Friday, April 22, 2011:
Last night, at about half way through my sleep, I was woken up by drizzling on my head. It was to be expected considering we’re in the wet season. Actually, it was surprisingly refreshing. I grabbed the pillow, blanket, sleeping pad and i-phone and moved to the second level of the boat where there is cover. I didn’t want to go to my cabin where Matt was sleeping and my stuff was spread unorganized on my bed. So I laid my head down and didn’t hear anything else until the morning when the early risers were peering over the side of the boat on shark watch. And lo, what do you know?! They spot one! This wasn’t one of the foot long sharks though. This was a 6-7 foot HUGE shark circling our boat!!!! It was AWESOME!!! I followed that for about 10 minutes just intrigued and feeling like I was at the Shed Aquarium…. But a bazillion times better because it was real!
Soon after, we were called to breakfast where we were greeted with a full America style breakfast for the most part. Eggs, toast, fruit, yogurt and granola. I’ll just say that I had more than enough energy for the rest of the day after that meal. Our first activity for the day was snorkeling. Before we got in the Panda Boat, the guide asked if anyone wanted to swim with the shark. What was racing through my head was how I regretted not running with the bulls, so I threw my flippers and goggles on and was in the water before the guide could ask twice. He kind of looked at me in surprise for actually doing it, but then gave a shrug and was like, “have fun.” At this point, the shark that was a good 2 feet bigger than I was about 15 feet underneath me. What do I do? You guessed it: I held my breath and began to descend into the ocean after it. I got within 5 feet of it, hovering over the king of the sea. At the time, I thought it was a not violent shark, but I found out after that no one was really sure, so…. Yeah, who knows? I’m alive. I have officially swum with a shark! Not just a little dinker.. A real life potential man eater… oh yeah. When 3 more people jumped in to join me, the shark got scared and swam away in freight. My spontaneity and bravery paid off to gain an irreplaceable experience, but at the same time, I’m sure it could have paid off in a dangerous way. But, like I said earlier, I’m alive and well… for now :P.
We then got into our Panda Boat and drove to an island that was surrounded by coral reef filled with a mountain of species. To sum up what I swam with during the day, it started with that shark and was followed by various tropical and colorful fish, sea lions, tropical penguins, octopus, and crabs. I literally was swimming in the Shed in the close up tank except the natural ocean. Each one of these animals, I came within 3cm-5 feet away. Nowhere else can you have this opportunity where animals are not really afraid of you thanks to the protection of these islands. It ended up getting a little cold at the end, so we swam to the natural perfectly groomed beach between two coral reef coves to flounder around and sun bath…. Again, this is MY life. I can’t even believe it. Oh, and it’s not even 12:00pm yet.
We then returned for lunch and had some delicious lasagna. I have been very pleased with our food on this boat so far. I think I get spoiled 100% more in this developing country compared to in the US. I’m definitely not complaining. Later, we went o a board walk on Bartolommeo Island that was made of lava from a nearby lava pool under the water. You can see below, pictures of this place. The view looked like a mix of a Pirates of the Caribbean tropical hide out in between islands and Peter Pan’s Never Never land. I felt like I could fly… but didn’t try. I’m not confident in myself that much.
After leaving the boardwalk, the next activity on the schedule was snorkeling another time. This was at another volcanic island. The current ended up being too strong to swim, so we hopped back into the Panda Boat and they took us to another beach to hang out at for 30 minutes. At the island, I saw an iguana that was jet black to blend into the burnt volcanic landscape – very cool. This was the same island that we came back to about 2 hours later. This island, when explored more thoroughly was like something after the apocalypse. I was imagining that we were the surviving few of the human race after 2012 searching for the promise land and food. You can see the video. Who knows, maybe you’ll agree with me, but regardless it’s by far one of the most unique environments I’ve to in my entire life!
The rest of the night was eating dinner, chatting, and I’m trying to decide if I want to sleep outside again. For now, it’s raining, so the choices are sleeping in my cabin or on the second floor under the cover. We’ll see. I guess you’ll find out tomorrow.
Ciao,
Michael
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