more snorkeling

phil is still here and we have gone snorkeling a couple more times. there are some really good coral reefs walking distance from the house, and the aquatic life is beautiful. i wish i had a way of snapping photos down there, although on the other hand *not* having a camera with a waterproof housing is kind of liberating, in that you are simply there to enjoy the experience, and not capture something to take away. although phil keeps mentioning the need to get a spear gun, to capture some of the tasty red snappers swimming around out there.
it is low season here, so there aren’t many people out on the beach. this weekend at peak population density there were four to six people within sight, and two other snorkelers. navigating the reef mazes can be a real challenge, especially if you swim out while the tide is high and ebbing, because the whole labyrinth changes on the way back as the water level drops, and finding your way back to the beach is not as simple as retracing the path you took out. the reefs are a serious obstacle course at low tide, with razor sharp outcroppings of coral and sea urchins either blocking the way or dangerously close to your torso as you quickly skim over, hopefully unscathed, on a swell. so far i have only gouged my shoulder, chasing around a school of neon blue-spotted yellow-finned fish. i followed them into a narrowish channel, and started thinking i could swim like one of them before buoyancy raised me up and into a big thin coral sheet projecting into the gap.
over the weekend i was entertaining the thought of coming back to the states until january at the end of this month, but after thinking about it for a while i decided not to. swimming around out there was a deciding factor, as well as visualizing a couple of months spending significant amounts of time in the car. oh, and the gloomy, depressing weather of winter too. 🙂 there is a thread in my thoughts encouraging me to continue traveling, but for now i am going to mull that over in the surf.