Reflections of My Travel

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It was a struggle to sleep until daylight this morning but after several false awakenings, the sun was up. We headed down toward Makena which is where everyone said the good snorkeling was. Along the way, we passed through Waimea which seems to be the trendy, upscale part of the island. When we got down to Makena, we asked around to find out where the good snorkeling was and were referred to Ahi Hi Bay. When we got there, there were already several snorkelers there so the people must have been right. It was a state protected bay so the coral and fish were supposed to be healthy and plentiful. They were right. The fish were all around our ankles as soon as we stepped into the water. And the water was so nice and clear (unlike the other protected bay at Honolua state park). This was also the first water that was cold enough to make it difficult to force myself into it. Makes sense since all of our snorkeling has been in the afternoons when the water was already warmed. This was our first time snorkeling just after sunup and the water was just not warmed yet. The bay was terrific because the whole thing was fairly shallow, clear, and packed with fish. After a short while and a short distance from the shore, we spotted an octopus! He was very cool, even if more than a little timid. Every time Randal dove down to get his closeup, he ducked back into his little reef-hole. Big meanie. We floated quietly above him for quite some time watching him poke his head and/or tentacles out and then pulling back in when we tried to photograph him. It was very exciting. I haven’t seen a live octopus since a fishing trip on the Banana River with my dad and brother when I was very young. I think it was my brother who caught the octopus. Anyhow, this one brought back good memories and was just plain old neato. Eventually, after Randal had swam off a little (darn him!) the little guy reached out and grabbed eight different rocks on the reef to pull himself up out of the hole. I watched him climb all the way to the top of the coral, making full use of each of his appendages, and when I finally caught Randal’s attention, he ducked down into another hole. Randal was bummed that he missed the whole thing. I was too; those would have been some great pics (assuming the little guy got over his shyness). We finally left him alone and continued exploring other fishies. There were just so many of them. We even met another couple who lives in the same community we live in. A small world indeed. After a couple of hours, we decided we’d had enough snorkeling and started heading back to Kahului. By the time we got to our hotel, it had become quite apparent that we had forgotten to put on sun screen this morning before snorkeling. Now I grew up in Florida and went to the beach fairly often growing up. I have never had a real sunburn. I’ve gotten a little pink before but it always turns tan within a day or two. Today, I passed sunburn and went straight to scorched skin. But only on the back of me. My legs hurt, my lower back hurts, my shoulders and neck are in excrutiating pain! I cannot believe how red I am. I cannot believe how painful it is. I cannot believe I was so stupid to forget sunblock. My hubby and I are going to coat each other in aloe and then I’m going to bed and hoping that this goes away when I wake up.