When you come here by boat, almost everything you see is mangrove. Most of them are fairly small. It's the only tree here that can live in salt water. As soon as there is dry land, other trees take over.

Coconuts, almonds and noni are among the trees that can live where the high tide occasionally covers their roots.

Mangrove on east side of Sardine Bay. You can see the sort of root system this tree has!

And here you can see the mangrove and it's roots and the coral in the carribean under the water.

The Indians have made a lot of canals through the mangrove to speed up travel to places they want to go to. They make these canals by hand. It's a comunity effort. All the men go and work until it is finished.

 

Wherever a stream or river reaches the sea then there you will find 'fingers' of mangrove. The stream deposits earth when the current is stopped or slowed by the ocean, and over time there is a place for mangrove to grow.

Some of the 'fingers' of mangrove are several miles long. But the ones on each sideof Sardine Bay are just a ew undred feet each. It's more that there is are hills in the centre of the land and atboth sides there is swampy land. When the skies open then the swamp drains into the ocean and takesa little land with iteach time.

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