The Day We Snuba Dived

Snuba diving, the perfect marriage between snorkeling and scuba diving. You have an oxygen tank which is on a light raft and you have a 20 ft. tube attaching you to the tank. In theory this means you can dive and swim up to 20 feet under the water. And that was reality for one of our party... Annika. The rest of us struggled to get past the whole I really can breathe under water and I'm not drowning right now mindset. I think we all got it eventually, but I definable was not 20 feet under water at any point! I did, however, see amazing tropical fish and the coral reef. 

We were all so busy staying alive that there are no pictures. Next time I'll have Annika take them. Keith got motion sickness, which helped him decide that he will not be going on the sea cave exploring adventure we have planned for tomorrow. A raft along the coast for 5 hours would probably not be a good thing for him. We have tried all of the meds and tricks and he is just very susceptible to motion sickness. It is almost guaranteed he would be miserable for 4.75 of the 5 hours.

So I don't have pictures of an amazing under water world to share with you, but I do have a few from the Luau last night and from the little walk Annika and I took together this afternoon. The Luau was fun and the food was {mostly} amazing. There were a few selections that stayed on my plate. Mom, they kept blowing through a conch shell and I thought of you every time. 

I think that inside of each of us is a bit of wanderlust that causes us to be willing to trade the comfort of home for the inconvenience of travel. Just to see different birds and flowers and foods, it is thrilling and satisfies something deep within. The unfamiliar bird calls, the salt that only comes course ground even at Target, the comparison of prices and the excitement of finding exotic souvenirs all makes it wonderful... but it also makes us more grateful to return to the familiar, where life is predictable and comparatively easy.

And yet, it is not the sea birds that awaken us each morning... it is the crowing of many, many roosters. One of the funniest things to me about this island is the number of chickens, roosters, and chicks just roaming everywhere. They are in remote areas and in the Target parking lot. They are just everywhere.

So far we are having a truly wonderful, relaxing time. Our Airbnb has a kitchen where we are using so many delicious tropical fruits and fresh vegetables. They have an Instant Pot, so I made chili this afternoon because there are so many wonderful meals you can make with chili. The cost of food is definitely higher than we are accustomed to, but there are quite a few little stands selling fresh produce, so we are loving that!

Ok, I'm heading to bed soon. Early bedtime tonight because we have an early start tomorrow. People who just did this tour yesterday said they saw several whales. I'm soooo hoping we see one!