Elan's Out of the Will!

Well we’ve been in Palau for a couple of days and we haven’t seen too much above the waterline. Our hotel is the nicest so far. So far on all the Islands the employees have been Filipinos and are both beautiful and
wonderful. It’s a pity they are paid so little (only 3.05US an hour)! Like at home they send a lot of their wages home to the Philippines.

So far we’ve done 6 dives (3 a day). I have found that Scuba diving is hard on my neck. I’m spending a lot of my time just staring at my air gauge as it slowly spirals to zero. I am still the world champion (much to Elan’s chagrin) at using my air up first in our group. (As Elan is always assigned as my “buddy” it means when I’m done – he’s done). I’ve pointed out that if anything happens to me, Elan is out of the will, as he will be the chief suspect in my demise (since they always say in the cop shows the chief suspect is the one with the most to lose). Elan points out I have nothing he wants – which really makes me feel my life has been worthwhile! To get back to my neck. I’m busy trying to keep track of my air, where Elan (my alternate air source) is, and to make sure there are no large predators in my vicinity, hence the constant spinning of my head.

Today we saw several 5 foot white tip sharks. This made all the group, with my exception very happy. I used up more air trying to keep several other divers between me and the sharks, until I nearly backed into a hole that had a rather large moray eel. As I had now used up my air in a super fast time I figured I’d be allowed to return to the safety of the dive boat. No such luck. The dive Master offered me some of his air!

Early today we went to Jelly Fish Lake. This is a salt water lake that has been isolated from the ocean for thousands of years. One has to take a rather rocky hike up a hill, then down a hill to get to the lake (Conny from Gambier would love the hike). Once there you don your mask and flippers and swim to the far end of the lake. It truly is amazing. There are literary millions of jelly fish that you’re swimming with. You can’t even see the bottom of the lake because of the countless jellyfish. It’s like looking at the night sky in a very dark place and seeing the almost countless stars. Elan and I took a lot of pictures but I don’t think any of them will do justice to the experience of swimming in this lake. Because the jellyfish have had no predators for thousands of years they have lost their ability to sting, so there is no problem swimming with them.

On the way back to the boat from the lake I ran into a large tour of Japanese people. I impressed them with my command of the Japanese language saying good afternoon, excuse me and thank you in Japanese. They all
seemed impressed and I was quite pleased with myself until Elan informed me that they were from Taiwan!

According to my certification I am certified to dive to 60 feet. Here in Micronesia they tend to look at that as merely a signpost – pointing to 100 feet!
Elan has made a friend. A navy guy from a submarine the same age as him, so it looks like they are going to do the Tarzan kayak tour on Friday. I think I’ll do the “Jane” tour.

Still three more dives tomorrow until I can stay ABOVE the surface. Tonight I’ve suggested that we go to a seafood restaurant. I’m tired of looking at fish – I want to eat some.

I’ll write more in a day or so.