Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Gavin and I went for a dive in the afternoon. We were advised by one of the sailors that un-
der no circumstances would the authorities condone shooting fish with a spear gun. Fishing
conventionally was OK. We left our guns behind, and I took my little, underwater camera
to take shots hopefully of those huge Manta Rays. The diving was very interesting, and the
marine life was vast and rich. I noticed how tame the fish were; they somehow knew that
they were protected and were unafraid of us.
As luck would not have it, I failed to spot any of the Mantas, but got family photos of green
turtles puttering along with some babies. We noticed with frustration the usually skittish
travelly fish that always hung around on the fringe and were extremely hard to shoot nor-
mally came right up to us looking for the peas or food that tourists would fed them with.
With a great thrill, we observed a pod of dolphins streaking effortlessly about through the
clear blue void. I was particularly interested in what they thought of Gavin and I. The
scouts came over to investigate by flashing past us once or twice, smiling broadly with their
impish grins and bright eyes. They circled us and deemed us safe, ambling back to the little
school who, assuming by their relaxed actions, swam over and to our great delight invaded
our space with charming antics and bubbly personalities. They really were intelligent and
highly evolved. I could see that we could befriend them very easily if we took the time.
As it was, they almost let us touch them as they glided silkily past us. It is a well known
fact that dolphins are very sensuous creatures, and I certainly could see why they have this
human-like reputation. If I were asked which sea creatures I held the most respect for, it
would be without a doubt one of the big three: whales, dolphins or sharks. The sharks have
my respect through fear, the whales and dolphins for their peaceful, wise, old-world intel-
ligence.
Fortunately, at the time of our cruise, we were aware of these creatures but not jaded by
over exploitation. We didn't know yet about how “cool” it was to see and swim with dol-
phins or whales. I would frankly be too nervous to swim out to a whale unless it was a spe-
cies that was completely harmless, and really, what mother is completely harmless when
it comes to protecting her young? I have swam several times with dolphins and never en-
countered any problems with them. They are a sheer joy. I have swam unwillingly with
black tipped reef sharks while spearfishing but have been very nervous, and since my nar-
row escape in the Caribbean, I always use a long line with a buoy attached for caught fish.
It was Friday night, and we had been told by the visiting sailors that there was a fun dis-
cothèque in one of the old buildings downtown. We decided we would certainly head for
that later in the evening after a nap and an early dinner.
We rowed ashore freshly showered from the solar-heated, plastic shower and had on
crumpled but clean outing clothes - jeans and tank tops - as it was hot and sticky. We were