sharks patrol these waters
April 26, 2008
Had the best dive yesterday. Saw all the usual stuff plus… finally, four sharks. One 6.5 foot reef shark and 3 nurse sharks. Cool too because our younger divemaster, 20-year-old Dutch kid has been here for 6 months, and he said that was the biggest reef shark he’s seen. It didn’t take any interest in us, but the nurse sharks we played with and I think I got a pretty close picture with one if it doesn’t come out too dark.
So other than diving, I’m pretty much bored outta my f*c+in mind at this point. I should have made this a 7 or 8 day trip with 4 days of diving. Live and learn.
Frustrations include, no one here drinks coffee, transportation sucks, and no one on this side of the island sells sunscreen, and I lost my big bottle on the first day of diving. (Well, it got left in the boat and lifted.)
I’ve tried to avoid beachy vacations traveling single cause they make you lonely. I thouht diving would change that but it doesn’t. There’s just not much else to do here.
Right now I’ve been waiting for 2 hours for a bus or ‘maxi’ (big taxi) to take me back to Scarborough. The only thing that’s keeping me mildly entertained is a fight that’s broke out between two locals. Its funny, I didn’t realize it was an argument until neighbors started coming out to either spectate or try and intermediate. There’s been some shoving but no punches thrown yet. The Speyside drama has been going on for some time now.
Back to waiting on the bus…
—–
Later that day… Ok after a few more minutes some teenagers came over and said, “Hey you waiting on the bus? Because it won’t come because all of the transport is on the other side of the island.” I knew this Jazz Festival thing was going on but this is ridiculous.
The teens chatted with me a bit and they said “just ride with anyone, we’ll help you get a car.” Another kid walked up who needed a ride too. This is kinda how things work around here I’ve noticed. People may be waiting for a bus or maxi, but if an acquaintance drives up, they jump in. So finally they got me a ride
Now I know I have a caffeine addiction, but I have got to find a solution to this problem. Between not having a morning coffee and the heat - I get really bad headaches that last all afternoon. It sucks. It’s a problem traveling in Mexico too. No one drinks it, there are no Starbucks… etc. What has a man got to do to get his fix??? I guess bring caffeine pills next time.
I have since realized my phone works locally, which i wish i knew earlier, and I can get calls from the US. I just can’t make them.
Tonight my guest house of choice was booked again so I splurged on another higher end Rough Guide recommendation. I got here and the ladies working were not very nice and preoccupied, my room wasn’t ready, they actually charged my card up front, and THEN told me I’m staying one of the new rooms and there’s no AC yet. Could my day get any worse?
I was hot and pissed off, so I kinda showed my unhappiness with the situation and said I should get a discounted rate if that’s the case. Well, the Euro manager shows up after about 15 minutes and gave me a discount, so that was nice. Once I saw the room, even though it’s practically still under construction, it’s pretty swank. This place is called Half Moon Blue by the way. After a swim in both the pool and beach I’m feeling better, just had to enjoy the caribbean waters one more time.
So other than diving, I’m pretty much bored outta my f*c+in mind at this point. I should have made this a 7 or 8 day trip with 4 days of diving. Live and learn.
Frustrations include, no one here drinks coffee, transportation sucks, and no one on this side of the island sells sunscreen, and I lost my big bottle on the first day of diving. (Well, it got left in the boat and lifted.)
I’ve tried to avoid beachy vacations traveling single cause they make you lonely. I thouht diving would change that but it doesn’t. There’s just not much else to do here.
Right now I’ve been waiting for 2 hours for a bus or ‘maxi’ (big taxi) to take me back to Scarborough. The only thing that’s keeping me mildly entertained is a fight that’s broke out between two locals. Its funny, I didn’t realize it was an argument until neighbors started coming out to either spectate or try and intermediate. There’s been some shoving but no punches thrown yet. The Speyside drama has been going on for some time now.
Back to waiting on the bus…
—–
Later that day… Ok after a few more minutes some teenagers came over and said, “Hey you waiting on the bus? Because it won’t come because all of the transport is on the other side of the island.” I knew this Jazz Festival thing was going on but this is ridiculous.
The teens chatted with me a bit and they said “just ride with anyone, we’ll help you get a car.” Another kid walked up who needed a ride too. This is kinda how things work around here I’ve noticed. People may be waiting for a bus or maxi, but if an acquaintance drives up, they jump in. So finally they got me a ride
Now I know I have a caffeine addiction, but I have got to find a solution to this problem. Between not having a morning coffee and the heat - I get really bad headaches that last all afternoon. It sucks. It’s a problem traveling in Mexico too. No one drinks it, there are no Starbucks… etc. What has a man got to do to get his fix??? I guess bring caffeine pills next time.
I have since realized my phone works locally, which i wish i knew earlier, and I can get calls from the US. I just can’t make them.
Tonight my guest house of choice was booked again so I splurged on another higher end Rough Guide recommendation. I got here and the ladies working were not very nice and preoccupied, my room wasn’t ready, they actually charged my card up front, and THEN told me I’m staying one of the new rooms and there’s no AC yet. Could my day get any worse?
I was hot and pissed off, so I kinda showed my unhappiness with the situation and said I should get a discounted rate if that’s the case. Well, the Euro manager shows up after about 15 minutes and gave me a discount, so that was nice. Once I saw the room, even though it’s practically still under construction, it’s pretty swank. This place is called Half Moon Blue by the way. After a swim in both the pool and beach I’m feeling better, just had to enjoy the caribbean waters one more time.
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