Caribbean Cruise – Day 6
Boy, do I ever sleep good after a day in the sun combined with the gentle rolling of the ship! I was watching a show about Johnny Depp on E! last night (in French), so I was having oh-la-la dreams about him all night. I was dead to the world until the phone rang to inform me that my breakfast was on the way.
I was going alone on my excursion today…Karyn was going to relax, then maybe go in for some shopping. My excursion was Stingray City Adventure. Our cruise ship was tendered offshore, so I had to catch a boat ashore. I waited about 30 minutes until our tour guide
took us to the bus that was taking us to our boat. Once on the boat, it was another 30 minute ride to where the stingrays were. The rather large, but gentle creatures are very curious and come right up to check you out. They aren’t scary and you don’t have to worry about their barb…they’re not going to use it unless they are really threatened since they only have one and would be defenseless once they use it. Our guide heard through the grapevine that Steven Irwin was trying to ride one and was too rough with it.
The larger stingrays are the females and they are about three times the size of the males. One thought my camera was food and nibbled my fingers as it tried to taste the camera. I learned that if I stood still in the waist-deep water and extended my arms in front, the rays would swim right up to me and I could rub its belly. After touching several and getting my photo taken with one, I donned my snorkel and was content to just watch the rays swim under the water. The snorkel mask also protected my eyes…the salt water had been stinging them. I even got the hang of it so that no water would go down my tube. I was able to get lots of pictures of the rays (and some human legs). I even saw a parrot fish and snapped its picture. I have to say, my $60 underwater digital camera isn’t doing too bad for a cheapy.
When we returned to shore and the bus took us back to the pier, I hopped on a tender and went back to the ship. The sun and water really tire me out…not to mention that I burn easily in spite of my sunscreen. So, after eating lunch, I went back to my room for a much needed nap.
Tonight is another formal night with lobster for dinner…can’t wait! Tomorrow is our last port and is Cozumel. I have a tour scheduled to swim with dolphins…one of the items on my bucket list.
