Hola! (note: fun video highlight at the end -- if you don't have time to read this whole thing, at least go to the end :) )
Frank and I just got back from a really cool week of scuba diving. It was good weather and warm water. Well mostly it was good weather. We did get rained on some, but it was mostly at night or first thing in the morning. The last night, we had SUCH a lightning and thunderstorm night--it shook the bungalo and there was NO time between the lightning and thunder. I usually count, to see how many seconds/miles away the lightning is. It was SOOOO loud!
I haven't put pictures on this blog for a long time. I'll see if I can put a video here. It's a flounder on the sandy bottom.
I'm going through all the photos and it kind of takes awhile. I love it, but it does take time. Here are some more...
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| lionfish |
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| trumpetfish |
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| bcds and tanks |
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| butterfly fish |
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| It's hard to smile with a regulator in your mouth...? |
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| reaching up for the bottom of the boat! |
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| parrot fish |
We had a small group, which made it even better: instead of the 40 they can hold during the prime season, there were just 13 of us. It is fun to get to know people, and see the many, varied backgrounds people have, when we all have one common interest: scuba diving.
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| butterfly fish |
It was a "package deal," specifically for scuba diving. 7 nights, housing in a bungalo w/a dock out into the water. 3 meals plus snacks in the afternoon, in their dining hall. 2 dives in the morning, 1 dive in the afternoon each day, plus 2 of the nights they did a night dive for those interested.
So I think my sister Kim can hold on to that title of "the only one in the family who has been to Honduras!" Because we really spent our entire time on Utila, one of the Bay Islands, off of the mainland of Honduras.
I am posting some of the fish and other creatures close-up. Our "underwater camera" worked well for the first few days, then it died! Sad, sad. We haven't had the best luck finding a camera that is actually water-tight, like it advertises.
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it must be a Caribbean thing:
a towel/blanket elephant! |
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| we saw a school of 7 squid! |
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| flamingo tongue |
One true highlight was to be able to snorkel with a real, live Whale Shark, as he was feeding. They only eat little tiny fish, and you can see, from the surface, when they are creating a whirlpool down below to get the fish all together to eat them. Because the birds up on top, follow the whale shark around, and dive down to eat the bigger fish who eat those little fish the whale shark is gathering. We heard from some other boats, that they had sighted a whale shark. So we headed that direction.
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| one of my favorites, the photo doesn't do it justice: spotted drum |
You cannot scuba dive (legally--they are protected, I guess) around a whale shark. But you can put on a snorkel and mask, and get in the water close to them. We sighted some crowds of birds, diving down and feeding on bigger fish, so we slowly drove the boat closeby. Then the divemaster said, "It's right by the side of the boat--get in! GO! GO!" So we jumped in, hoping to catch a glimpse of the whale shark as it swam away. That's usually the best you can hope for, we had heard.
OK--HERE's the AMAZING part. We jumped in...and he was RIGHT THERE. I mean we almost jumped on TOP of him! A TWENTY to TWENTY-FIVE FOOT whale shark, simply trying to eat his little fish dinner, and there we were, bothering him. Of course, by that time our camera was no longer with us. But others on the trip had their cameras, so we were able to download a few shots from their cameras. He hung out at the top with us for almost a minute, I would guess. Then he went all the way down, far out of our sight. But then he came back up, doing the same thing, TWO more times. It was very surreal. Like in the movies or something, but he was really right in front of us.
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| with Tony, another friend on our boat |
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| Frank is on the right, blue rash guard and blue swim trunks |
If this video works: Frank is on the left at about :28 seconds. I show up on the right about :43 seconds (pink shorts, light blue rashguard).
Here are some photos. 3 people had GoPros in our group.
(It's been a week now, so my ears are back to normal.)
Have a great week! Kari
HS SPORTS. Teresa has been playing high school volleyball this season, and Kara has been playing soccer. It fills their days, to be sure, and they have to practice some time management skills! But we do enjoy watching them play.
BOOKS. I'm also trying to read some, and keep up with a Book Club I've been going to. Last month we read The Pearl by John Steinbeck. It's a good, short one to start the year with! Ha. Just 90 pages. Often Steinbeck is pretty depressing (think "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men"), and this one certainly had low points too! But it was thought-provoking, kind of a study in human behavior.
