Memory From Five Years Ago

Five years ago I was snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands.  Now that was fun.  I put on my gear.  Putting on a wet suit is no easy task.  I jumped into the ocean off the side of a boat and explored underwater.  We snorkeled out by Kicker Rock - a giant rock protruding out of the ocean off the shore that was split into two halves.  The rock sides were almost straight up and down.  We swam around the rock and could feel the temperature differences as we rounded the corners and encountered currents from the south (coldest!) and the north (warmer).  All colors of coral lined the rock including pink and black and turquoise and white and yellow and blue and green.  Later we snorkeled another part of the islands closer to shore.  Blue footed boobies were fishing around us.  These birds looks like ducks flying and when they see a fish in the sea they dive bomb into the water to catch the fish.  As I was snorkeling I was disturbed by a splash a few feet ahead of me and I actually saw the turquoise feet of a blue footed booby swim by.  Later I swam in a deeper area and about ten feet below me I saw the dark body of a shark.  The shark was as long as I was.  A shark!  I couldn't help it.  I screamed into my snorkel.  The shark was ten feet below me and totally ignored my presence but I didn't know it was a harmless Galapagos reef shark.  I was so alive at that moment.  I didn't stop swimming or go back to the boat so I guess I wasn't too worried about the shark but I did ask about it when our snorkeling session was over.  Later we saw sea stars, sea cucumbers, iguanas, penguins, sea lions, hammerhead sharks, and schools of fish.  Our guide took us to another area where the sea floor was sandy.  There was no plants and no fish and really nothing to see.  I wondered why we came here.  We swam on and came upon two dozen green sea turtles.  Everybody stayed calm and split up.  We seemed to have one turtle apiece.  I followed my turtle.  When my turtle left the sea floor to come up and have a sip of air, I had to arch my body upwards so that we didn't touch each other.  I put my head up at the same time the turtle put it's head up out of the water.  I tried to smile at "my" turtle but with a snorkel pipe in my mouth I couldn't really pull it off. The experience was magical.  Later our guide complimented us on staying calm and creating a joyous experience that lasted a long time.  The last time I went snorkeling I followed a ray.  Where the ray went, I went.  I was so relaxed and peaceful following that ray.  The ray and I swam into a school of 8 inch long white fish.  We split the school of white fish in half.  I looked behind and saw the school combine together again.  After each snorkeling session we had to climb back aboard our boat.  We handed our fins to the guide and the round ladder rungs hurt my feet.  Once aboard we all talked about what we saw while our guide gave us a snacks like nachos or fruit.  Everything tastes good after swimming. We looked through the guide books to identify the fish we saw.  All this happened five years ago?  It feels longer than that.  Snorkeling is one of my all time favorite activities.  I should plan another snorkeling adventure.