So many islands, such little time

OAHU!

2011-10-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Travel has been minimal this past year, graduate school in Oahu has taken over for now. But I am working on my Masters in Social Work and loving it. I am still exploring the beauty of Hawaii and beyond, and once I finish school I will have time again to share my adventures. For now, enjoy the ones in the past, the blogs from 2008-2009 are from my big trip around the world, and them most detailed and exciting, enjoy.

Maui

2009-12-21T01:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas Party on the Ali Nui, and my first whale sighting of the season.
Mi Casa

My View

Oh yeah the car.
Little Beach

Colombia

2009-11-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

Cartagena Colombia is overwhelming my senses. The old walled city is a giant maze of churches, plazas, flower covered balconies, Spanish architecture, art, music, fresh fruit, horse drawn carriages, cobblestones, and beautiful women.

From the top of one of the walls you can gaze at the old city, glance to the ocean on the right or across the bay to the skyline of the city. It is spectacular. Surrounded by over 1 million friendly Colombians, I am quickly learning the culture of this Caribbean town and looking forward to exploring the diversity of other parts of the country.

A friend I knew in Honduras was randomly here the first few days, she is fluent in Spanish which has helped, and we had a blast together. It was perfect to have someone for many of the events as they were intense and sometimes intimidating. We went to the parades, and spent the evenings wondering to different plazas, listening to music and drinking rum.

We also made it to a discothèque one night for some dancing, it was quite the place. She has moved on and we may meet each other again in time, but our adventures were pretty fantastic, I hope you enjoy them.

Fiestas all week

I have been very lucky to have arrived on the week of the Independence Festival for Cartagena. During this week of partying they celebrate being the first area to win independence from the Spanish. Also during the festivities they have the National Beauty contest and the winner will go on to represent Colombia in the Miss Universe contest. Each day a variety of events take place in the streets and even one on the water, this lasts over a week and it is a big party every day.

The main event, the parades were spectacularly bizarre, and a blast. Fortunately my friend and I were warned of some of the customs and we able to prepare for the event. Basically wear shitty clothes and bring nothing important. Water, foam, cornstarch, and even oil are all fair game.

The giant cans of foam sold on the streets are a soapy substance that looks like snow when blasted at a distance, or when shot at close range a stream of soapy silly string looking substance, luckily the soap substance smells nice and just brushes off or fades rather quickly.

The other thing that occurs is children cover themselves in black oil and beg for money while threatening to rub it on you. This custom seems to have gotten a bit out of had and got pretty annoying, but I learned to carry small change and just try and avoid them.

The first day of parades was the children’s parade, beautiful costumes, loud music and dancing. The next day November 11 is the actually day of independence. We watched the parade on the street and found ourselves covered in foam and corn starch from head to toe.

It was a blast watching the people on the streets covering each other. Being gringas we were more of a target then others but we found that if you don’t make eye contact you have a better chance of not getting sprayed, but we still were.

Also being fair to the Colombian tradition had our bottle of rum with us to partake in the celebration. This helps a lot when you are being covered with any and everything.

The next parade we decided to watch from a distance as the floats carried the beauty Queens along the road by the water, it was fun to see the event from a safe foam free distance.

The following day the beauty queens were on boats waving happily to the crowd. On final day of events I joined the family I am staying with to the parade on the road near their home.

We were in a great spot and had a chance to see the parade close up. I was lucky to only get a little corn starch and foam thrown on me. I will say I kind of like the foam, but probably wont miss it too much.

Volcan del Totumo, 150 feet of mud

This was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life, I will try and explain with words and pictures but I don’t believe that will do it justice.

We took a tour bus for an hour outside of Cartagena. As we arrived at the volcano I was surprised to see it was a giant mound of dirt 60 feet high with two sets of steps up to the top. It was explained to us that this village lives solely off the tips they receive from tourist that visit. We would have the chance to get a massage, have someone use our camera to capture the experience, and have the women wash us and our clothes. We are asked to provide each with a tip. We were instructed to bring only the bathing suits we were wearing and a camera.

We ventured up the steps while looking out at a gorgeous bay and mountainous area. Once at the top we looked in the 20 feet wide hole of mud to see several people laying on top of/in the mud as the 2 worker men slid them around and into place for their massage. We waited our turn while watching in awe, confusion, and uncertainty. As I climbed down the ladder the cool mud swallowed my body and the man instructed me to lay down with my head in it, he painted my face, all but my eyes and mouth and gave me a massage.

Once he was finished he slid me over to the corner so I could enjoy and soak on my own. The hole was very small and the men just kept letting more people enter and no one was getting out, it was a bit awkward. And the mud is so thick that it is hard to control your movement, you can’t swim and unless they slide you around or you hold onto something it is pretty hard to control your movement.

The heavy mud on my body and in my suit made it difficult to climb the slippery ladder out. Once I made it out one of the men guided me to a platform and he sloshed the mud off of my body for me. Weird.

From there we slowly went down the steps to this area where women were waiting, they walked us through lilly pads and had us sit down, the water came to my neck, and they washed us. She also had me remove my swim suit and she washed it as well.

They guided us back through the lily’s to shore and we were finished. And that was it. Later on as others finished, each of the people that had helped us came for their tip. We were told that fifty cents for each of them was a minimum, I think we gave each person $2.50, it was well worth every cent.

Quinceañera

In Colombia the girls fifteenth birthday is much like sweet 16 in the states but it is a big deal. I have been lucky to be a part of this event for the child in the family I am staying with. My friend Claudia who is also traveling was nice enough to join me to this event, as a guest, and my translator. According to the family their party was very different from a typical Quince Anos party, usually it is a fancy family dinner.

This was very different, a lot of whisky and music. We made the mistake of arriving at the party to early, and this was after a day of parade events and drinking. So we sat in one of the several chairs set in a large square in the driveway. We chatted and drank and as the night wore on we got very hungry. We were then pleased to see them bringing around trays of food, the first one was pork rinds, and we were offered some off the try (to me this is like giving someone one Pringle and walking away) the next tray was tiny strawberries. At this point Claudia and I are tired hungry and drinking whisky as they served it to us, getting drunker. Because my Spanish sucks Claudia gets the opportunity to breach any awkward situation we get ourselves into. So she asked about food and they told us after the Mariachi band.

Of course there is a Mariachi band, can’t have a party without one of those. So the band comes walking up the road and plays several songs. At this time the birthday girl is standing proud with the family, and she is in tears. So dramatic, she must really be a women now. She defiantly looks like one, she is gorgeous and could pass for 25. Anyways by the time this is over there is still no food in sight so we sneak into my room for some trail mix that mom packed for the trip. It sounds silly but we just needed something. As we exit my room we are caught by the oldest son. He questions what we were doing, Claudia tries to explain that we were hungry and their was trail mix, but from his reaction he must have assumed we were doing what most people think you do in Colombia, (sniff). Pretty funny, you probably had to be there.

Anyways we waited about another hour and at this point the mariachi band has gone and a new band is on the way, they are to arrive at midnight and stay till 6. Oh and did I mention the speakers for the music are hanging on my bedroom window, the music is actually louder in my room then at the party. We are both too exhausted to think at this point. Claudia decides to venture home and I am so exhausted and hungry I pass out happily in my bed and sleep thought the blaring music all night. The next morning I wake up early to head to town and I find a big pot that had been full of food. Looks like they finally had dinner sometime after midnight. I guess we should have know.

And that is the story of my first Quince anos party. Muchas Gracias

I hope you enjoy the many random photos.

Good Bye Philippines

2009-05-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

At Pandan in the market

Nice clear day

In 369 days around the world,
I have,
Lived in 6 different countries,
Made a home in 8 dwellings,
Quit 6 decent jobs,
Slept in 27 beds
Flew on 21 airplanes,
Watched television 11 times,
Emerged on 214 dives off of 16 boats,
Fell in love with 3 dogs, 1 kitten, and too many people to count.
And now I am home

The last 3 months in the Philippines have been an embrace of the culture. The staff at the resort touched our hearts and took us into their homes. Our last week’s goodbyes were a challenge. As a goodbye gift we surprised the 6 staff members (Amore, Reigna, Pressy, Loida, Victor and Anthony) with a giant bag of rice to share along with frozen chicken halves and cans of fish for each. We gave them the gifts between paydays and you could tell they were happy to have something to bring home to their families to eat that night. The feeling of giving so little that helped so many families was intense. The giant bag of rice cost us $25 and will be enough to feed the 6 families for a week. Of course after this first experience we could not help ourselves and donated another $25 for them all to share, it is hard to believe how far money goes in other cultures. Our last night there we took all of our leftover things and left them for them to share as well, lots of sheets, books, food, etc. I also prepared a disk for each of them full of the pictures I had collected of them and their families in the past months. We made an effort to attend graduations and parades and photograph these moments for them, on many of the occasions that they could not attend. I also gave them all several pictures of the reef in the area and the fish that they can share with others on their DVD players at home. Perhaps it can help people to learn more about saving the fish in the area. The final goodbyes were very teary eyed, and we left them one last surprise in the morning a giant sign in their language wishing them love and goodbye.

The big bag of rice

Pressy and Loida with the chicken, fish and rice gifts
Reigna and Amore
Victor and Antonio

In our last months there we saw so much culture. Here are a few quick stories to share, they are all pretty random and don’t fit together but I thought some of you might enjoy them. And of course tons of pictures.

The other day I went to Pandan on my own while Russ was busy diving. On the way back I waited for over an hour at the bus stop. There was a local woman there with her child, she was dressed in western clothing, nicer then what I was wearing, and taking care of her 6 year old bribing her with treats like any family. At the same time the mom was holding a live baby chicken in a plastic bag, with only its head sticking out. Funny how this seems normal to me now but made me stop and think how shocked most of my friends would be to see such a thing. The woman was taking a baby chicken home on the bus to raise for food. After a while I noticed she was struggling with a hole in the bottom of the bag and the chicken was struggling to get out. I gave her a fresh bag to use and the guy next me helped to make a hole for the chickens head, she was very thankful.

