Back to Civilization... (although where we've been was certainly "civilized")

We're back... after a week of no internet access. Feels like a month. We've been a lot of places and done a lot of things. Where to start?... Hmmm. How 'bout starting with a photo?

This is just one of the many beautiful beaches we've visited in the last week. That's me you see carrying my snorkel gear from the dingy to a shady spot we found under a couple of palm trees. This beach was so beautiful. It was just like a postcard. However, the snorkeling there wasn't nearly as good as other beaches nearby. But to be honest, I didn't really check it out as thoroughly here as I did at other beaches because...

Do you see the dark streak in the water in front of me there? That's a barracuda. Here's another photo of the same creature... or maybe it was one of his friends. We left the dingy tied up behind the sail boat, and when we looked out there several different times, this is what we saw.

Apparently the place we were anchored at was barracuda heaven. The barracuda that you see lounging in the shade of our dingy stayed there almost the entire time that we were anchored there. I estimate his length at about five feet. He stayed there for hours... just relaxing in the shade. And then when we took the dingy over to the beach, there was another one waiting in the water for me. They did eventually go away and so we did eventually get to do some swimming and snorkeling, but that one under the dingy came back when we returned from the beach. He really liked the shade from the dingy. He was there for at least part of the day on each of the three days that we were anchored at that spot.

Oh... and remember from a previous blog entry how the cruise ship company wouldn't let us go ashore to get some ice cream on what turned out to be their private island? Here's a picture we took after we stopped at another island... one that was much more hospitable... and then we sailed past the cruise ship island again on our way to yet another island.

The caption for this photo should read...

- Travel time to and from another island (one that will sell you ice cream): Six hours

- Cost of overnight slip (at the marina on that island): $80
- Cost of a pint of HagenDas ice cream: $8.50

- Thumbing your nose at the stingy cruise ship company: Priceless

So... what else is there to describe? Let's see.... We found several places that were a snorkeler's paradise. Man oh man do I ever wish I had an underwater camera. We saw corral "forests" filled with all different types of corrals and crowded with beautifully colored tropical fish. We say manta rays. Oh... and at one place we were at I decided to swim to the edge of the reef... where the water dropped off to deep... and when I got there I saw a very large shark swim by. He wasn't interested in me and Judie, but we decided it would be best to return to the shore anyway.

All in all it's been a terrific week (since the last time we posted on this blog). Hopefully there will be many more to follow.