Greetings from Manihi!

December 12, 2008


Sunrise

God, don’t I wish. While it’s been a rough week back in the real world, the 7 days we spent in Manihi were as awesome as the last time we were there, if not better.

Just like last time, we spent a lot of time snorkeling right after sunrise. We brought an underwater camera this time, so we were able to get a few good shots of the fishies, though we never really mastered the taking pictures underwater thing (most are Raju’s, and he got much, much better at it than I did).


Banner Fish


Picasso Fish

Even though Raju was certain I would tire of him pointing out the Picasso fish every time it was spotted, I didn’t. It was so awesome to get to swim with them some this time. After 20 years, I’ve finally acclimated to snorkeling, finally learned to breath through the snorkel, not through my nose. And though I’m still a little wary of swimming where there are sharks, I think I have the panicky-ness under control now, too.

Speaking of sharks, something new we did this time was the Picnic on a Motu. We set out on a three-hour tour with Captain Kana, Alberto, Frederica, and a few other peeps. First we stopped to do a little hand-line fishing – we did need something to cook at the picnic after all. Then we landed on another strip of the atoll, where there were a lot of remoras, Fric and Frac’s bros from the last trip. They can eat quite a large chunk of meat; much more than Raju thought possible. And they are curious – one nipped my heels later on, though I had my swim shoes on so it didn’t hurt.

But I digress, we were speaking of sharks, not remoras. Our crazy captain thinks it is sport to try to catch sharks with nothing more than a rope, some fish guts, and his body. Tie large pieces of fish to the rope, and lure the shark toward shore. When he gets close, jump on him!! Well, I may think he’s crazy, but it worked. He also caught a baby just by watching it then swiftly sticking his hand in the water and grabbing it.


Fishing for Sharks


Raju with the big shark

There’s quite a bit more to share, including some videos Raju took while we snorkeled, but I’ll save those for another post, as this one is becoming a tad long.

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