The last few days the sea has been very rough and we have helped to pull the boat in and out of the water a few times. They are very good at it, which makes sense as they have been doing it their whole lives. We all work together which is fun. They use 3 logs and several palm fronds to help keep it from sinking into the sand. We then roll the boat up or down one of the logs till it comes off then we move the log to the front and keep pushing, it is pretty quick. They also use a big winch thing made of wood and bamboo, it is the same thing they use to pull in the nets. You could tell that the fisherman helping us had been pulling I boats all morning along the coast. It was gave a wonderful feel of community.

Pulling out the boat

Yesterday we went to Pandan to go to the market, use the internet and have lunch. It was nice to get away. There are a bunch of doctors here from Manila to give free surgeries for 2 days. The hospital was crowded everywhere with people, waiting from 4 am on. They did all kinds of surgeries from circumcisions to removing tumors. Nice of them to come here and do this, just sad to think of the people waiting there all day to try and get an operation to save their life and perhaps being turned away.

The resort finally put their dog Stein to sleep today, and tonight they will eat him. And as weird as it sounds to our culture I feel no room to judge. I asked one of the 19 year old girls if it was true they would eat him and she asked me, “You don’t eat dog in your country?” I replied no, she said, “but you eat chicken, and cow and pig?’ Yeah she has a point, why not eat dog. She was excited to try Stein, because she and the other staff had only eaten native dogs and they were excited to try a healthy well fed Dalmatian. In the end after cooking him for days to make the meat tender he still tasted the same as a native dog. I went on to tell her about us eating insects in Thailand and she thought that was pretty crazy. I guess if the opportunity was there, I would try one bite of dog, you only live once, and it can’t hurt to try. I would prefer it to NOT be Stine. It is food, and when there are many hungry people and small children then best not to let anything go to waste.
P.S. I DID NOT EAT DOG

Me and Stine (RIP)

We got a new kitten, with Stein gone they can have a cat again (he liked to eat them), it is very small and cute and in need of lots of attention to get healthy, but it is doing much better. When we found her she was smaller than my hand and starving with a big cut on her chin and eye. After a week of fish and rice, some cleaning, and lots of love she is strong and healthy and so hard to say goodbye to. The locals are used to cats being everywhere and they treat them more like chickens, animals, not pets. I think after seeing us love her so much they may even pet her and give her some love now that we are gone. To help remember us they named her Russhall, A combination of our names. So sweet.
Minny and the kitten

Bernie told us an interesting story the other night. There was an Austrian Missionary that came here many years ago and he picked 20 women to send to nursing school in Europe. Most of these women then fell in love while they were away and this is where all the foreign residents come from that live in Antique (the local province). It is interesting to see how one man can make such a difference. These women went away and came back with an education, many with rich husbands and the ripple effect to their families and the community was huge. Hundreds of people in the extended families are benefited by the resources used to support the rich husbands and building their homes. I assume this cost the missionary a fair amount of money but to look back on it he really did make a difference.

After going to Pandan the other day, one of the girls came to me the next morning wondering if I had lost my wallet in a Jeepney the day before. I did not think so but when I went to search for my wallet it was gone. I guess the person that found it gave it to the driver and he came by and asked the security guy if we had lost it. I did not even notice, it took one more day to get it back as the driver only passes the resort twice a day and I missed him both times. When it was returned the $10 cash was still there as well as all of our cards. What a relief and what a pain it would have been if we had lost them all. I gave him a gracious tip for his troubles and honesty.

We went to see the Elementary school graduation. We arrived on time and like most things here, they were running late. There was another graduation down the road and the mayor of the area was still there so we had to wait for him. The children of age 5 were in bright pink graduation gowns and caps. The 6-9 year olds were all dressed in their nicest clothes and covered in makeup. We have noticed here that it is a status symbol to wear lots of makeup, you want people to know that you can afford it (unlike in western countries where your makeup should make you look pretty but be hidden) so here it is very bright. The girls have the most vibrant colors of lipstick. While we were waiting for the mayor we enjoyed the nice wholesome music of America Rap/R&B. The young children knew every word and loved dancing along to it. People were selling ice cream and the kids were trying to pass the time. One of the school teachers was happy to speak with us and I requested to see the classrooms. She told us that there are 4 teachers for the 80 students, one for kindergarten, one for 1st and 2nd and also one for 3rd and 4th . The classrooms looked like any classroom. As the graduation began they were talking in the local dialect and suddenly we heard them mention “Phaidon Resort” and then they said something about Scuba instructors, they were welcoming us for coming to the graduation. It was very nice of them to consider us. We are white and we are noticed, we are used to it, but here we were recognized. The children walked with their parents to the stage and the graduation began. The kindergarteners were recognized one by one, with all the classes they commented on how many were girls and how many were boys, not sure if this is normal or not but it seems a bit odd to me. After the kindergarteners students from the other classes were awarded ribbons for things like best attendance, and parents received best parent and so on. This seemed to go on for a while with the congratulations and the parents pinning the ribbons several times. After the ceremonies each class prepared dances. The first one was the 3rd and 4th year students. The song was oddly “Knock 3 times on the ceiling if you want me” a very provocative song and the dancing was extremely sexy. From across the dance area Russ and I exchanged glances of shock by the humping dance moves the children were making to the opposite sex. And the last dance with the kindergarteners was again very provocative. No wonder they have so many kids so young here.

Gradaution dancing
Kindergardners wondering what to do with thier diplomas

We went to a meeting with the fishermen and the leader or President of our Barangay Tingib. It was challenging. We are trying to accomplish a few things on the beach/sea in front of the resort. We wanted to educate the fisherman about more sustainable fishing. They use drag nets here and it takes everything off the bottom and if they don’t want to eat it they leave it on the beach to die. My slide show was to show them that they are killing things that they cannot eat but the nutrients these fish provide help to feed bigger fish and help them grow. We were also trying to get acceptance to put our small artificial reefs nearby. They told us we can put them 450 meters out, they have no concept of distance, and this is 30 meters deep at least and much father then they go. The fishermen that do not speak English looked very angry. As a group they are not nice people and are very powerful here, the local workers at the resort are scared of them, and would not accompany us to this meeting. The government is run by money and power (like all are) but the corruption is more acceptable publicly here. The barangay President did seem to understand what we were trying to say and that we had a good point. We want to increase tourism and we don’t want them to stop fishing, just learn how to do it more sustainably. We showed them all some videos, tons of fish pictures and we came away from the whole thing with not much. They agreed to try and not throw dead fish on Bernie’s beach; this is what he really wanted. And we established that we could put the reefs really far from our beach near a reef 200-300 meters down the beach. It could be worse, as far as I see it, we may have changed one person’s opinion on fishing and the reef or at least made them think and that is all that matters. The meeting was held outside on plastic chairs near the children playing. The kids even got a chance to see some of the photos, they were thrilled by a short video I made of a real Nemo. Every little bit helps and it is interesting to try and understand their ignorance and that it is not their fault they are just set in their ways.

We followed up on this by going out and trying to save the fish. As they were bringing in nets and we saved tons of them, including 2 very unique hairy frog fish. I brought with me a translator to explain to them that I just want to save the fish that they cannot eat and they did not seem to mind. It may make their job a little easier, one less thing for them to do. It seems that normally they throw the fish back but sometimes they are too late. We know now which ones they think are poisonous so we can start throwing them back right way, as well as any special ones we may find. I did find one Nemo, and even though they eat him I just could not help myself, had to save him, and the locals just laughed at me.

Goodbye sign for the staff Us and the kitty our last night
In the kitchen for goodbyes

Random Photos
A local friend in the fiesta parade

A dive adventure day, 15 tanks and 2 people on the trycicle

Local boy
Kids posing
Lion fish

Bernie, Mary Chris and Joyce (the owners)
Looking Pretty for the camera
Rice on the road laying out to dry
My front yard

Joyce Ann

Loaded Bus, and room for more

Philippines Life

2009-03-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

Phaidon Beach Resort is situated on a dirt road, 20 minutes away from the nearest town. There are many local homes near by. You notice these by the thatch roof and windows with no glass or screen. They are close together and very small, some only 2 rooms for a family of 5-10. They get their water from a pump that is outside that they share with the neighbors. The chickens, geckos, spiders and rats have free reign on their home at any time. Which they do not seem to mind. Some of the homes have floors but most only dirt. The people are always smiling while they work. Most of them work at their homes, cooking, cleaning, maintenance, usually only one family member is at a paying job, while the rest keep the home going. There are several small shops on the road selling soda, candy, chips, and other basic goods. There is one store we can walk to that has eggs and meat and a few other things but very minimal. Tricycles made from a motorcycle and a box of metal with seats carry the people to town for goods. They load up to 15 people on these, some on the roof, or anywhere they can fit. Or you can wait a bit longer and take a bus for about the same cost, on the bus it takes 10 minutes where the tricycle more like 30. The dirt from the road covers every inch of your body on the journey and chokes your lungs. The people that live and work in this area don’t know any different. Most of them have television so they see a different life but many of the people have never seen the civilization that westerners are so accustomed to. It is all normal to them, and for me as well it is becoming normal. I do not expect the toilets to flush, or to have a seat on them. I don’t expect anything to happen fast or on time. I do not expect to see white people outside of the resort ever.
None of this bothers me any more. It is when I dream or think too much about things I miss that I get upset. I miss my own space, which I can keep clean. I miss a couch to get cozy on. Some nights I dread having to walk outside and 20 feet to the bathroom, but others I am thankful to get to look at the millions of stars on my walk, there and back. They are spectacular.

