It's just after lunch on our second day of snorkeling and we've been in the water 6 times, I think-- twice already today--and several fabulous meals. I'm sitting on upper deck in front of the wheel house, trying to avoid the scorching hot sun. Next to me, a large brass bell hangs is suspended from an ironwood hanger mounted to one of the masts. A knotty and knotted rope hangs down. At about three Alex will ring the bell and that "ding ding", as we call it, will signal that it's time to gear up and get ready to go.
I almost forgot about the visit to see the baby black tip sharks. This was a sidetrip in the speed boats to an island. We crouched low in the shallow water, with just our snorkels, or you could stand on shore and watch them just as well. Alex took bate with him, and they came in for a taste. It seemed like hundreds, but hard to say. When we were told about this, we thought, babies, maybe six or 10 inches. Not. They were about 2 feet long, and darted among us while munching on fish bate. One took a tiny bite at Andrea's pinky finger and left five tiny teeth marks as a souvenir!
We are anchored between Wedding Cake Island and No Name Island. After snorkeling around that reef this morning, Margaret suggested Pre-nuptial agreement might be appropriate. I like it, but not sure it will win the up-coming contest at dinnertime. Out snorkel this morning along the shallow reef was breathtaking. The sheer variety of coral and fishes overwhelms: the colors are both brilliant and subtle. There is hard plate coral fixed in its place on rock, and on the sloping walls of the reef. They look like you ought to go sit on the. There are lacy fan corals that play in the current, some of them as large as 10m across. The free floating feather stars move about and attach wherever they choose, hang out for a bit, then move on. No photos underwater. Maybe next time.
My "fishlist" for these first two days reads like this: a schooling bar fish, schooling needle fish, mauve star fish, barimundi, leopard fish, yellow box fish, fusilier in huge schools, clown trigger fish, sardines in big schools, Clark's anemone fish, moorish idols, blue clam, bullhead parrotfish, a pair of huge angel fish, green turtle, baby black tip sharks, Christmas tree worms in multiple colors, damsel fish, spinney backed anemone, orange starfish, yellow snappers in a school, Indonesian sweetlips, sea cucumber, a pipe fish, a lobster hiding in the rocks, trumpet fish, nudibranch, and feather stars. It's a testament to our outstanding guide--weve had Alex these first few days--that I saw and can identify all of these sea creatures!
I fell asleep on the couches upstairs before heading out, and then again when we came in from visiting an amazing coral garden. It's like a vibrant, living, under water coat of many colors. I was cold and tired when I came in, so slept again. Eat, sleep, snorkel. Repeat.
I have what is probably the seasonal (summer) cold, at least that's what it feels like. The car exhaust and barbecues in Sumatra was bothering my nose and throat right from the start of our time there. By Fridaylast week, I hit the wall with post- nasal shit, and I've been taking OTCs ever since. If I'm late taking something, I suffer. And when we run out of Sudafed, which is soon, I'll be I trouble. And if Margaret gets it, we are in trouble.
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