Barbados
Today we swim with the turtles!
I had forgotten that the busses here, just oversized vans really, have additional seats that fold into the aisles to maximize seating. A short ride later we arrived at our boat which would take us to the turtle site and we were instructed not to wear fins while snorkeling with the turtles so as not to hurt them. Our guides brought turtle food and in no time at all, there wre 3 giant turtles swimming around us. We were able to touch them though we were asked to keep our hands away from their faces. No problem.
The fish food the turtles dropped quickly attracted a school of silvery white fish who fed on the remains, so we got a double visual treat. A half hour or so of this and we boarded the boat again to head for a sunken ship where we would snorkel with a variety of fish. In fact, there turned out to be thousands! Again, the guide fed them and fish of every colour swarmed him: black and yellow striped Sergeant Majors, lrge trumpet fish, slender silver/white fish called Jacks, and the surface hugging Gar and Ballyhoo. I was amazed to find myself smack in the middle of a huge school of Sergeant Majors with not one of them brushing against me or allowing me to touch it. How do they know? I so wanted to pet one.
We finished our afternoon on a gorgeous white beach where we soaked our happiness in glasses of rum punch.
Later, as the evening darkened I watched a distant cruise ship sink into the night.
I had forgotten that the busses here, just oversized vans really, have additional seats that fold into the aisles to maximize seating. A short ride later we arrived at our boat which would take us to the turtle site and we were instructed not to wear fins while snorkeling with the turtles so as not to hurt them. Our guides brought turtle food and in no time at all, there wre 3 giant turtles swimming around us. We were able to touch them though we were asked to keep our hands away from their faces. No problem.
The fish food the turtles dropped quickly attracted a school of silvery white fish who fed on the remains, so we got a double visual treat. A half hour or so of this and we boarded the boat again to head for a sunken ship where we would snorkel with a variety of fish. In fact, there turned out to be thousands! Again, the guide fed them and fish of every colour swarmed him: black and yellow striped Sergeant Majors, lrge trumpet fish, slender silver/white fish called Jacks, and the surface hugging Gar and Ballyhoo. I was amazed to find myself smack in the middle of a huge school of Sergeant Majors with not one of them brushing against me or allowing me to touch it. How do they know? I so wanted to pet one.
We finished our afternoon on a gorgeous white beach where we soaked our happiness in glasses of rum punch.
Later, as the evening darkened I watched a distant cruise ship sink into the night.
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