We go snorkeling and kayaking at Granito de Oro Island
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A lot of shakin’ and groovin’ from the boat last night as we made our way to the next spot. I haven’t hit the Dramamine yet but was a little unsettled in the morning. I went up on deck to check out the sunrise (nothing much). When I got back, Marion had the window open and after watching a little while she saw a dolphin. I grabbed my camera. We saw another one, then a third. Unlike yesterday where it was 3 and out, they were going along with the boat for awhile and I was able to somewhat time them. I managed to get a few shots of them in the air. It was very cool. They are tropical spotted dolphins according to the naturalist.
I should point out at this point that there were 3 naturalists on board. They led the tours and in the evenings they would tell us about the native flora and fauna. They were all very nice but one in particular, Daniel, was a big hit with the ladies. Marion, Audrey, and Barbara would all get pretty animated talking about him. Hugh labeled him Mc Yum Yum.
Anyway, we arrived off a very tiny little island called Granito de Oro. It was rocky on the back and sandy on the front with a coral reef in front of the beach. We got a snorkeling tutorial and I even found a mask that mostly fit me (which is always a problem). We headed over. They had set up beach chairs and towels and a water station. Very civilized. Marion and I took a wander around and took a few pictures and got the lay of the land.
The place is crawling (literally) with hermit crabs. They’re everywhere. You stare at one spot long enough and things start moving around. A bit freaky actually. If anyone dropped any food it would get covered with them.
We got our snorkeling gear on and headed in. The water was balmy. 82 degrees I think they said. Not quite as warm as in Cairns (Australia) where you could walk in and feel absolutely no chill at all. But close. When we first started looking there wasn’t much to see, but about 10 feet farther out, there were fish everywhere. Huge schools of these little dark fish with a dot on them. Clownfish and trigger fish. Big green neon things. Dark fish with polka dots. Okay, so I don’t know what any of them are called. There was also lots of oddly shaped coral.
The mask kept leaking, even with the decent fit, and it was a bit of a pain but overall very nice. Luckily I had learned the secret to clearing a mask of water while in Australia (blow out with your nose). There was also a kind of stinging plankton in the water. At least that’s what they said it was. I suspect it was tiny jellyfish. But anyway, if they sting you it can burn a bit. The solution is to pour vinegar on it. Mc Yum Yum was in charge of the vinegar and it seemed it was mostly women who got stung.
Cruise West had also brought kayaks over from the ship and Marion and I took a double one and went around the island. It took about 15 minutes. Just about the right amount of time. Audrey and Hugh did too.
We hung out for awhile then Audrey, Hugh and Marion wanted to head back. I didn’t, but I had to go to the bathroom and there were no facilities on the island, so I did too. On the way back we spotted a sea turtle in the water. Actually the driver did and stopped for us to see. A quick surface and then he was gone. But the only one we saw on the trip.
After a pretty quick turnaround I headed back. The zodiac was coming so I quickly grabbed what I thought was my mask but it turned out it wasn’t. But it actually fit better. So the next time in I wasn’t constantly clearing water, which made for a better experience. This time around I saw a big school of the neon green fish go by (15-20). Actually I saw one and as I turned to look at it I realized it was part of a much larger school. As I was saying “wow” to myself a reef shark swam underneath them. A white tipped reef shark about 3 or 4 feet long. Not scary sized. So I was quite lucky I got turned by the green neon fish to see it.
I got out and took a solo ride around the island on the kayak. I was looking for more sea turtles but no luck. When I got back someone spotted a big hawk (a Mangrove Hawk apparently) up in a tree. He seemed quite content to sit there even with all of us gawking at him.
I was getting concerned about sun burn (rightly so) so I headed back to the ship. I spent a few hours having cocktails with Audrey and Hugh and Allan and Barbara, the folks from the Alaska cruise.
Towards dinner we started getting some heavy seas and by the late evening it was really rocking and rolling. I went to the photographers talk on composition and he was having trouble standing upright. By the end, Hugh, who had also gone, couldn’t take it anymore and had to go back to the room. I was getting a little woozy but was all right. I went up to the front of the boat to download pictures and it was really jumping. After about 30 minutes I headed back to the room to bed. I was trying to put my camera cards back in the camera bag and things were shaking so much I had to sit down on the floor to do it!
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