And No Tropical Vacation Would Be Complete without....

A SUNBURN, of course!

On my last tropical trip(to Hawaii), I burned fairly severely on my shoulders while snorkeling. Yes I was wearing sunscreen, but either my hair or suit rubbed it off. I solve this problem by wacking 27 inches of hair off and wearing a heavy cotton shirt to swim in. Ok, I didn't wack the hair specifically for snorkeling, but the effect is the same. I applied SPF 45 sunscreen to every inch of exposed skin, and even some that weren't. I thought I had escaped unscathed, until my seat started to prickle this evening. Yep, I burned my ass. Or rather, the tops of the back of my thighs. Not badly, and I have aloe along. It should fade out by tomorrow or the next day.

We took a Catamaran/Hyrdrofoil thing out to an island the size of a postage stamp. Or rather, I think they call it a Caye. I'll be generous and size it out at 50 by 30. It was surrounded by reefs. But, I was there with 50 other people and the water is still churned up from the storms. We jumped off the boat and snorkled around the island from there. I quickly decided that I had to get away from the madding crowds if I was going to see anything.

Indeed, once the thrashing newbies were in the distance, the fish came back out to play. I still couldn't see more than abut 15 feet, but there were quite a few fish, and more coral than I've seen before. Some of the usual suspects (A Humunukunukuapuaa and a parrot fish) were around, along with others I hadn't seen before. At one point I drifted and watched a school of about 50 yellow and black striped guys dart around their reef. I stayed in the water as long as they would let me, and quite enjoyed it. The trip completely validated borrowing Mom's gear and hauling it across country. Now they're 2 ocean fins ;>

I do wish this trip had been Tuesday as scheduled, it would have been a great way to start the week. Grand Cayman is closed until further notice, apparently the damage from Ivan is massive.

I also got some lovely Henna work done on my back in advance of the backless dinner dress.

Tomorrow will be a day at sea as we head back around to Miami. According to the captain's update this evening we'll be in at 6 am or so on Sunday. I have to be out of the room 8, and they should let us off the ship at about 10:30 or 11. No, we're still determining what to do with the rest of the day, as the flights don't leave until 6. Yes, those of you waiting for phone calls will get them, put I'll be nice and wait until a decent hour.

Ta.