Snorkeling at the Beach

Another 'first' on this trip full of 'first's was snorkeling.

Our hosts took Melissa & me to the beach on Wednesday afternoon. The kids had a good time playing in the ocean, and Rachel took me out to see the coral reef. I was excited about trying this, but wondered how well I'd really be able to see anything, since I wouldn't be able to wear my glasses under the goggles. It turned out that they had a pair of goggles that are made for glasses-wearers; it wasn't an actual perscription, but magnified more than regular goggles. Anyway, I wore that one, and was a big help. We saw purple & light & dark coral, and lots of fish! Orange 'Nemo' fish, yellow fish, blue fish, black fish, yellow & black angel fish, and irridescent blue/greenish fish. Rachel saw a couple of starfish & tried to point them out to me, but I couldn't see that far. The fish were so cool. We also saw a sea-snake, which was striped light & dark and was probably close to two feet long. It was cool to see, until it came up to the surface. Then we retreated, because we didn't want it to be so close to us! :)

The vehicle we took to the beach belongs to friends of theirs, and it is a pickup truck with a roof (as high as the cab roof) over the box, but no walls. There are two long benches against the long sides of the box for passengers to sit. Melissa, the kids & I sat back there, and it was pretty fun. No one even fell out. :)

That night, Melissa stayed overnight with us, and that was pretty special. We missed Amanda & Key Zu! :(

In the morning, we both flew out and were on the same flight until our first layover, when we parted ways and I continued on to Salatiga, Indonesia, to check out the city where new missionaries come to learn the Indonesian language and culture.