The main town where we do all of our shopping is called Pandan. The slow movement of the locals is constant. People stop their routine to watch us walk past. White people, especially with blond hair are not common here. There is a main road and a town park. Off to the other side are several churches on the way to the town center, then a basketball court full of happy noises. Across from it an Internet café, were kids pile in at lunchtime to play every electronic game imaginable. They do not have things like computers and x box in their homes so they come here for it. We walk on to the Filipino style-shopping district. There is a large square in the center of the 3 blocks where the market shouts, especially on Mondays and Fridays. Fresh bananas, mango, watermelon, tomatoes, potatoes, and often vegetables I have never heard of before, my favorite to taste. Fresh meat hangs from hooks along 2 rows and the butcher stands waiting for a sale with his bloody knife by his side. The fish vendors sit along the back walls and the smell leads me there. I have an unsettling feeing as I view which of my favorite creatures they have killed this week. Tiny sardines, crabs the size of a quarter, blue spotted rays, and not a single fish bigger than a foot. They lay, dead in the hot sun waiting to be bought and eaten.
On the other end of the square are a couple of stores. One has several large canvas bags of rice flour, chicken feed, and a trash can full of lard. And hanging from the front of the shops small bags of colorful spices, and tiny dried shrimp. The next shop is our main grocery store where we have a few more options, package noodles soup, powder flavoring, tiny bags of chips, cookies, wafers, and candy. Single serving packs of shampoo hang in long strands from the ceiling. We wonder why they sell so many items in single serving, it seems it would cost more, perhaps the money is only available sometimes to buy just one. The shop also has a section of alcohols, one kind of cereal but a whole rack full of raisins.
From there we go on to the next shop with everything from buckets to Barbie’s, sponges, batteries, rugs, pans, toilet paper, speakers and hair barrettes. Walking pasted and outside the square are many bakeries each with 20 different sweets boasting different colors textures and sizes, all tasting the same. A few eateries along the street with stew like dishes displayed in glass cases bring in the locals for their lunch.
Some of the rooms along the road have pool tables and several people packed in watching. There are pharmacies and hardware’s stores. A cart comes by selling fried chicken, even the feet. As we walk back towards the main road to the bus we pass a small trailer for fast food. We each get an asado poa, which is a soft white puff the size of a baseball with meat inside. We continue pass a school four stories high with all the teenagers standing looking over the rails. They wear blue skirts or pants and a nice white shirt and look down at us and encourage our attention. A small wave peaks their excitement with giggles as we walk past. On our way to the bus we hear the sounds of drums in the distance. As they approach we notice a car followed by a small parade of people as a funeral is working its way to the church. Sometime when the child is small the men just carry the casket the whole way.
As we arrive at the bus stop we notice by the influx of children that it is time for lunch. The girls stroll passed holding hands and hiding from the sun under a shared umbrella. We sit on the three metal bars of the bus stop seat and continue to deflect the odd looks and appreciate the smiles. The local drivers try and convince us that the bus has passed and we must pay their fare but we continue to wait. Soon the bus arrives, and speeds us away from Pandan and back to the seclusion of our quiet beach resort. It has been a successful day of shopping and we are ready to enjoy the sunset before cooking dinner and falling into bed. Just another day in remote Filipino life.

Our dive boat

NEMO

Underwater view

Our very large gecko friends, outside our room

On the boat to Boracay

Crab

Shrimp

Our wonderful staff

Jelly Fish

Big Fish

Banded Pipe Fish

Flamboyant Cuddle Fish

Me Underwater

Lizard Fish

Nudibranch

Pretty Crab

Decorator crab

Flat Worm

Pretty Boracay Beach

Minny the Puppy

Me drinking soda local style

Flying Sea Hare

Robust Ghost Pipe Fish

Pig going to market

Pretty pictures of the Resort

Simply Living

2009-02-14T00:21:00.001-08:00

The entrance to the resort

Coming to visit mom in the morning

Life in the Philippines so far has been very different from our other experiences and different, we are in the most remote lifestyle we have had. Living in a resort in the middle of nowhere has given us many different views of life. For the first time in our travels we are living in a enormously remote area where we are appreciating the chance to see the local life first hand and learn about it. This is also the first place we have received such a strong reaction because of the color of our skin, but not in an offensive way. People are interested to see us and look at us, but are tremendously friendly about it. My favorite part is the children; they are not shy, they point and dance and are totally shocked by us. It is so hilarious. And they love to pose for my camera, I could not ask for much more. Then I show them the pictures of themselves and they squeal with delight.

Local children in their school uniforms

At the resort we are working with many locals that live within a few minutes. In the last few days we went to see and visit them at their homes. The first home we saw was Victors, he has helped build the whole resort, he does everything, electricity, plumbing, wood carving, anything that is needed. He brought us to his home so we could give gifts to his kids. The children were very scared and curious about us and our presents. It was interesting to see their total shock of white people and at the same time the joy to get new toys. His house along with other few homes we saw were very basic, dirt/cement floors, cement block walls, sometimes a stray chicken, television, and one room. Very basic homes full of people. We went to visit their rice terraces where they harvest the rice 3 times a year to feed their families and others in the area. The terraces are spectacular and green just before the harvest. Most of the locals depend on the rice and vegetable and the minuscule local fish for their daily diet. As one of the girls explained, when they are our of rice and can not afford fish they use some local flowers and plant greens to make a salad. They were all extremely welcoming to have us, and excited to show us their homes, but still very shy and scared about what we would think of there simple lives. One of the girls showed us the water that they get from a pump near their homes, sadly she said could not offer it to us, because our stomachs may not agree, but instead her mom opened some coconuts for us to enjoy.
The dogs

Up the river from the sea

Adorable children during lunch break

Playing in the river

On our beach, our dive boat in the background

We have lived in this country for over a month now and I am continually surprised by how friendly the people are.
Another very interesting thing about the culture here is the Catholic religion. Very different for us. Lots of beautiful churches, and a very modest culture. We visited a local cold springs the other day which happened to be a holiday and it was full of locals. They were all drinking and having fun swimming in the giant pool. But they had clothes on, a couple of bathing suits but mostly all dressed and swimming. Of course I had a skimpy suit on and drew a bit of attention being white and little clothes, but still just friendly smiles.
We are getting used to being the only white people in most areas and I don’t notice it any more.

Learning from the locals in our kitchen

Yeah I can finally open my own coconut

More kids smiling, my favorite

That is all I have for now, my new life is not very good for my computer and I do a lot of my writing in my journal, eventually it will all get here, but not now. Time to go enjoy my very romantic Valentines with my Mom and Russ.
More in time
Love
Rachel

P.S.
Look Down FOR TONS MORE PICS

Rain flower

Mom and I on the beach

Happy Hour in Boracay

Seven of us on the tricycle and all our stuff (still room for many more)

All our staff and a couple of fun guests

Fresh coconuts at Pressy’s house

Pretty sunset

Me eating weird colorful puffy cake (with little or no flavor)

At the cold springs

The cold springs

Karaoke

Bamboo ready to be sent down the river

Teaching mom to do laundry my way

Our empty beach

Our pretty puppy, Minney

The tinny Tarsier monkey

At the chocolate hills

Rice terraces in Boho

Baby Pig

Local Boat

Loaded tricycle

End of the Year and Thailand

2009-01-15T04:28:00.001-08:00

Me and the Monkey

Two Thousand and Eight

Fireworks in Curacao
Sitting alone amongst a friendly a group of strangers,
Diving into the new day
Sunset divers my work,
Submerged into friendship
Surfaced as family.

January ended with an essential goodbye
As my Grandmother took her last rest.
Those last years drifting back to infancy,
In New Jersey we gathered to remember the memories she lost,
To smile and say goodbye.

February brought a diving rush,
A Valentines crush,
Seventy hour work weeks,
Filled with lonely exhaustion.

And then my fathers soothe,
Sharing my space
Enjoying comforts of home cooked meals.
Surprised by his relaxation
As I plunged him into my underwater world,
Using his thoughts and encouragement,
I bought tickets to Africa

March launched at the airport,
As I waved Dad goodbye,
And my crush returned.
Just a few weeks of romance,
Or so I thought.

Then a rush of company
Mom arrived,
We indulged in cuisine at night
I sunk her dive fear by day
And swam her through my world.
Becca followed,
With drinks, dancing and even a dive certification.

April rushed,
Not ready to leave my land house apartment
With my borrowed dogs,
Falling in love at the wrong time,
Countless plane tickets in the way.

A week at home,
Celebrating Cheyne’s life,
Helping Dad with surgery to help him see,
Showered in my girls,
For a crazy weekend of love, laughter and tears.
And then the goodbyes,
Too many to count.

May in the Seychelles,
Sailing on stunning yacht Erica
Embracing my solitude
While learning my need for socialization.
And yearning for his embrace.

I swam, walked, biked, and bussed around 5 islands,
Peaking into others lives,
I learned

June first we reunited,
An airport in Kenya began our next journey,
On our way to our new island home,
Completely shocked by Dar Es Sallam
A big city
And its poverty.

Arrived in Zanzibar, and shown our new village home,
Nungwi astonished us with its simplicity,
A small Muslim village,
No electricity,
Mud huts,
Happy children.

July we decided to leave,
Slow unhappy work,
Little money,
And a challenging every day existence.
Hundreds of applications sent,
Discouraged by the world seeming so small
Finally Mozambique answered,
Our first choice.

Zanzibar left its mark,
The sparkling turquoise sea,
Falling into beautiful reefs of dolphins and camouflaged creatures.
Stone town market
Every color burqa imaginable,
Covering everything,
Only leaving beautiful smiles.

August launched over waves
Swimming with whale sharks,
Getting cleaned with mantas,
While freezing in the Mozambican water.

Pensao family welcomed us,
A hostel home,
With a kitchen,
We cooked a lot,
Tipo engulfed us,
And we had fun

Septembers start
Changed my perspective . . . on everything,
I saw 8 humpback whales underwater,
A few days later I looked straight into the eye of another.
Once in a lifetime luck, I indulged 9 times that week.
The fear and excitement a reminder how small we are.

