SPF 100 Works!

Today was group snorkel trip day. We started off with a breakfast at the ridiculously early hour of 8am. This hotel fed us: a sort of egg empanada with cornmeal pastry, super sweet strawberry juice, fresh fruit, and "the real thing" hot chocolate - made from actual cocoa beans. Fabulous!
After breakfast we realized we had about three minutes until the bus was scheduled to pick us up, so there was a sudden scramble for bathing suits and sunscreen. I was the last one to the bus, but by golly I was sunscreened! We rode the bus to the boat launch, where I finally saw a few street vendors. There were several rough benches set up at the boat launch, for people to sit while waiting. Some people sat. Some of us wandered around and looked at pretty sundresses and souvenirs.

I hadn't brought any dinero with me, but Dee got herself a useful souvenir and map all in one:

And yes, I am trying to pick the fish's nose without looking.
After a short wait, we all got on a boat (kind of like the water taxis in Guatemela) that took us to a tiny cay, off the coast of the main island:

From that cay, we walked (or swam) through the water to another cay (I think the pair of cays is called the "Acuario"). We snorkeled around both of them, and explored the second cay on foot. It was bigger, and had a grassy park-like area with coconut palm trees. I found, and got the rinds off, two coconuts before Nicole pointed out that there was a sign telling us not to take/eat them. Poop.
The snorkeling was fantastic. I think Dory forgot that I'd seen her, because she kept showing up over and over again, among all the other fish. There were billions of little polyps all over the coral, and about seventeen thousand spiny sea urchins. We all had to wear water shoes, to avoid getting pricked, and some of us got our hands and knees scraped up anyway. I followed a big triangle-shaped fish for a while, and tried to point him out to people, but I think he thought I was chasing him, and took off into the surf.

There were lots of people there - Christmas break time is a big tourist season in San Andres. During snorkeling, it was pretty easy to avoid running into anyone, but when we "lined up" in a giant crowd of sandy people to try to get back on the boat, it got kind of hairy. A little kid on one of the boats tried to bribe Dee into giving him money, by offering to help her sneak on to the other side of the boat. She said no. We eventually crowded onto a boat and took off to Johnny Cay. This boat ride was faster, bumpier, and splashier than the first. The boat was too full for all the workers to sit, so one guy stood on the prow and balanced using a rope tied to the front of the boat. They wouldn't let me try that - didn't even let me stand up in the boat. Oh well.

Then we got to Johnny Cay. A guide there took us to a sort of outdoor restaurant/reggae bar, offered us food choices, and said it would be ready in a half hour. A few of us stayed behind to watch gear in the shade, while most of the group went out to walk around the cay, see iguanas, and check out snorkel conditions. It's an incredibly beautiful island!

They got back in time to watch Dee dance with a rastafarian (the video is sure to show up on YouTube within hours).
About an hour and a half after our order, the food showed up (talk about "island time"). Most of the group had red snapper (each plate had a fish and a half - some got 2 heads, some 2 tails) along with rice and fried plantains:

Dee ordered a lobster, and a giant tray with a full lobster and multiple side dishes showed up. The seafood folks say it was fantastic, and big enough they could even eat the leg meat. (They gave us plates and foil to wrap up the leftovers):

The island serves a different kind of Coco Loco than the restaurant in town. This one tasted like "Kool-Aid with rum" and was served in green coconut shells.

I had a Coca Fresca - basically virgin pina colada. Not bad.

After food, we swapped shifts, and the rest of us went out to explore. We saw iguanas galore (even a couple of blue ones) eating leftovers from the restaurant.

The surf was too rough to do any more snorkeling, but it was perfect for a bit of bodysurfing! After that, Dee and Collette found a guy making hats out of leaves, and they each got one. I told the guy that his hats were beautiful, but I hadn't brought any money to the cay. He said he can't give away free hats, or he can't eat. I told him I know that he needs to eat and I hope people buy lots of hats. Then he gave me a little bird made of leaves - the Dove of Peace. It's beautiful!

From Johnny Cay, we took another boat ride back to the main island, then caught a taxi back to the hotel, where a van was waiting to take Suzanne and some of the other vets to set up the clinic site for tomorrow, leaving a few of us to amuse ourselves at the hotel until dinner. The first thing I wanted after a long day in the sun was a shower, but, wouldn't you know it, today is the day they're repairing pipes in the building where my room is, and there is zero water coming from the plumbing. Thank goodness there is an outdoor shower by the pool. Yes, I did make use of it shampoo and all: 

I was all ready to slather myself with aloe vera gel afterwards, but I checked the mirror and, voila! No burn! So I'm going to go ahead and recommend Coppertone Sport SPF 100 Sunblock to any other fishbelly-white people out there who don't want to get burned. You're welcome.