Ditto!

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Ever had one of those days that was so good you just wanted to do it all over again? Well for us, that was yesterday and guess what - we almost did! A few differences, we went to a different island, Sapi, it had monitor lizards, the laundry was open when we went to collect our stuff, we slept through the sunset, and the noodles at the Evening Food Stall weren’t quite as good as yesterday, but apart from that ...

Sapi’s slightly smaller than the other islands but the beach was just as beautiful and we found a lovely shady spot under some trees to park ourselves. Quite close by a group of approximately ten Monitor Lizards had made their way out of the forest and onto the beach which made quite a sight. However, we didn’t stay watching for too long as the water was calling. Snorkelling was really good again, slightly less fish than there were at Mamutik but more than Manukan - and best of all, there were no stinging jellyfish.

After over an hour in the water we finally dragged our “pruning” bodies from the water. Valerie read for a while, I trekked off in search of wildlife. Clambered over rocks again camera at the ready but, apart from the odd crab, there was very little about. Setting back, and having reverted to taking “arty” shots of the rocks, I suddenly spied a couple of Pacific Reef Egrets. Unfortunately, they clocked me at about the same time. Luckily, I had time to adjust the camera and shoot a couple of frames as they flew by!

Back to Valerie and back in the water! Again, there were loads of fish, many quite large, however, one of the most amazing sights we saw was a shoal of hundreds of tiny black and white fish “hoovering” the sea bed. Every so often something would disturb them and they’d dance around then come back together. Sometimes, they’d be in a large circular shape, other times more spread (about the size of big French loaf!) At one point they came to a bush like weed and just engulfed it - a beach ball sized sphere of tiny fish.

More relaxing, and a bit more snorkelling before it was time to catch the boat back. After freshening up, we headed back to the same food hall as yesterday for some Crab and Sweetcorn soup, another kilo of Crab with Spring Onion, Ginger and Chilli, Thai Crispy Chicken, and Spicy Noodles. What’s the betting we’ll make it a hat-trick tomorrow?

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