We woke up to find that the storm had passed, and immediately went outside to check out the damage. From the balcony outside our bedroom, we could see the Phoenix grounds crew already hard at work, raking the broken branches and leaves from the grass. Even the director of the resort was in the pool, cleaning it out himself to make sure that everything was ready for the guests as quickly as possible again, and the Phoenix was back to its gorgeous self again. We decided it would be a good day to go out to breakfast, so we took a walk on the beach to check out other damage. Not as bad as we thought. Branches down, leaves everywhere, a few signs for snorkeling were knocked down along the beach. There was one section of town where all of the lamp posts were knocked over and the wires where exposed, but that seemed to be the worst of it.
We decided to have breakfast at a little beach place called Lily's, where Andy ordered a meat lovers omelet with hot fig jam, and I enjoyed two amazing breakfast burritos. (The order came with two, I am not just a fatty who wanted two breakfasts). We finished up our coffee while watching some World Cup action and then headed back to the resort.
Since our first snorkeling trip was such a blast, we decided we would sign up to go again, knowing that it would be a whole different experience the day after a big storm. We met up with Alfonse once again with a few other snorkelers and went back out to the reef. This time, the waters were rough, and the current was very strong, making it a little more tiring, just to swim around. It was a totally different scene. The big fish like grouper were all over the place, but the little tropical guys were a bit more scarce. Since we were being tossed around by the sea, we didn't spend as much time by the sharp coral this time around. Before long, we headed over to Shark Ray Alley to see what was going on over there. When we showed up, our boat was the only one there...along with about 35 nurse sharks and 15 sting rays. Unbelievable. I couldn't wait. I was the first one to jump in the water, noticing right away that there were not only many more sharks than last time, but some of the sharks were much larger than last time too! Andy jumped in...right on top of one of the 7' sharks. Luckily, he was heading over to the food that we'd dropped off the boat, so he didn't stop to maul Andy for jumping right on him off the boat. Phew. I would have been the quickest widow in history. We had lots of time to swim around and play with the sharks and rays, both having the opportunity to hold them again. Before we left, another giant sea turtle came to visit. These animals are truly amazing. We got back in the boat, and headed back along the very choppy seas to return to the resort.
We were totally drained from fighting the currents all afternoon, so we spent the late afternoon napping, lounging in the pool, and sitting inside watching TV (so we didn't fall asleep outside and get sunburned). For dinner, we decided to check out the other side of the island and walked to a place called the Sunset Grill. This was a lovely restaurant over the water that is famous for the tarpon that hang out in the water and are fed by guests to the restaurant. Tarpon are giant fish (about 3' long each) that jump clear out of the water when there is food on the line, which is a pretty amazing sight to see. The food was pretty amazing as well. We decided to be brave and try the lobster fritters (neither of us eat lobster), and were very pleased with how delicious they were! We enjoyed a few Belikins to help us wash down our dinners - Shrimp scampi with veggies and pasta for Andy, and shrimp with linguine in a garlic cream sauce and garlic bread for me. After our long day of snorkeling, we treated ourselves to dessert as well, and split a piece of the richest coconut cream pie ever made. As we finished the meal, and the sun went down, we noticed a very large crocodile (or alligator?) in the water next to us, where the tarpon had been swimming. Whoa.
We took the long route home (to help us digest) and walked along the beach. Eventually, we made it back to the condo and passed out together on the couch. What a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment