Swimming with the Sharks

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Greetings, after a fairly long respite…

I found the place where old pirates (and skibums) go to rest…arrgh! The Perhentian Islands are found (or lost) about 30 km off the far northeast coat of Malaysia. Two big green tropical ice creams scoops in the middle of the South China Sea, the Perhentians were once a little known paradise undiscovered by the tourist masses. Well the world is smaller now and the Malaysian government aggressively markets its beautiful island gems to its own folks, lots of folks from Europe (can you say World Cup Football?), and beyond.

Imagine a place with no airport, no cars, few buildings, and no commerce other than a few lazy tourist resorts. Everything that is brought here, everyone that comes or goes, and even the garbage requires a small boat. The locals are primarily big fish or palm trees. I had the past 10 or so days to ponder all of this in great detail. Call it research for an upcoming project…right!

So what happens here on Palau Perhentian Besar, you ask? Not too much above the waterline. Appropriately, the real fun and action takes place underwater. There are numerous dive operators combing the coral reefs and tranquil deserted bays that beckon to be explored when the beach gets too hot, and/or the tropical air steams your curls.

Having forgotten to bring my diving certification card, and not wanting to repeat the 4-day PADI course, I decided that snorkeling was just the ticket for me. And it turned out to be one of the better “e-ticket” rides of a fine life filled with them (I thank the fun spirits for this). That’s right, yours truly, old MJ of A, had an up close and personal experience with a friendly black-tipped reef shark. Picture: “Pirates of the South China Sea” meet “Jaws!”

There I was…
Early one morning, before all of the little Hansels and Gretels could put on there water wings, I set out with my mask, snorkel, and waterproof camera case, determined to capture a few Angelfish and Dories before they had a chance to wake up and scurry away. I’d been having fair luck with my new toy the past few days so it was high time to get serious! Each time I’d been out in the water acting like Matt Cousteau, I’d seen a few little sharks in the distance, but normally they took a beeline to get as far from this big old Finn-American undersea explorer as they possibly could (Finns eat fish, any fish, with a passion, I might add).

I was doing pretty well with my pretty coral shots and surprising the little yellow whatchamacallits, when all of a sudden my new best buddy, Mr. Looking Pretty Ferocious Want to Eat You, decided to take an qualified interest in little old me. Well, as I was eagerly snapping away, I started to think, “Hmm, why is this shark swimming circles around me,” and “why am I happily taking pictures?”

As I know, (or might have been told by someone I don’t remember), most reef sharks are very friendly. I can only assume that this big girl (hopefully it was a girl) must have known I was the only unattached, (and getting a little lonely I might add), big white boy fish on the Island. (Un)fortunately, she, (or he), took off after a good look and sniff, and I was left with a faster heartbeat and big smile because I got the one picture I really wanted! At least one of us went home happy! Just goes to prove that advanced degrees don’t count for much when you are part of the food chain. I personally would rather have fins than brains in this situation!

The Perhentian Islands are the kind of place that once you find your groove, you've actually forgotten exactly what it was you are groovin' about. It is so very relaxed here. No worries, no hurries, not much internet. The local people are extremely friendly and go out of their way to help the sunburned tourists. It was especially fun watching the kids from the resorts unwind after work, playing volleyball and football on the beach (soccer).

Next up, a little more Cousteau'ing around the coral gardens, and then, after another night in Kota Bharu, I am off to Kuala Lumpur for a little BASE jumpin' at the Petronas Towers (as they say in Thailand: shur...ahhhh). Ah, the life of pirate…

Selamat tinggal!

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