Last Two days in Maldives

I've recently discovered that there are real people who read my blog! YAY!... so I will post the last two entries of my trip to the maldives (which were stored in my imate)

Tuesday noon we moved to the Baros villa, which is a bungalow on the beach. A lot of trees separate the villas, so there is again some privacy for couples. Snorkeling from this beach is more rewarding than from the water villa. I cannot help but feel sad at the sight of the shards of dead broken coral which cover most of the area surrounding the island. I‘d seen it in Kuda Huraa (Four Seasons) 3 years before, and naturally I felt guilty as I knew that we (tourists) had everything to do with this terrible (probably irrevocable) destruction! While snorkeling we had to stop many times to adjust our goggles and breathing tube. When that happened we made sure we stood on sand so we didn't add to the carnage. I must say, watching fish move in the water with only inches separating them from us is a thrilling, surreal experience! You can see how sleek and quick they are. You watch as clown fish weave around the coral nipping at it. The best I saw on our third day were the parrot-like fish which had the most attractive colors, beautiful greens and gorgeous purples. And of course the most disgusting creature of all .. Sea cucumbers (???).. There were the drab looking grayish ones, and the black ones which had feelers all over them which looked a lot like the rubbery pressure balls sold in toy shops, but long and.. yucky!

Wednesday.. alrighty then… last day.. we decided to spend a longer time snorkeling. And at one point, my husband headed towards the gift shop and bought a disposable underwater camera. While I, water-phobic-afraid-of-sharks that I am *stayed in the water without him*.. Yes, I am proud of that fact actually. Coz since the age of 5, after surviving a drowning I have always been afraid of the sea. The first time I ever went into the sea after that was only 3 years ago – again in the Maldives.

So anyway.. he comes back with the camera, hands it to me, and says : “knock yourself out – and if you need another one, I’ll go get it. I’ll just relax under the umbrella and watch you bob about like a cork.” So, I take pics of a hundred thing (ok there were only 27 pics in the camera).. and suddenly I hear him call me: “They’re here! Two of them.. no, three! They’re to your right!”
Yep, you guessed it; the baby sharks had arrived. Fanfare! Ummm… I asked him to tell me where they were, and slowly and carefully swam towards them.. while he continued to give directions. Yeah, you read it right, I swam TOWARDS them, not AWAY FROM them! And… when I saw them, I floated closer (not to scare them away).. and took 3 blurry pics. So, I went from a phobic panicky girl to a snorkels-with-sharks woman!!! I still can’t believe I did it!