Tofo changed every day,
As people left and others came,
Friendships formed and disappeared quickly,
I got depressed,
Working hard and missing home.

October came with a decision to move again,
To a new house and
Thailand was calling,
We decided to answer.
Gave notice at work and bought tickets.

Our last month rushed by,
So many dives and tourists,
And 12 hour days,
Music, local food and parties.

November goodbyes,
In a rush with not enough hugs,
We drove south, through villages,
And into South Africa,
A safari of elephants, giraffes, lions, monkeys, rhinos, hippos, and more
Trampled us out of Africa.

We arrived in Thailand,
We met Blue Sky.
They sailed us around,
And we chose Ko Lanta.
Made a home, rented a motor bike, and found some work,
We were happy,
And the food was amazing.

December came with a shock,
Political unrest in Bangkok and the tourism halted
Worked stopped,
And we decided it was best to leave,
We ate as many banana leaves and curry as we could.
And rejoined Blue Sky.

Sailing south to Malaysia,
Christmas dinner in Koh Kraden,
Bright sunsets emerald caves and rocky nights,
Ending the year in Koh Lipe,
A sleepy island,
In sight of Malaysia,
And somewhere west,
The future.
And once again,
The year ends in a bang of colors.

Being towed on the kayak

Us and our Blue Sky Family

Sunset over Ko Kraden, our Christmas island

The Christmas group of strangers and fun

Blue Sky goodbye to Kraden

Our spot in Lipe

New Years Day

The light house in Langkawi

Langkawi harbor beauty

The boats

The monkey really liked the carrot

Russ and the Monkey, it really did love him

Ko Lipe beach

2008-12-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

Our first sunset back on Blue Sky

The tastes, smells, colors, sounds, and feelings of Thailand have aroused all of my senses. We have now spent over a month on the friendly island of Koh Lanta just off the west coast of the mainland. We are just starting to get settled in to the way of life, the food and friendly faces. Which means for us, it must be time to leave. We both feel we are leaving too soon but with little work and a incredible opportunity ahead of us, it is time to go. We will leave here this week to explore the rest of the islands as we sail south to Malaysia. We will be getting back on board Blue Sky and spending the holiday and the following three weeks with Jim, Emma, Phoebe and Drake. Before I look forward to what our future sail may bring I want to finish feeling everything Ko Lanta has offered.

Our favorite part of Thailand by far is the tastes. Our palates have been overwhelmed with a beautiful assortment of snacks to try as well as a wide variety of dishes to devour. The food stands have offered us many options and we try each one with no clue of what we may get. The banana leafs are by far our favorite and no matter what has been carefully wrapped inside they tend to be sweet and delicious. Sticky rice with sweet egg, or coconut goo; who knows what they add to these things but each one is scrumptiously delicious. The tastes and textures always tantalizing, and never too sweet.

Hot Peppers

Food stand YUMMY

Meat at the market

Our favorite foods

The rest of our senses have been inundated as well. With the strong smell of fish in the market, the colors of temples and mosques against the brilliant blue sky. The sounds of locals smiling hello and Muslim prayers in the distance, and the textures of everything from exotic fruits, to soft hands in traditional massage. The combination of it has us craving more and now feeling sad to say goodbye to it all. But we are excited about the different sensations to come. With still 3 weeks to enjoy Thailand, a more deserted island landscape should be fascinating.

We have spent the last couple of nights in Patong, a crazy tourist mecca of Thailand, it is a bit intense. Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, all the comforts of home. Surprisingly we can not afford any of it, as it is 5 times the price of what we are used to spending on a meal, and the coffee is the same price as a big mac. A bit ridiculous, but okay as we will always know where to find American crap food and it forces us to continue to enjoy the Thai treasures before we leave. There is a tourist carnival on the streets here this week which is giving us a chance to see Patong full of culture. The beach sidewalk is bursting with massage booths, art stands, tourist shops, shows, and tons of local food stands. A huge variety of food, everything from fried whole baby chickens, to ribs, clams, papaya salads, coconut pudding, king crab eggs, the list goes on and on.

After a few beers I insisted on finding us some bugs to eat, you can’t live in Thailand for a couple of months and not eat bugs, right? We found the crazy street full of people and lady boys everywhere. Frogs, beetles, grasshoppers, maggots and more. In conclusion, they all tasted like bugs. Some of the smaller ones were salty enough to hide the taste a bit, and we bought a sauce to dip them in, but they crunch and ooze and taste like bugs. We will not be buying them again, but we did it.

The romance of sharing a bug

Bugs

Fish Eggs

Today we will go Christmas shopping, it is a real treat for us to have so many options for things to buy, but a bit overwhelming. All the vendors were begging us to come see their Armani shirts, fancy Dolce purses, fake watches and sunglasses galore. All I really want is to buy some cute local clothes but I have to weed though the knock off western fashions to find them. Oh well. Then we will be done with the tourist circus and ready for a tour of quiet islands as we sail south.

Our plan from here is to sail south to Ko Kraden for Christmas, they know of a Christmas party at a resort there. We will then explore a bunch of beautiful untouched island as we go further south to one of their favorite islands Ko Lipe, where we will spend New Years. Once there maybe we will find some freelance work for a few days, or for longer who knows. From there we will end up in Langkawi around January 11th and then come up with a plan. I have added a bunch of new photos of us, food and people. I hope you enjoy and there will be more to come next month. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a safe New Year.
Love Always,
Rachel

Us on the boat

The family

Thai Temple

Our motorbike

On our hammock at home in Lanta

Me and cute puppies in Lanta

Welcome to Thailand

2008-11-13T01:38:00.000-08:00

The first day we slept till noon we must have really needed to catch up. And then we went to explore. It was raining a bit, and the city was very busy with people everywhere, and Thai everything. It is pretty interesting. Unfortunately I was not feeling very well. A bit of a stomach ache but that is okay. We stopped for our first Thai meal and a menu full of options, the food all looks and tastes so wonderful, different, and SPICY.
At this point we were feeling a bit unsure about what we were going to do and were we were going to go. My friend Chelsea that we had planned to stay with is on an island much farther away then we had expected. It is on the side of Thailand and apparently does not have as good of diving. Plus she is finishing her instructor course this week so we did not want to go there yet. But we are very fortunate because Becca’s Aunt and Uncle are here; they are traveling around the world on their sailboat with their 2 children. You can check it out at www.thevoyageofbluesky.com, anyways they are very sweet and they will be here for a little while and invited us to come and stay on the boat for a few nights.

That is where we are now. They have been very friendly and wonderful and the boat is beautiful. Yesterday we went to the beach at the Marriott and swam with a baby elephant, really strange to see and play with an elephant in the waves. Also there was a holiday yesterday called Loy Krathong where the Thai people make these beautiful arrangement and you light a candle and let them go into the sea for good luck and new beginnings. Some of the arrangements were carved out of fresh fruit. The most intricate flowers you can imagine carved out of everything form papaya, to watermelon and pumpkin. Positively stunning. And now we are sitting on their sailboat between the mainland of Thailand and Phuket and preparing for a sail tomorrow. Basically we are trying to adjust and enjoy a whole new culture, and loving every minute of it.

Kruger Safari South Africa

2008-11-13T01:11:00.000-08:00

Russ and I in the safari truck

Us and our Slovakian Safari Friends

In our tent

Elephant and baby

Buffalo

Our Campsite

We saw everything we wanted to see and more. When we went to meet the group of guys we would be spending the 3 day safari with we were surprised to see they had been diving with us the week before in Tofo. It was 5 Slovakians all wearing the same safari hat, pretty hilarious. As we arrived it the park we were greeted with a baby elephant and informed that it is baby season and we would be seeing miniatures of everything. The drive started in a modified pick up truck with 3 rows of seats in the back and open windows. The weather was a bit cool but this turned out to be a good thing as it brings more of the animals out and about. We wrapped ourselves up in a blanket and began our journey.
The first thing we came across was a giant elephant very close to the road, and then a moment later a heard of buffalo crossing the road. The buffalo stopped to stare at us for a moment and then continued moving on. We looked forward to continue our drive and saw a wart hog in the middle of the road scurrying across to the other side and in to the bush. Pretty ugly and mean looking creatures. Next we came across an enormous wrinkled white rhinoceros grazing in the savannah grasses. It stopped to look up at us with goofy smile. He almost looked friendly, but I think the smile is a bit deceiving. He is called a white rhino because the Dutch first saw them they thought they were very wide and called them a wide rhino and over the years the translation became a white rhino, the other one is called a black rhino and they are much more rare in the park. After that we spotted a solitary zebra with perfect parallel strips, they looked so flawless like they were painted on.
By this time it was almost 8 am and we had already seen so much. We pulled into our camp area, a fenced in miniature town. With a store, restaurant, bar, gas station, bathroom and shower facilities and housing any where from luxury to campgrounds. Our rest camp was situated in a back corner and consisted of several rugged plain gray tents all set up with mattresses. Also there was a dining area set up with a breakfast buffet of fresh fruits, cereal, yogurt, and pastries. This is where we would be spending the next 2 nights, with all our meals prepared for us between our drives into the park. Just outside the fence we could watch impala graze in the area and in the distance an elephant climbing a mountain.

