Daily Blog Entry 9:

After going on a 3-hour boat ride from the mainland over clear waters and beautiful skies, we finally made it to Glovers!

The island is absolutely breath-takingly beautiful. I have no complaints. Maybe except for the sand flies because they’re surprisingly painful for their size. It was amazing to be able to have a delicious lunch while looking at the picturesque beach and bright blue sky.

When we went snorkeling today for the first time, I may have pulled my right calf because I am still in a lot of pain almost 8 hours later. But before I pulled my calf I learned an important lesson. Five minutes into snorkeling, I had to take my mask off because it was getting very foggy. I just stood on the sea grass bed and proceeded to take my mask off while joking around with Sami. Javier, our water safety officer, soon swam next to me and told me to watch where I stood because there was a yellow sting ray between Sami and I. We quickly learned our lesson. The Yellow stingray wasn’t moving and just kept blinking.

The next piscivorous fish we saw was a baby nurse shark! It was on the bottom of the sea grass bed. It was about 0.7 meters long, which is about a third of their mature length. It was just hanging out on the bottom of the sea grass bed not doing anything. They really do live up to what they are known for – calm and gentle.

I think I pulled my right calf muscle and it hurts to stretch my calf muscle, so until my calf heals I’ll be taking frequent breaks and taking it easy.