Way Back...Yesterday...

No WBW post today... but....

They're upgrading our room right now (story in a sec if time) so I have a minute to tell you a story! Thanks for the comments btw! :)

So, our beach at this hotel is famous for snorkeling. It's actually got a biological reserve right on the beach roped off so guests can have snorkel equip for free and swim around, in awe of all the amazing underwater life.

Okay, so... the beach looks like this from left to right: piton, beach with deep water and platform where people are jumping/diving into ocean, roped off swim area with crystal clear water, dock where water taxis come in (a major drop off from swim area), roped off biological reserve for snorkeling, other piton. So, we're nestled in the middle of the two pitons. Okay.... So cruise ships come in on Wednesdays to another area on the island and take excursions over here to snorkel. I wanted to make sure I got to snorkel yesterday before the crowd came in (obviously).

So, after looking quite hilarious in flippers, mask and snorkel, we stepped into the biological reserve.. just us.. We saw some AMAZING fish, coral, etc right off the bat! Being absolute chicken sh*t, I stayed near Eric, though and kept glancing at the murky deep boat area..ya know...just to make sure there wasn't anything lurking over there... ;)

I glanced down and saw the most amazing snakelike thing! I started sputtering through my snorkel "mmmph...smmake...mmmph!" Eric saw it and kept watching it with me. I thought "wow, he thinks this is really cool too!" I later found out he thought it may have been something he read about called the fer-del-ance snake. (google it-it's nuts). I doubt it was, but it seriously did look like one (telling myself it wasn't so I'll get in the water today). Brought over by plantation owners (I think), the snake isn't native, but is one of the most deadliest, member of the pit vipers, and very aggressive. I just thought he was super interested in it, too... *shaking head at self*

So, every few minutes, I'd haphazardly glance to my left to see the murky deep water to make sure everything was on the up and up (and Eric kept his eye on the snake)...but I hadnt looked for awhile and was watching in amusement as two fish fought below me. That's when I looked...and saw the shape of the head....and then the fin....and no, I am not kidding you. It wasn't huge.. but it wasn't small.. I'd say 4 feet and right there on the edge of the bouys demarking the boat dock area (25 feet or so from me)...and it was definitely a shark swimming parallel to me (how I saw it's whole body). I surfaced and started scratching Eric's leg and threw the mouthpiece out studdering "SHARK!" With that, I saw we were the only two people in the whole area...and we were far out. I went back under, looked, and it was gone. By this time, I was already moving toward shallow water at an insanely stupid-human-bait-pace.

Eric said he thought I'd been kidding until he saw I was headed toward shore and then the look on my face... b/c I came up for air, looked behind me to make sure he was there headed toward shore too (b/c that made sense in my head: warn Eric, both rapidly abort snorkeling), and saw he was still pretty far out.. The only thing I could say was "......I'm...LIKE FREAKING OUT!" Being the smarter, calmer one in the sitch, he had a large pocket knife thing he pulled out and slowly edged toward shore keeping his eyes moving around him. Me on the other hand apparently thought I could outswim the shark. Yeah. Once I got shallow enough, I fell into some coral, thus making my rear burn for about 45 min afterward....*laughing at myself*

Anyway, I have to admit I was pretty happy Eric believed me...b/c I know what I saw even if others think I'm nuts...but I didn't want him to think I was nuts. At dinner last night, we were talking to another couple we'd met and the guy was like "Makes sense... Biological reserve right next to some murky, deep water... That's kinda a no brainer, right?! I felt justified...hahaha.. Needless to say if we snorkel today, it will be with lotsa other people. We don't have to be faster than the shark...just faster than them. ;) Kidding...er...kinda...

Guys, in all seriousness, even picturing what I saw makes my heart race. I used to want to go down in a shark cage someday.. I don't really know about that anymore!

Okay on to our room...We knew they were in the process of a completely CUHRAZY renovation so we really didn't expect extravagant by any means...but we had two twin beds pushed together..haha.. We gave it a shot, but upon mentioning it this morning, the staff was more than happy to upgrade us to a renovated room just up the hill! Awesome!! :)

Alright, I'll go now.. Sad today is our last full day. We leave tomorrow late afternoon and will be back in T town on Friday morning. Last night's dinner was simply breathtaking... The pictures we took (we're on like 1100 in total this week btw) are all postcards. All. *sigh*

Have a great day, everyone!!! :) Thanks again for the comments! Makes my shark diatribe worth it if I think you're reading...haha! :)