Baby Lion

Baboon

Giraffe

After breakfast we began our next drive, which ended up lasting all day. As we pulled out of the park our guide would stop many of the other tour trucks to chat about what animals they saw and where they saw them. They were sure to talk in either the local language or to use code words for the animals so we were not prepared or expecting anything particular. We came across every type of small deer like creature you can imagine, water buck, sable, kudu, reedbuck, wildebeest, bush buck, suni, and more. A group of female impala and one male with huge spiraled antlers as he kept watch over the ladies and worked on his hard job of impregnating all of them. As we continued on I made some small requests for a giraffe and maybe some monkeys. Moments later a 15 foot giraffe appeared on the side of the road and with in moments several more randomly through out the horizon. We came down a hill then and into a valley where we found some baboons and velvet monkeys making lots of noise and running about fighting. From there we moved along in search of one of the big 5 we were missing, the lions. After hours of driving we finally found them, sleeping under a tree far in the distance, about 8 of them, with a few of them just little pups, amazing. Throughout the drive that first day we saw tons of elephants, giraffes, monkeys, rhinos, another heard of buffalo in the distance. And all of these animals had a little baby hiding by its side. Truly spectacular.
We returned to our camp as the sunset for a nice walk around the park and an impala stew for dinner, complete with some local fixing of pup (a corn meal based potatoes like dish) very popular in the area. And with a wonderful bottle of South African Shiraz.
Zebra and baby

Velvet monkey and baby

We woke the next morning to begin the day at 6 am with a short drive before breakfast. On our way out we were informed of a group of lions feeding over a kill. We came to the spot with several cars stopped to watch as the lions 2 large females feeding on a buffalo and another female with her baby close by laying on the ground relaxing. They were just close enough to get some amazing photos. We enjoyed a quick breakfast while watching some of the local bird life. A spectacular shiny blue cape glossy starling also a yellow black and white crested barbet, as well as several helmeted guinea fowl running around the camp.

Me and my camera

Lions Feeding

Lepord

Hippo

Giraffe

We began our day in search of some hippopotamus and a leopard to complete our sightings of the big 5 most dangerous animals in the park. As we pulled out of the park we heard the loud noises of a bunch of elephants running and making loud grunting noises. One of them ran into the road and looked at us like it wanted to charge us but then continued galloping off to the other side. As we listed to that one grunting in the distance we noticed a herd of elephants moving towards us to follow after him. We watched in awe as a group or 30+ elephants of all sizes crossed in front of us. Spectacular.

Moving on we came to an area where we were aloud to get out of the car. We walked down a fenced path to a viewing area over a pond, where we came across several hippopotamus. With a further look we noticed a crocodile just below the surface moving past. The area was filled with beautiful yellow masked weavers that were squawking loudly. Also standing in the shallows near one of the crocs was a little egret feeding on some of the small fish swimming by. From there we moved on in search of the leopard. On our way we came across an elephant that appeared to have 5 legs. Our guide pointed out that the other leg was indeed its penis and as we got closer to him he must have been un happy to see us as we watched it slowly shrink back to normal size were we could no longer see it. But it really was the size of one of his legs, kind of scary.
Moving on again we came across tons of cars stopped looking under a bridge at a sleeping leopard far in the distance, we moved to the top of the bridge just above him and our guide began to make hyena sounds to convince the leopard that there were hyenas in the area that would go to munch on his recent kill. As he began making the noises we looked down and just below us we spotted the leopard awake and move from his spot over to him dead impala and begin snacking. It was incredible to get to see this all so close up, and some amazing photos. From there we stopped to have lunch at one of the fancier rest camps. There were beautiful bungalows looking over the river that we had been traveling by and it was filled with hippo of all sizes, including a little baby one. After lunch we continued on back to camp to enjoy our last dinner.
The next morning we woke early for one more quick drive before heading off. Not much was out this morning but some last elephants, a couple of giraffes in the distance. At this point we felt like we had all seen pretty much every thing. We did come across a group of baboons on a rock. The male was going to one female after the other and quickly mounting and mating with them. Apparently the women can not get enough so the one male has a lot of work to do to keep them all happy, even the young babies. Every few seconds as they finished, they would make a loud noise. Rather hilarious to witness. All in all it was a great way to end an eventful safari.
Russ in one of the safari hats

Rhino and baby

Me and the Giraffe

Monkey family

Baby Lion

After the safari we went back to Nelspruit and rented a car to drive around a bit and to get us to the airport in Johannesburg four hours away. We drove to the mall in search of the civilization we had been craving so much. And much like my last few reintroductions to civilization it was a bit too much for my senses. My eyes got really big and started to hurt after a few minutes. The mall was packed full of people and things everywhere. We tried to shop a bit but I gave up. Russ got some ice cream and we used high speed Internet for the first time. I forgot how fast it could be. On our way out we went in to a grocery store (they have lots of these in the mall here) to buy some snacks for the ride. I got a little frustrated when all I wanted was cheese and there were too many options and it was located in 3 different sections, does that make any sense. Anyways we made it out safely and began our drive.
The countryside was truly picturesque, lush and green and tropical it surprised me a bit. We arrived at the Johannesburg airport a bit early (or so I thought) and were looking forward to getting settled and ready to fly. The ticket counter informed me that we were very late and about to miss our flight (apparently I cannot read military time). We ended up going from the rental car to being on a plane in less then 15 minutes, sounds like a record. Anyways from there we flew through Doha and then to Bangkok and finally at midnight local time into Phuket. Making us 14 hours from home. And barely any time to look back at our quick goodbye to Africa.

Goodbye Mozambique

2008-11-13T00:58:00.000-08:00

Fatimas, Us with Mike and Emily

Devil Rays

Manta

Whaleshark

Halloween Night

The local Market

On our Roof the last night

More Halloween

Young Kid

Our last night in Tofo was fun; we went to the local place with some friends for dinner. Then to the bar Fatima’s to have a goodbye drink with everyone. It was fun, almost bittersweet, and through our exhaustion we did not want to say goodbye. The last morning went okay as well, luckily we woke up early and got everything packed because our ride showed up 2 hours early. We went to my favorite local lady at the market and said bye and gave her a Tofo Scuba shirt. Then to our money exchange guy and the bread shack guy and gave them shirts as well. Strange goodbyes to people we may never see again. We bought some souvenirs, including a couple bracelets from a small boy, in exchange for a couple of pictures. We did not get to say goodbye to a few people but oh well it happens. I GOT MY PASSPORT BACK, it is not stamped but the guy I am with knows people and promised to get me out, and I got $170 back so that worked out well. Just lots of stress for no reason.

The first part of the drive was plesant; some Peri Peri stands where they make local hot sauce, with tons of different kinds. And then a turn off to this little village of Zavora, a very lush area with thatch-roofed homes scattered sporadically on the way, very Africa. Our friends John and Roy, that are driving us are opening up a small dive shop in this untouched village. We sat in our own chalet looking over the sea from a whole different view; we were in one of the nice cabins because the place is empty at the moment so we got a great discount. And there is television in the restaurant, meaning we get CNN for election results. We woke up at 7 am hoping the generator would be on to tell us the fate of our country. Of course it was not working this morning. But after some begging we convinced them to attach a battery to the television so we could be some of the last people in the world to see that we have our first black president. Pretty interesting to be here in Africa and watch such a historic moment. And I am proud to say that I did manage to cast my vote, it was a bit of a process, but I got it done.
From there we continued our drive through Mozambique to the South African border. We drove through the several mile flood plain where they told us about the massive floods that rushed through the area several years ago. It was interesting to hear that during such tragedy the people all worked together to help each other survive. And there was no looting or crime or anything. Anyways as we arrived at the border Roy told us the plan that him and I would go to check the car in and Russ and John would go check themselves in, and then we would just leave. The plan worked perfectly and just as we were driving over the border and Roy was congratulating me that I was crossing the line and safely smuggled out of Mozambique the car died, right on the line. Fortunately it started again and I made it out with no drama. But a fun story.
From there we arrived at the hostel, which was a beautifully decorated home, made comfortable and perfect for backpackers. At this point we were convinced to go on a Safari the next morning. We had talked about renting a car and just driving ourselves but the safari seemed so much easier.

Our House

Our money exchange guy in his new shirt

Tofo

2008-09-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

Here are some random picture, one of a bunch of friends, a couple of Russ and I, a nice sunset, some more of friends. So enjoy. I also added some writing. Love ya

September 2, 2008
Last night was really fun and today I am regretting it a bit, BUT I had the most amazing dive experiences ever. Today I saw 8 humpback whales while I was diving. This is so rare and lucky most people don’t believe me. The first dive was to manta reef and the song of the whales was so loud you could tell they were close by. I knew that one of the divers was going to run out of air first and I knew that we would have a better chance to see them just the 2 of us with less bubbles. At 10 meters we saw them for the first time 2 huge whales swim by us. My heart jumped into my throat, they we each about 8-10 meters long about 4 meters wide. I was so excited and shocked and even a little scared. They are gigantic animals. I did a little happy dance for my buddy thinking that was it when another swam below us, and finally 2 more right past us. My whole body was in shock from the excitement. Completely unreal and amazing to swim with such immense creatures. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment but also that I did not get a real proper look at them as the visibility was bad and I was in shock. Since this happens so rarely I was wishing it had been more clear figuring it was the only time it will happen in this life time. We came back to the shop for a break before. My friend the video guy decided not to do the dive, he joked, “no one can see whales twice in one day.” Right now he is slapping himself because somehow, I proved him wrong. The second dive was nice and deep and short, the divers were happy and the whale song was barely there. As we came up to finish our safety stop all of a sudden, out of the blue 2 colossal whales and the baby playing around just below teahe surface. This time the visibility was clear and they were so beautiful and so close. My heart about jumped out of my cheat. Such massive remarkable creatures. The fear and exhilaration clash so much my body does not know how to respond. Really spectacular.

On one of the boat rides we did also see a baby hammerhead shark just below the surface, also a first for me. Days like today make me realize why we are here.

