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10/1/05 ~6:50pm
Well, we didn't make it up to the lookout for sunset yesterday. Heck, we didn't even make it to the dive signup spot in time to meet the folks from Top Dive. And as a result we didn't dive today, thereby missing an encounter with a mommy and baby humpback! But that's okay - we'll have 10 dives here in which to try to see some of our won. Nope, instead we had a marvelous, much needed nap right up till dinner (which was excellent), after which _more_ sleep was had straight through to this fine morning. Somewhere in there we made plans for taking our jet ski tour on Monday and arranged to have the masseuse contact us to schedule her ministrations :)
We woke not to the horrible weather we'd been warned about the previous night, but to puffy cloud-dotted skies and a luxuriously slow sunrise. By now, we're on PST, but were still up well before light, and it's quite nice. After breakfast, we signed up for snorkeling in the morning, during which I planned to test the new camera Megan gave me for Christmas. After a short boat hop, we donned fins and masks to enjoy the most buoyant snorkeling I've yet experienced. On Columbus Isle, we'd used small inflatable vests to provide neutral to slightly positive buoyancy, but here I had a hard time going down, even without a lungful of air! It was amazing. :) Highlights from the trip included: Many, Many fish, blue-lipped oysters, anemone and urchins. But most impressively: a huge-girthed Moray eel which even came out and swam for a while!. Much fun to start the day!
Once back 'home' we cleaned up and stopped by the boutique before lunch. We both got shirts, Megan got a temporary Manta Ray tattoo, and I picked up a cunning hat. We also looked at some pearls, but the person wasn't there to talk to - so that will have to be later. A maitai at the bar was the perfect prelude to lunch, where we sat with Ed, our guide from the previous day, and another G.O. names Maracabo(sp?) who does gardening around the club. Ed, born on Bora Bora, but grown up in New Caledonia, related the joys of vacationing from Bora Bora to LA and Las Vegas, which for someone with his background made a surprising amount of sense. After lunch we spent some time digesting with our eyes closed and then went sailing for a couple hours. The wind was excellent once we left the protection of the point to our north and we both had a great time getting sea spray in our faces and wind in our hair.
Back on the beach, we met a couple (Eric and Jill) from Coral Gables, FL who are here for the third time and have never been to another Club Med. They recommended the 4x4 safari tour to us, and we recommended Columbus Isle to them. They also said that they'd met another newlywed couple (Tara and John) from Pittsburgh here, and that they'd be sure to introduce us.
At the excursion desk we finally met Antwon from Top Dive and signed up for a 2 tank dive tomorrow morning. We also met another couple (June and Bruce from Calgary) who were planning on diving Monday and asked us to put their names on down tomorrow for the night dive on Tuesday. That they're going to Australia after their week here entertains me - He's definitely got the right name for it. Anyway, it's time now for dinner, so we're off. Maybe tomorrow we'll catch the sunset. :) - 7:28pm