I wanna see, wanna see them swimmin'
Flappin around on those - what do you call 'em?
Oh - fins!
The next morning I couldn't just ignore the alarm and skip breakfast/save it for later. I had to get up now. I had to eat now. I had to check out now. Because I was going snorkeling.
The girls at the Rama Garden are so nice. Although I checked out at 8, I could keep my suitcase in the restaurant until it was time to go to the ferry. I got picked up via motorbike and we headed to the snorkeling boat.
So we were supposed to see Mantas. It was a Manta Ray Snorkeling expedition, but, unlike the stingray snorkeling excursions in the Bahamas, the mantas are not contained but free in the wild and therefore it is up to luck, fate, and the mantas on whether or not they are to be seen. Unfortunately, this was not one of those days.
We went to four snorkeling sites. The first was Manta Bay where the manta rays were supposed to be. Although I did not see a manta, I did get stung in the arm by a jellyfish. The red stinger was stuck to my arm until I was back on the boat and could remove it. It left a bump and it hurt really bad. Because of this, I was a little reluctant to go back in the water at the next stop.
Second stop was Crystal Bay. The water was really warm, so that was nice. There were so many colorful corals and fish! One guy on the boat said it was just like the Great Barrier Reef, but he must've gone to a much smaller GBR than the one I visited a few years ago. But it was super colorful and nice and I could've spent a while looking at those fishies.
Also, let me take this time to say how disappointed I am in my GoPro. Of course I took a million pictures and literally 4 of them turned out. And they didn't even turn out well, like with colors and everything. It's like all blue but at least in those 4 you can see fish. I thought GoPros were supposed to be good at underwater picture taking? Isn't that the point of a GoPro? My disposable underwater from CVS literally takes just as good pictures. I'm so upset.
The next stop we went to the current was too rough for us to snorkel, so the boat driver took us to a place we weren't scheduled to stop instead. I was getting tired at this point, so I didn't really want to get back off the boat just to get back on to go to the next stop, but I like being a fish so I did so anyways. The current here was still strong so the boat driver told us to just float next to the cliff and have the current take us to where another boat was while our boat used its motor to go to the other boat to pick us up. So it was a really quick stop. We had to stay close to the cliff though because the water dropped off real quick and got really deep a few feet away from the cliff. 
Our final stop took us to the mangroves. I did go to school in Florida for a semester and a term so I know what mangroves are and these were not them. I think maybe the island near where we were might've had mangroves and that's how the area was named, but we were on a reef not mangroves. There were sooo many fish here. And the water was so warm and clear. The reef was even more colorful than the others combined and there were more fish than I've ever seen. I felt like I was swimming in an aquarium tank again, but with more fish and more room to swim. It was amazing. Funny, at this stop I was not tired and gladly got off the boat and I'm glad I did.
If I'm in the mood maybe I'll make a video of my snorkeling, if the videos show any fish because the pictures mostly don't.
After snorkeling I went back to the restaurant at the Rama Garden for food and to collect my suitcase. I got the chicken nuggets and a smoothie. It was really good. After I ate I went to the beach.
The water at the beach is really calm (hence why we had to take a boat to go to the waves) but there is a strong side current and many boats everywhere, so I couldn't just float and I had to ground myself in the coral/sand to make sure I didn't drift into a boat or away from my suitcase. Other than that it was fun. A couple Asian girls stopped right in front of me to get their pictures taken so I'm pretty sure I'm in their pictures in the background, but that's okay with me.
At about 3:00 I headed back to the restaurant to see if a taxi would be getting me to go to the ferry or if I would have to walk. A taxi was on it's way for me and soon I was back on the ferry.
The ferry was an interesting experience this time. Everyone on the ferry fell asleep except for me, a couple sitting diagonally behind me, and a guy sitting behind them. The whole boat! Even the workers who were sitting in the aft. Thankfully it didn't seem like the captain fell asleep because we made it back to the mainland fine. But on the way, the guy in the couple kept testing me! He kept telling me to push the girl next to me and pour water on her and I really wanted to because it would be funny but I didn't. If she fell over on me though I was prepared to punch her out of the seat. Eventually he gave up on hoping I would so he threw water on her! It was very funny. Even before the water was thrown, anytime I would look at the couple or the guy behind them we would all start laughing because we were the only ones awake! A girl was sleeping on the guy behind the couple and that was funny also.
(Also fun fact: I'm currently shedding like a snake and it itches really really badly. Even my fingers are peeling so I guess they didn't actually scar over and it was just some super weird scabbing, idk.)
Once we got to the mainland, the ferry played bumper boats with a few of the boats next to where we were trying to park because of the current and maybe the captain was sleeping a little. But finally they got it in place and I was on my way to Ubud via taxi, again in the front seat in my own van.
Once in Ubud, I was treated to a watermelon juice during check in which I drank too quickly to take a picture of (sorry). Then I was shown my room which was super fancy. I also received a free massage voucher, so once I dropped my stuff off in my room I went to use it. Unfortunately, when it was finished, the pool was closed so I could not go swimming like I had been hoping to. I then planned on just waking up early to go swimming but let's be honest, I already had to wake up early enough.
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| My balcony |
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| View from my balcony |
So after my massage, I took a shower/bath and used the shampoo and bubble bath provided by the hotel. It was very nice because I hadn't had hot water since I arrived in Bali and I practically had dreads. They were awful and I felt like I was ripping my head off when I attempted to brush my hair, but at least I know that if I ever accidentally did get dreads forreal I would look good with them. |
| Check out my almost dreads in the mirror |
At the restaurant, there was this cat. It was the smallest cat I ever saw, like it literally was smaller than my forearm. It kept meowing. When I was done eating it jumped onto a chair and chair hopped until it was on the one next to me. It kept staring at me and I swear it could see into my soul. It was so tiny and cute though. Nice cat. 
After dinner I got my things ready for tomorrow and got into bed. I watched a few minutes of The Voice before settling on Dora the Explorer. I need my weekly dose of Spanish and you just don't get that here in Australasia. It was nice to watch television because I hadn't seen TV (besides a couple episodes of The Bachelor NZ) since before I came to New Zealand. I almost couldn't last the whole episode before my eyes closed for good and I slept through the night.
Until next time,
xoxo,
Tasha
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