Other then that things are okay here, the days are passing quickly, hard to believe it is September already. We have mixed feelings about Tofo but we are here for now so we will make the best out of it. We have a lot of friends and people are constantly coming and unfortunately leaving. I guess it never hurts to have more friends scattered around the world, I just hate goodbyes. Something I have become very familiar with in the past few years. Okay that is all for now. Love and kisses.
Rachel

September 7, 2008
Saw another whale today, unreal, I was taking someone on their first dive. Defiantly my best experience yet, very close and curious of us and really a bit scary. It was about 20 feet long and it seemed very interested in us. It was so close I could see the barnacles on its face. It seemed odd that we were in such shallow water (20-30 feet) and there in front of us is a whale. I actually swam away from it as I brought the diver close to the ground to watch what it would do next. It is interesting to see how my reaction has been such fear, and also wanting the line that goes to the surface. Part of my fear was wondering if mom might be near by and concerned that it was coming so close to us. I was not sure what this beautiful creature was going to do next. It went up to the surface for a moment and then came back down to look at us again. I did have enough time to look it to it’s giant eye. A once in a life time thing and this is my 9th in a week. Everyone is very jealous, and a bit sick of hearing about it. I found one friend last night that also had a whale experience this week and we snuck off a couple times during the party to indulge in conversation of our fortune. I am really lucky or perhaps timely is the right word. I guess going in on my day off to teach someone to dive turned out well. The diver knew of his luck to see a whale on one of his first dives seems unfair. Some divers spend their lives in search of one of these encounters. Perhaps they like the pink of my BCD, whatever it is, I can only hope they keep coming. And I get to continue to share the experience with others for their first time.

2008-08-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some random thoughts and journal entries from our first weeks here in Tofo. And tons of photos. Enjoy.

Some shots of Us at work

Tofo Beach

Crab

The Market

Nice Sunset

My day off

The front of the shop

Shop View

Boat Launch

Pool

View from our door

Our new room

Russ wondering why I am taking more pictures of our new room

Our courtyard

The Beach

July 23, 2008
Our new home is a hostel/hotel. All of the hallways or in-between areas are outside. There is a main bar area/ living room where we can help our selves and just keep track of what we drink, and a television. Then another house area with a bathroom kitchen and a couple of rooms, then outside to another kitchen, and a nice sitting area/ courtyard of sorts. Did I mention also there is HOT water. Then there is a strip of rooms, like a motel and one of these is ours. It does not have much light but we have been making it home more and more. There are 2 twin bunk beds so we moved them together which gave us a big bed and some more space. It is okay, it works for now. The living situation has lots of pros and cons. The kitchen is so much more then what we had in Zanzibar and it is like a playground for me; 2 burners, a hot plate, a microwave, a refrigerator, lots of pots and pans, and knives. That part is nice and we do not have to do our dishes, we really do not have to clean at all so that is pretty nice. There are 2 watch dogs and watch men that do the cleaning. I feel very safe here, even leaving the room unlocked when I am in the area. There are also some steps to a patio area where we can see the ocean. It is a great location, 2 minutes from the beach, 10 minutes from Tofo Scuba and then a couple of minutes to town and the market. We are living with 4 of the guys that work at the shop and 2 of the girls and the owners are around and sometimes some other random guests. It is fun for now, the guys are great and the company is nice. But we are still looking for something else more permanent. We have to go outside to go to the bathroom and it is cold at night so that part sucks. But to be fair this house has many more luxuries then we had in Zanzibar and we appreciate them all very much. It is funny to think how we still live a far more simple life then most Americans. But we like it.
August 1st
Seeing something new. I pretty much knew what I was going to see as soon as I was told there was space for me to dive. Suddenly in the past 24 hours the whales sharks and manta rays that have been gone for two months are back and they are everywhere. They spotted 14 whale sharks yesterday. These are pretty good odds, but nature is a funny thing and can always change.

I would have to say that from my experience with divers, the Whale shark is the number one most sought out fish to see. It is extremely massive, by far the largest thing I have ever seen in the water. Like a bus. It is absolutely huge 20-30 feet long and 10 feet wide. But is moves calmly and gracefully causing no harm to snorkelers chasing it through the water. The only time someone has been hurt by these giant creatures has been from getting too close and getting a little accidental slap by the 5 ft tail, as you can imagine this may hurt. This creature is part of the shark family and it feeds on the tiny particles in the water. And for some reason they LOVE Tofo Mozambique and apparently they will be here now in masses for several months. The dark blue gray skin is spotted with identifying white dots, different on each one. Today I got to see one. As the boat headed towards Manta reef I patiently waited to here the words to slid into the water. The whale sharks spend most of there time around a certain point so I was prepared and waiting. Finally the captain spotted one, how he does this must be local magic as I did not see the shadow till it was right next to us. I was the first to slide in the water and right no top of it’s gigantic tail, the visibility was to poor and the fish far too big for me to see much more then its tail and about the back 5 feet of his body as I swam with all my energy to keep up. After realizing I could not catch up I climbed back on to the boat, feeling happy but not quiet satisfied. After our dive on our way to the next site I again waited and waited and was beginning to loose hope when there one was. Again I was the first in the water and I could not find it. I looked up to ask the captain and the guy next to me yelled for me to look down. The gigantic creature was a foot below me, and actually startled me being so close, and there all of a sudden. After catching my breath I continued to swim with him watching the small fish around his mouth as he glided through the water. After several minutes there was another 10 people in swimming with him as well. And he really did not seem to care. I guess maybe he is enjoying playing with us. I wonder if this gigantic fish, that must have a brain a large as my whole body realizes that it is one of the most desirable creatures to see. Truly a magnificent piece of nature.

Manta Rays are yet another creature near the top of every divers list. I saw so many of these today we lost count. Imagine a colossal butterfly 10-20 feet wide swimming gigantic circles through the water. Then imagine 5 of these creatures circling and dancing in an out of your vision. These are really beautiful creatures and also not a bit scared of divers or their bubbles, more just interested. The mantas also have identify white marks on their gray skin, each one so different. It is hard to keep track of which one just circled and which one is new, but really to me it did not really matter, it was truly amazing.

August 2, 2008
I had a nice day today, especially after this news. Spent the whole morning on the beach. It was a beautiful day. Then found out about the job and that Russ passed his first exam and that he saw a baby whale shark which is wonderful. And there will be many more of these to come. Went to look for a place to live and meet some guys that live here and play music and they seem pretty nice. Then to the market and picked a nice lady that I can go to everyday with a beautiful child. Meet Russ, eat dinner and now I am home and drinking beer. I am just feeling so relieved that we both have jobs and that we can stay here for at least a month. Yeah for us. We are very lucky that this is working out. I feel like the stress was unnecessary but also made us both think a lot about what we want and realize where our priorities are and what really matters. LIFE IS good. Okay well I feel like I should spend some time writing about Zanzibar before I get too caught up on our new life here. More later.

The power went out last night, funny how much this did not phase or bother us at all. Candles are good. It is just interesting to think how lost and devastated some people are when they lose power especially in the states, and hour with out electricity would be a reason to panic. To me it is kind of nice. I mean I LOVE the convinces we have now compared to ZNZ but I would never take back that experience we had of living such a more simple life style. It was nice, easy. I am really looking forward to getting into a routine of work here. I can’t wait to have Russ done with his course and both of us working full time. It will be really nice. I like to have routine and a sense of home and I think we will have that here. I feel like I was resisting the want to embrace this place. I did not want to appreciate it too much due to the fear that we would have to leave. Now that we get to stay at least for a month I can start to have a real opinion and make a decision if I like it or now and if I want to be here for a while. So far it seems like it may be a good stop for us. I love the idea of getting sick of whale sharks, sounds like a good problem to have.

August 5

Life is still pretty good here. Today was my third day of work here, Russ’s first. It went well. I think we will be happy here for a little while. Russ finished his Instructor exam he other day and there was a fun party at a bar 20 minutes walk up the hill called turtle cove. Nice live music nice atmosphere in the middle of no where. Made me think of growing up in Routt County, that type of party. It was fun.
I had a really amazing dive at Manta the other day and at the end there is a spot where we just kneeled in the sand and the mantas just circled around in front of us and right by and over me. It was really very amazing. I look forward to spending more time with them. We went out tonight which was fun, but only for a couple of drinks. The people we work with are really fun and our boss is starting to be more friendly and it is all going pretty well. I think that we can be happy here for a bit. We are moving into a different bed room in a few days so that will be really nice for the month. And work is good, nice to be busy and I really do love some parts of teaching just sometimes I just don’t feel like getting wet and cold and teaching the same thing over and over again. But the rewards are very nice to see people so excited. And I really do love the customer service aspect of having a chat with people and doing my best to show them a good time and a good dive. I think that this will be nice for a while and we have the potential to make a lot of money I just think that working 6 days a week for 10 hours a day may get a bit tiring after a while. Even though we do sit around a lot some days, much like at any dive shop the boredom makes time pass so slowly.
But we could be much worse places trying to make money to get by so no complaints.

Underwater Photos and More

2008-07-09T08:33:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pictures, then more writing, then more pictures, and some poems. Enjoy.

Zanzibar Days

2008-06-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pretty pictures of Zanzibar, and a poem about how I feel, some moments. The poem makes it all seem pretty bad but it really is not that horrible. We are just discouraged by the job search, we have sent about 500 resumes. But it only takes one person, and we are feeling confident that we will make something work, soon enough. Enjoy the photos and there will be more to come.
LIFE IS GOOD.
And we are very lucky to get to see so many different ways of life, and to be living a far more privileged life then most people in the world.
Something to think about.

Settled in to the monotony of routine,
Coffee and a daily walk,
To a quiet shop,
With few divers,
No music.

Hundreds of resumes sent,
All over this side of the world,
Wrong seasons are holding us back
Staying here for a bit makes sense,
But can we find enough happiness

Unwillingness to instruct,
Lacking the desire to kneel in the sand,
Teaching the same lesson,
Each day,
Every week,
More new divers,
Unsure they will remember,
Lessons to save themselves.

Trips to town causing stress,
Glares from the locals,
As we share their transportation,
They accept the tourist
But seem to view us differently,
We are taking over their home.
A fake smile and hello,
Begging for money.

Missing food,
Cheese, meat, fish, and variety.
And no where to keep it cold,
Only one burner to cook,
Limiting options.
Restaurants covering the beach,
Each one,
The same menu.

Spoiled by the paradise,
Bored by the lack of activities.
As we each finish another book,
The beauty of the dhows and the reef,
Are simply not enough,
We seek companionship,
Friends.

