a number of obstacles (huge palm fronds and mini lakes) we finally made it to the plantation site ... where we were then eaten by mosquitos (horrible tiny biting mean mosquitos).  It was interesting and yet erie to be visiting this plantation site which had not been used since at least the 1960s ... maybe even longer.  It felt somewhat like we were in some sort of zombie horror flick where everyone had died or disappeared and we were the only ones left in the world.

Plantation Managers house

Thank goodness I don't have to use this stove!

I think this is where the blacksmith worked ... 

After visiting the plantation we found this little beach alcove, where a few navy/air force guys were hanging out enjoying the nice weather and the beach.  We got to talk with them about life on Diego Garcia ... and they all convinced us to sign up for a bike race called the "tip to tip" where we bike the 36 miles from one end to the other along Diego Garcia!  While we were hanging out at this awesome little beach I got to see some awesome birds (Red Footed Boobies!!!), and watch a shark try and catch a fish!  We ended the day out at the plantation with a beautiful sunset!!  We then had an epic ride home ... were one or two crabs may or may not have lost their lives :(

This is the part of the lagoon where I saw the Red Footed Boobies ... they were in those trees, only my camera doesn't zoom enough for me to get a pic :(

Sunset :)

More Sunset :)

Life on the Island

Sorry I have been so slow to post things here ... the internet has been sooo SLOOOOWWW lately, but I am working late in the "crate" and things seem to be fast enough that I can finally post some pictures!

Life on the atoll seems to be much like life on any island, only even more extreme and without any real tourists.  Actually I think that we may be the only tourists on the island ... and we are working here so hmmm ... My only "complaint" has been that there are not enough fresh veggies here!  Maybe I am spoiled from my CSA, but it is so hard to live off of frozen/canned veggies. Thank goodness I am only here for a month, because I know that this will be the hardest part of living on the island!  One nice thing is that the price is right ... if we eat in the galley breakfast is $2.30, lunch and dinner are both $4.25.

Anyway, the speed limit here ranges from 20-35 mph and most people, including me, tend to drive below the speed limit.  The british military police are in charge of monitoring speed limits ... and apparently the fine is 10 pounds for every mile above the speed limit you are going, so I guess the charges could really add up.  When I am not driving to/from the site (which is about 6 miles from the town), I get around town on my "trusty steed" ... this blue Diamondback "mountain bike", where the chain is rusted and extra greasy :) $15 for the entire month ... and total freedom on the island!  I took this bad boy off roading today on the trails and it actually did pretty good!!!

My wonderful bike!

Everyone is extremely friendly on the island and I think the fact that we are "new blood" here and that we are not military and we are not Pilipino contractors, means that everyone wants to talk to us about why we are on the island, what we are studying and how long we will be here.  The military people all seem a bit bored so they have been stopping by to launch balloons with us, and they are always inviting us to go snorkeling with them, or play softball etc.    

The beaches on the island are amazing!!  And since everyone else seems to have to work during the day, we are often the only people on the beach.  So far I have been able to go snorkeling, sea kayaking and I have plans to try windsurfing when the winds die down a bit!!  (

The beach behind the "CPO club" - during low tide

My feet in the lagoon!

Me and the Indian ocean ... we are not allowed to swim on this side, only the lagoon side.

AMAZING Sunset - near the Plantation

Jakes beach at night.

If you ask anyone here, one of the best places to eat on Diego Garcia is the Sunday Brunch at Officers Club (O-club).  $10 bucks for all you can eat breakfast, including made to order omelets waffles and pancakes.  I plan to eat at the O-club every Sunday if nothing else for the wonder pineapple they serve (and is not available at any of the other breakfast eateries).

Me and Heather before Sunday Brunch at the O-club.

View from our table at the O-club