Thursday, 28 April 2011

A fish, therefore I am

Thursday 28th April
Bunaken Village Resort
Sulawesi
11.10am


Just had a really embarrassing moment. Whilst walking to the snug area by the pool, I slipped and fell over! No harm done apart from a bruised right knee and I held onto this laptop above my head so that wasn’t damaged but because the floor was so slippery, I couldn’t get up again without help from one of the staff. I kept slipping back down! I must have looked like a stupid cartoon character. The floor hadn’t dried yet from this morning’s cleaning job and I hadn’t noticed. A ‘Slippery When Wet’ triangle sign would have been useful but never mind.

It is properly tipping it down right now. A full on tropical rainstorm where it is still really hot but raining heavily. I reckon for another 10 minutes and then bright sunshine again. 

It is our last full day here and I will be glad to be moving on. Although it is very nice and very chilled out here, it is a little too chilled out for me now.  What with me not being a diver and a reluctant snorkeller, I find all the fish talk really dull. How much of a philistine am I?! 
Here I am in one of the diving meccas of the world where marine life is at its finest and I utter the word 'dull'.  But really come on, once you’ve acknowledged how beautiful the fish are, the coral is stunning, the turtles are amazing and described the cute antics of various other marine life there is really no need to further have an existentialist discussion on all things pelagic. It's just diving. I get the spiritual feelings some people have from the sea but fish?

I think I am missing Ed and Alex. They left for Bangka yesterday for the second leg of their diving holiday and I miss their company and the way they think. They were ‘normal’ and on our level. There was a bit of a performance with their departure yesterday and I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye properly as the lady doing my pedicure in the spa was taking her sweet time and by the time I had got out, they were already on the boat but we have their email address and hope to contact them once we are back home.       

Speaking of pedicures, you should check my toes out! Right now, I possibly have the best looking toes in Bunaken. The spa lady yesterday was treating them like they were a work of art, painting my nails like she was Picasso or something. I thought it was only going to take an hour and it was double that!  She was clearly not busy.

Also, last night I got to see some phosphorescence in the sea. Glowing plankton or bioluminiscent plankton are present just outside our hut and Mat noticed them a couple of days ago after his night dive. It wasn’t quite like that scene from ‘The Beach’ with Leonardo di Caprio where he was swimming around in it with the French girl. It was more like Leonardo the Mutant Ninja Turtle as we paddled about in the dark wearing our head torches trying to make them glow. It was pretty cool but I was a little freaked out not knowing what was lurking in the sands so we didn’t stay long.

Anyway, lunch is beckoning so will sign off for now. Perhaps more snorkelling later too. Woop!


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