So this is it. The last proper day of the holiday. Tomorrow I fly back to Tokyo, and the day after I get a ridiculously early flight home. But I've managed to completely forget about all that in the face of this.
First thing (more or less), I boarded a little glass bottomed boat and headed out to the edge of the coral reefs near the shore. This must be part of the off-season for the hotel, because not only has it been super quiet around here, there was absolutely no one else on my boat, save for the driver (check out my nautical terminology).
The trip was... honestly, it was a bit bittersweet. The fish we saw were amazing, and there were all sorts of star fish and sea cucumbers and other unknown things visible through the bottom of the boat. But the coral itself was grey, broken, and (I suspect) mostly dead. The boat kept to the edges of the reef areas, probably more because it was too shallow to go much further than out of any care for the reef itself, so maybe I was only seeing the scraggly edges, not the amazingly healthy middles. But I suspect not. I wondered how healthy the reefs were the other day as I walked across the coral-covered beach. I'm no coral expert, and though there must be a natural life-cycle going on which would inevitably cause broken coral to wash onto beaches, I have no idea what a normal level ought to be. Seeing the coral in the water looking almost identical to that on the beach hints that it's not normal, and it was quite heartbreaking to see it.
But the fish were amazing. I got no real photos of them, because even in a glass bottomed boat, things don't come out well on film, but it was amazing to see the diversity out there. Plus, I saw clown fish. The boat guy said 'Nemo' when we floated over them, and we shared a chuckle. It was good.
After the boat, I spent quite a long time chasing hermit crabs. Well, maybe not chasing them, because they they can't run away that fast, and it wasn't that hard to keep up with them, but I must have looked a right wally wandering around, bent double, with my camera pointing at the ground. At first I thought there were tiny shells being blown around in the wind, and then I thought they were some sort of tick (a lot of them were in very small, pale, shiny shells that looked like a creepy little tick body). Finally, when I realised that some of them were patterned, I realised what they were, and once I'd seen one, I could see them everywhere.
My camera doesn't cope with close-ups very well, so there's a bit of a lack of focus in the middle of this which I apologise for, but this gives you some indication of how many hermit crabs there were. The longest one of these was maybe just over half a centimeter long, and it was pretty much a rule that, if I saw a little shell, it would have a little inhabitant. I saw a larger crab a little later which was almost 2cm, but they're all super shy, and the moment he saw me coming he scarpered. I got this shot of his retreating shell.
After my crab adventures, I went and got some sunburnt feet (not intentionally). It's pretty spectacular, actually - I forgot to put suncream on my legs, but while my legs themselves are fine, about ankle height I've turned a lovely lobster colour. Thankfully it's not bad - it doesn't even feel hot or sore - so I won't be in too much trouble being stuck on planes for most of the next two days.
And that's pretty much all I did today. I know I said something about visiting an archaeological site, but it was either a bus ride or an hour's walk away, and it was just too hot to spend too much time away from the sea breeze. I sat in the hotel lobby for a bit, which has a lovely pool filled with fish, then I sat on my balcony out of the sun.
This is one of the walkways that I found the hermit crabs on. The rocky islands might be artificial, but they're still lovely.
So now I'm relaxing in my room after a hard day's taking-it-easy. I've just eaten some sort of strawberry sponge taco, which was weird and delicious, and now I'm having a cup of tea. I reckon an early night, then a morning of frantic packing before the long bus ride back to the airport. As stereotypically touristy as the area is, it's still beautiful enough that I'm going to miss it. Thank goodness I wasn't here in peak season, though!
[Edit: Just noticed that this is the 100th post on my blog. Hooray! That's all.]
My view this morning.
First thing (more or less), I boarded a little glass bottomed boat and headed out to the edge of the coral reefs near the shore. This must be part of the off-season for the hotel, because not only has it been super quiet around here, there was absolutely no one else on my boat, save for the driver (check out my nautical terminology).
The trip was... honestly, it was a bit bittersweet. The fish we saw were amazing, and there were all sorts of star fish and sea cucumbers and other unknown things visible through the bottom of the boat. But the coral itself was grey, broken, and (I suspect) mostly dead. The boat kept to the edges of the reef areas, probably more because it was too shallow to go much further than out of any care for the reef itself, so maybe I was only seeing the scraggly edges, not the amazingly healthy middles. But I suspect not. I wondered how healthy the reefs were the other day as I walked across the coral-covered beach. I'm no coral expert, and though there must be a natural life-cycle going on which would inevitably cause broken coral to wash onto beaches, I have no idea what a normal level ought to be. Seeing the coral in the water looking almost identical to that on the beach hints that it's not normal, and it was quite heartbreaking to see it.
But the fish were amazing. I got no real photos of them, because even in a glass bottomed boat, things don't come out well on film, but it was amazing to see the diversity out there. Plus, I saw clown fish. The boat guy said 'Nemo' when we floated over them, and we shared a chuckle. It was good.
After the boat, I spent quite a long time chasing hermit crabs. Well, maybe not chasing them, because they they can't run away that fast, and it wasn't that hard to keep up with them, but I must have looked a right wally wandering around, bent double, with my camera pointing at the ground. At first I thought there were tiny shells being blown around in the wind, and then I thought they were some sort of tick (a lot of them were in very small, pale, shiny shells that looked like a creepy little tick body). Finally, when I realised that some of them were patterned, I realised what they were, and once I'd seen one, I could see them everywhere.
My camera doesn't cope with close-ups very well, so there's a bit of a lack of focus in the middle of this which I apologise for, but this gives you some indication of how many hermit crabs there were. The longest one of these was maybe just over half a centimeter long, and it was pretty much a rule that, if I saw a little shell, it would have a little inhabitant. I saw a larger crab a little later which was almost 2cm, but they're all super shy, and the moment he saw me coming he scarpered. I got this shot of his retreating shell.
Hermit crab.
After my crab adventures, I went and got some sunburnt feet (not intentionally). It's pretty spectacular, actually - I forgot to put suncream on my legs, but while my legs themselves are fine, about ankle height I've turned a lovely lobster colour. Thankfully it's not bad - it doesn't even feel hot or sore - so I won't be in too much trouble being stuck on planes for most of the next two days.
And that's pretty much all I did today. I know I said something about visiting an archaeological site, but it was either a bus ride or an hour's walk away, and it was just too hot to spend too much time away from the sea breeze. I sat in the hotel lobby for a bit, which has a lovely pool filled with fish, then I sat on my balcony out of the sun.
My view this afternoon.
This is one of the walkways that I found the hermit crabs on. The rocky islands might be artificial, but they're still lovely.
So now I'm relaxing in my room after a hard day's taking-it-easy. I've just eaten some sort of strawberry sponge taco, which was weird and delicious, and now I'm having a cup of tea. I reckon an early night, then a morning of frantic packing before the long bus ride back to the airport. As stereotypically touristy as the area is, it's still beautiful enough that I'm going to miss it. Thank goodness I wasn't here in peak season, though!
[Edit: Just noticed that this is the 100th post on my blog. Hooray! That's all.]
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