My brain hurts from the computer,
My eyes have blurred,
The world suddenly seeming small,
As we search for a dive location
That seems safe and logical for us,
Thousands of dollars away to a new home.

Happy to have each other,
To keep our sanity,
Our house a haven,
To cook and cuddle,
And forget.

We wait for a response,
Someone to give us a chance,
To offer us a new place,
Somewhere,
That we can make home

Zanzibar

2008-06-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Jambo,
Mambo,
Poa,

Virtually every stranger,
Sharing a hello,
A friendly passing,

Long stretches of soft sandy beaches,
Separated by huts,
With palm thatch roofs,
Local artwork,
And smiling faces

Villages of people,
Living only on the land,
Growing food to live,
Mending mud holes in their homes,
Knowing no different.

Underwater lines broken,
No power,
Generators buzzing energy for few,
Many people continue life unnoticed,
We settle into the flicker of candle light.

Respecting a Muslim culture,
Covering up,
Trying to blend in.

Learning Swahili,
Enough to show respect.

Enjoying new dives,
With different rules,
A very slow boat,
Carved by hand,
Ropes twisted individually.

Settling in,
Expecting powers soon,
Will be odd to have light,
A new comfort.
As we adjust to the slow pace,
Bright colors,
And happy smiles,
Of Africa.

Our Home

Five Weeks Around

2008-06-01T02:05:00.000-07:00

It all began,

As we sailed together around the boulders and beaches of Praslin,
Embracing the conversations from our different lives.

Surrounded by sharks and rays, diving, swimming, drifting around Maria Rock,
The currents and bleached coral piles reminded us of of natures power.

Walking on my own, dancing naked, around the squawking island of Bird,
I found pleasure in my solitude as I discovered my desire for socialization.

On a bicycle around La Digue, as far as the path would go,
I enjoyed incredible beaches and I forced smiles on the faces of strangers.

On crowded colorful busses we crept up and sped down every corner of Mahe,
I cuddled with locals sharing small seats as i glimpsed into their lives.

In the end,

I sailed, I swam, I walked, I biked, and I rode, and I saw, through the many colors of the Seychelles.

Bird Island and La Digue

2008-05-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

Sat May 10
Day 15

More meetings and preparations,
And goodbye conversations,
Off to sail,
For many days,
Eager to leave the bussle of Mahe.
Not to miss the tuna factory,
Or music at nights.

A decision made,
As I noticed my negative attitude,
A realization,
Life is good, no reason to complain,
This solitude is good for my soul.
And 22 days will come in time,
No rush for the future,
I may miss out on the present.

A gentle ride,
Chevalier bay for the evening,
A quick swim,
Spaghetti dinner and wine,
Exercise on the trampolines,
And watching the stars from my hammock,
Reading tales of shark hunting.
And finally to sleep listening to waves crash against shore.

Sun May 11, Mothers Day
Day 16

Beautiful morning,
A swim to shore,
A run on a quiet empty beach,
Just before the sun could peak over the mountain,

Embracing every second of beauty,
As Mom will do on the other side of the world,
Life is too good to be sad to be apart,
When we are both so happy in our own worlds,
Living in the moment.

An 8 hour sail,
testing my patients,
Thinking,
Learning to relax,
Splitting my time between rotating activities,
Music in the sun,
Thinking
Watching the horizon
Exercise,
Thinking
Stretching,
Learning knots,
Writing thoughts,
A lot of thinking
Time passes,

Bird Island in the distance,
Suddenly I see why,
Thousands of bird,
Circling,
Talking,
Sharing food,
So many different circles,
Like a swarm of them,
bigger then the clouds,
Absolutely amazing,
Going down,
With the speed of the sun,
Dropping.

Leftovers,
Life conversation,
More writing,
Stars and sleep.

The Spinnaker

Monday May 12
Day ?
Morning rainbow
And oats for breakfast,
Short rain shower,
Off to shore,

An island boy,
Now a man with a wife and a child,
Managing this place
He has always called home.
Walking us through,
Egg laying ground,
They say six hundred and seventy thousand pairs,
Of sooty turns,
And thousand more varieties,
Telling stories of individual trees,
Hard for me to imagine his life,
So different.

Back to Erica,
And off on the rubber duck,
To survey the diving.
Home for lunch,
Music, exercise and a swim,
Scrubbing the duck.

A ride to shore,
To watch the birds,
As the circle
And cry
And come in from shore,
Again they set with the sun,
Finding a place to rest for the night.
Must be up to circle bright and early,
To find a mate,
Off to fish.
An unreal phenomenon,
SO loud and intense.
A beautiful sunset,
A nice dinner,
Talking politics and culture
And off to bed

THE NEXT DAY

Another sunrise,
Conservation conversations,
Off to the drop,
A well planned dive,
a steep wall,
Different,
A surface interval,
And another nice dive,
With thermal or halo-clines,
Cold Hazy water in spots,
Another safe dive complete
A beautiful new anchor,
Exercise,
A swim,
Finishing my book in the hammock,
A rainbow.

And again the birds,
Squawking louder as the sun falls beneath the sea,
Flying lower then yesterday,
Searching for a place to nest.

Freshly smoked tuna,
Wine
And a bit of chocolate,

Another day passed,
Learning to relax and find peace with myself,
And pleasure in the shared solitude we have,
Trying to stop my yearning for him,
Really embracing this magnificent place,
Knowing it wont be mine to explore forever.
And still wanting . . waiting
Wishing. . . .I had more chocolate,
And still I can't stop . . .
Counting the days.

Wed May 14th

Breakfast and coffee,
Off to shore for a visit,
Meet Esmerelda,
HE is the biggest tortoise in the world,

OFf to dive the wall again,
More current,
Same fish,
A small cave,
Nothing spectacular,

Afternoon exercise,
Laps,
Shore for sunset, drinks, dinner,
Learning of life here,
The past,
The Moucha
Erotics fire dances of long ago,
Unable to see,
A culture,
In general a lack of something in the Seychelleios.
Curious why.
A bird shit on my shoulders,
They say this is good luck
Back to Erica,
Feeling ready for a change,
And off to bed.

Thursday May 15th

Oh so this is where my basic daily poetry ended. Bird was an amazing experience, glad to have seen it and happy to move on. A 13 hour sail later we arrived in Parslin, the next morning we were off to La Digue, What a wonderful island.

La Digue

Bicycles rolling,
From a locals arms to a tourist exploration,
Friendly smiles,
Dreadlocks and fish everywhere,
Searching for a culture.
A mother and her two children,
Comfortable on one bike,
Logical transportation,
A young couple,
One pedals as the other sits,
Or even two friends,
Any age,
Big or small.

Absolutely outstanding beaches,
Of rocks and boulders coming from the sea,
Caves with light sparkling through,
An indescribable beauty.

Giant tortoises,
And luscious green everywhere.
And even horses.

A bicycle rented,
So I could see it all,
An inevitable fall,
A scratch to remember,
Peddling through lives,
More beautiful beaches,
With out a soul in sight.

I stopped at a shop,
In search of chocolate,
Not existent here,
A sketch pad and colors instead,
To occupy my mind,
And my attempt at artistic ability.

A week passing quickly,
I smile at each person,
Every soul I pass,
A hello,
In my language,
One that only some respond,
Usually in shock by my smile.

Reggae, music,
Pizza,
Fish and rice,
Searching for an identity,
A combination,
Of cultures and ideas,
Much like our own.

Finding peace in a park,
More long distant conversations,
Plans of logistics, love and desire.

Thankful to find appreciation,
In the tranquility,
And quiet,
And a bicycle,
Pedaling towards the sea.

May 24

Eight more Sunsets

Sitting on a rock,
Falling into the sea,
My heart asleep,
Nine thousand miles away,
Waves rhythmically remind me,
Waking me,
Splashing patience,
The swell too small to wash me,
Sun not strong enough to burn me
To make me feel reality
Counting islands, rocks and clouds,
As minutes hours and days slowly pass by.

You' re sleeping in the horizon,
I swim towards you,
But the current,
Like time is holding me back,
I'm swirling in an eddy at the base of this rock
But each sunset bringing me closer to you
When I close my eyes to sleep
I know soon the sun will rise
With you in my arms,
And we can dive into our new life together.

Week 2 Seychelles

2008-05-09T05:13:00.001-07:00

Right outside Victoria

Day 8
May 3 2008

Awake,
Town to shop,
With EVERYONE,
Shops close tomorrow,
People everywhere,
In and out of 20 shops or more,
No sunscreen to be found,
Everything the same,
Government protecting imports,
Suppressing people,

On a bus,
to see some things
Not sure where or what,
Sweat dripping

A huge beach,
Beauty and some trash,
A dive shop haven,
Filled with food and internet advice,

Local lunch to go,
A rest and beer at the bus stop,
Where I am the minority,
Back over the hill.
More flight searches and internet conversations,

Dinner at the club,
A book in the hammock,
Off to bed.

Baie Beau Vallon

More Beach

Away from the sea

Sunday May 4th 2008
Day 9

To the town of quiet,
Walking to nowhere special,
Boys from India,
Requesting one photo with the American girl,
Granted

Church bells and singing,
A book in the park,
Surrounded by culture
Different songs from every end,
A young mother and child,
Fascinated by me,
My color or culture I am not sure,
The child a bit frighted,
Mom enthralled.

More flight searches,
Tanzania looking close
A date found,
Twenty six days
Together again.

Beer and chips for dinner,
Sipping some local rum,
Writing this and off to bed,
And once again,
Stars through my hatch.

My view in the park

My spot

Local girl passing by

Monday May 5 2008
Day 10

Coffee and fruit and off to town,
Airplane reservations,
Errands everywehre,
Passport extentions,

Noon till 2 everyone stops,
Everyday
A lunch enjoyed,
Reading the last of a book in the park,
Watching people live,

More inernet converation,
Resumes and more reservations.
Twenty six days and together agian,
On a random flight from Kenya,

Wahoo dinner,
A new book in the trampoline,
Bed before nine.

Tuesday May 6 2008
Day 11

Egg breakfast at the club.
Packing and taping boxes.
Prepareing Gavin for Aldebra,
Buying food to sustain
A wife and three children,
For two years away,
So many stores,
And pretty red tape,
A cooling rain.

Plane ticket paid and confirmed,
As well as his,
Internet shopping ,
Preparation,
Wine for the week,

Back to Erica,
Leftovers,
Wine samples,
Typing love letters,
A book
And Bed
Listening to rain drops on my hatch.

The view from our Anchorage in Mahe

Wednesday May 7
Day 12

Morning moving,
Many boxes,
Gavin and his identifiable red tape,
Breakfast,
Internet love chats.

A bus terminal,
Full of locals,
On a bus to the unknown,
Up and down and around,
Fast then breaks,
Full then empty,
I ride to the other side,
Till the bus stops,
A beautiful beach,
A swim and tanning,

Back to the bus,
A different route,
Passing hundreds of different lives,
Across the island,
Very close to the sea,
Crazy drivers,
Home safe,
Shower.

A job in Zanzibar,
A perfect little dive shop family,
Just as I had hoped for,
A new home in the distance,
Too much excitement.
Dinner and bed.

Beautiful View from bus

The other side of the island

Somewhere Pretty

Thursday May 8
Day 13

Morning,
Laundry by hand,
Shopping,
Lunch,
Internet preparations,
Hours of conversations,
Twenty three days,
Sailing soon to make the time past,
Anxious to get in the water,
Pizza dinner,
A book,
And bed.

Friday May 9
Day 14

More of the same,
A beautiful day at the market,
Fruit and veggies for weeks,
Final internet plans,
And finally pictures to share
And away messages,
And off to sail tomorrow,
Diving in sight.
A five o'clock beer,
Probably a quiet night.

FIrst Week Seychelles

2008-05-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

Me and all my things

April 25, 2008

Say, Shells

Day 1
Hours of travel finally passed
Flights were delayed,
a new girl friend Hazel
a surprise trip to Dubai airport with lights as bright as day in the middle of the night
Full of culture and head dresses sleeping everywhere.

Arrived in the beautiful wet and green island .
Full of healthy enchanted plant life.
Gavin there to greet me with a warm smile.
My new home, Erica welcomed me with a gentle breeze and bird songs every where.

Plans changing as lives form in different ways.
Madagascar may be farther away then I had thought
But the plans bring me closer to my boyfriend,
and Gavin closer to his family,
and new prospects for both of us.

Two lives from different sides of the world developed conversations of opinions and ideas and thoughts unheard.

Dinner and a beer and a dingy ride home
and off to bed
with the stars shining through my hatch hole and a gentle rocking like a baby in a crib.

Erica, and my reflection through my hatch window

Our kitchen and living space

April 26, 2008
Day 2

Morning sunrise peaking through my hatch,
More conversations of possibilities,
Learning 2 birds a day, herren and egret for today,

Exloration, being slowed by rain,
Hiding from showers in playgrounds,
An old boat for children to pretend on,
A market and flowers and birds and more rain,
A coffee full of nature and oppertunity,
A new job for Gavin,
tTwo years on an undisurbed island,
Possiblities of me joining on this exploration,
Project politics holding us back,
Madagasgar is now an mass I can no longer see,
BUt many islands have opened up on my herizion,
And literally endless diving possibilities,
Over seas converstions
About future of travels with a boy,
Africa is an open book for us to explore,

Running into my travel friend Hazel in the streets, a happy suprise.
Home for the afternoon, with more talk, rest, email, and exercise.
A dingy ride for a beer and the end of a fishing competition,
A marlin bigger then me, and children poking fingers in it eye,
Local friendly drunks at the yatch club,
And home to Erica, with Gavin and Hazel,
Cooking dinner,
Looking into our differnet worlds,
Google earth, for a view into everything.
And off to bed listening to rain falling on my hatch.

Marlin from fishing competition

April 27, 2008
Day 3

Another sunrise from my hatch,
Coffee, conversations, and fruit salad,
Stretching and exercise on the bow trampoline,
Bus stop waiting, too long,
Everything stops for Sunday,

Skype video and a long distance beer with my boy,
Talks of our future together,
Honesty, fear and happiness.

A quiet walk alone towards the sea,
And random wondering to nowhere particular but somewhere special,
In the silence of Sunday,
Church bells and songs,
A beautiful hindu temple of statues and colors,
A local boys cat calls,
And walking on to more photos of fountains and flowers unknown,

A cold shower and glass of wine.
And off to Erica,
Just in time for a magnificent rain shower
Breaking through the sun,
Crating 2 fabulous rainbows.

A salad dinner and some southern comfort,
In bed by eight,
Falling asleep gazing at stars through my hatch.

Mahe Church

Clock Tower in town

Indian Temple

My first Rainbow, in Victoria Harbor

April 28
Day 4

Awake before sunrise,
Stars with a stare to put me back to sleep,
Awake in time to say sweet dreams across the world
And enjoy the last pinks of the sun rise,
More exercise in the sun,
Waving good morning to neighbors in boats passing by,
To town for errands,
Grocery stores with little food,
And conversation with a very knowledgeable man named Gee,

Gathering water and toilet paper for many days at sea,
Closing up hatches and putting things away,
Finally pulling up anchor,
Off to sea,
Looking back at the gigantic island,
Full of eye sores partially hidden by its beauty
And onward to islands with only nature.
Smooth sailing and lessons of safety,
Worst case scenarios discussed and planned.

Praslin in the distance,
Cheveier bay, behind the wind,
Boulders coming from the water
Separating the blue from the luscious green of the forrest,

A nice spot to anchor,
A snorkel,
And I am free,
So many fish I have never seen,
beautiful and colorful and so different,
A turtle, barracuda, crocodile needle fish,
A lion fish with so intricate,

My first African sunset with no disappointments,
Wine and wahoo,
And millions more stars.

Fish at the market

Our first sail

Islands on our first sail

Our first island sunset

April 29
Day 4

Another beautiful morning,
Many boats through my hatch,
All hiding here from the wind,

The day brightened
By the sweet sound of the air compressor,
Today we dive,
Off to the rocks in the distance,
A reef only dove by few,
Scattered with diversity.
Drop down into the warmth,
No wetsuit or weights,
Just the feel of the water rushing past my body,
I found Nemo's cousin, playing in an anemone,
And a octopus,
A massive school of king fish,
Each 2 feet long
Circling me,
Wondering why I am there,
Soon they are off,
As suddenly as they arrived,
So many fish I have never seen,
I am in awe.

Back to Erica,
Lunch, a nap and a swim,
A guitar fish several feet long surprise me,
And a baby white tip reef shark.

Scrambled eggs and irish coffee for dinner,
Then off to the hammock,
To sleep under the stars.

Nemo's cousin

Gavin watching the king fish circle me

Fishy

Relaxing after a hard day

April 30
Day 5

I awaken to rain drops,
As I realize I miss my bed and my hatch,
An unexpected shower,
And everything must be closed,
Soon back to sleep.

A morning swim to shore and a run across the beach,
A snorkel across the bay, looking for lost treasure,
No goods,
But a large turtle and a ray and some baby squid.

Scrubbing Erica,
Making her shine,
Then off for another dive,
Low visibility but still diversity,
A lion fish, octopus, stone fish,
And so many different angels.

Home for abs,
Reading in the hammock,
And a spectacular sunset,
Another hard day at sea.

Focusing on memories,
Looking at pictures,
Trying to embrace the nature and solitude.
Missing you,

Dinner a drink and off to bed,
Looking at stars though my hatch.

Lion Fish

Beautiful Erica

Chevalier Beach

Another sunset

Erica

Day 6, I think, I am starting to lose track
April 30,

A quiet morning,
Coffee and a book in the hammock,
More scrubbing Erica,
And then off to sail,
Passing through islands,
To a small rock pile island,
With a couple of trees,

An giant stride off Erica,
Into perfect visibility,
Coral piles dead from bleaching,
Then around the corner,
Baby white tip sharks,
Then another octopus, and a turtle,
All of a sudden several baby spotted eagle rays,
Low on air, and a massive current to fight,
And then two giant rays,
Like butterflies,
And Erica the distance.

Into La Digue Bay,
Lunch and a rest,
And to town for supplies,
Bicycles everywhere,
Carrying hundreds of fish.

Home to Erica,
To relax from a "hard day,"
Still no clue
Where the next weeks will lead,
But still dreaming of you in the distance,
A whole new life together,
In dreams of Zanzibar. . .

A bottle of wine,
Sunset,
A spicy dinner,
And off to bed,

An island to dive around

Pretty Fishy

A bat fish

Under the sea

Beautiful Spotted Eagle Rays

Transporting a hard days work

La Digue

Nice Sunset

Water ski

Day 7
May 2, 2008

Awake to sounds of the anchor coming up,
Off sailing already,
Breakfast, sunbathing, music,
Even dolphins for a second.

Back to Mahe,
A long awaited video with my boy,
A surprise meeting for Gavin,
And Aldabra is no longer in my future,
I feel a slight bit of relief,

Zanzibar is looking closer,
Calendars, charts and conversations,
Lots of planning,
Will stay here for a few days,
Then off for a couple weeks,
Then in no time I will fly away,
Back to somewhat reality,
My man, and work, and a home.

A book in the hammock and off to bed,
More planning tomorrow
And maybe even tickets,
Looking forward to counting the days.
But still enjoying every second of this reality.

Me again

Thats my theory

2008-04-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

So many islands such little time.

I LOVE to dive. . . and travel. . . and here I go again.

I love life and want to live it to the fullest.

I am moving to go sail in the Seychelles in Africa and to Madagasgcar and then who knows...

More to come