Saturday and Sharks !

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The Rooster sounded promptly at 5 am again this morning. In the dawn sky you could see the last of giant seagull sized fruit bats flying back to their day roosts. The sunrise was red and the sky looked like it could go either way so we weren't certain yet whether they would be doing the snorkeling with the sharks of even if we wanted to go today.

After breakfast Joshua and Benjamin found a new coconut and set out to dehusk it. Benjamin's technique involved using a piece of coral as a knife and it worked well.

About 8:15 we found out they were running the snorkeling and we decided to go. We geared up at the activities hut and traveled out for about 20 minutes in a small outboard to a deserted reef. It was exciting to get in the water and the tropical fish were everywhere. The plan was to swim as a group the length of the reef. At first Joshua was having some problems with his snorkeling gear, but once he got a life jacket on all was good.

Even though we knew we would see sharks, there is something a bit disturbing about swimming on your own and all of a sudden looking down to see a shark swimming underneath you. There were several of these white tipped reef sharks around and our guide grabbed a small one by the tail and brought it up to the surface for people to touch. Despite the familiarity that they guides have with these animals it is more than a bit unnerving when a wave picks you up and hurls you towards the mouth of a shark!

One of our guides speared a fish and fed some to the sharks (by now there were a number of them around). I had my video camera with me but in my excitement I was never quite sure when I was and wasn't filming. After about an hour in the water we were called back to the boat. It was hard to get in with all the gear. The boat was about to take off when Chris, one the guests who had been on the mountain climb with us the day before, popped up and reminded the guides that he was in their boat. Shades of the movie "Open Water".


When we got back, Joshua and Benjamin got back to their coconut and finally got it open with some help from the Fijian's. Benjamin commented that "It tasks better when you have worked so hard to get it". After lunch the kids built a "Sand Volcano" and Evy went and learned how to weave coconut leaves. There was supposed to be a swim to the next island at 2 pm, but not enough people showed up so Joshua and I went snorkeling instead. We went to the drop off of the reef. I am not sure about, but I feel far more comfortable in the ocean having faced sharks earlier today. We some amazing corals and tones of brilliant blue star fish as well as schools and schools of colourful fish. After tea Benjamin and I did his science lesson on one of the hammocks under a coconut tree.

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