Day 79: Last Day in Culebra

Wow! Can't believe we're wrapping things up here! Hannah slept in while Mom (that would be me, in case you wondered...) began doing things in her head to get ready to go. We had errands to run, chores around the house to complete, and of course we wanted to go to at least one beach and snorkel and/or swim!

We dropped by the post office to mail a couple of boxes I'd forgotten to get out of Nadeen's car (sure am glad she checked her back end!), got come coffee to bring home, since I've come to enjoy Puerto Rican coffee. As we were driving back toward our house to get our suits on, we noticed that the little temporary road-side food cart was open!! It's NEVER open on Thursdays, so we were geeked! We picked up our favorite indulgence here: papa. They're mashed potato that's been rolled into a large meatball-sized ball and has a meat filling. Before they're served, they're deep flash-fried, so the outside is like a pastry crust. They're so carb-filled, but oh, so.....bueno!!!


When it was beach time, we decided (actually, Hannah decided this time) to go to Tamarindo. We have lots of history at this beach, as it's the one Abbie's school kids go to each Friday. It's also the first place we tried snorkeling and got stuck on a reef. Today was a completely different experience, though! We easily snorkeled out to find plenty of beautiful sea life. The sea urchins were far enough away from us that we got some great shots of them instead of them getting shots at our feet!!! We went out quite a way and got to some sea grass. I began praying that Hannah (and I) would get to see a sea turtle. All of the sudden, I heard Hannah let out a yelp! I turned around to witness a beautiful silver fish that was at least as long as she is!!! It came within six feet of her, too, so it was a kind of surreal experience! That guy was so fast we didn't have a chance to get a picture of him, but it was fun to watch! Heading in the direction of the shoreline, I was keeping my eyes peeled for a sea turtle and suddenly one it was my turn to yelp! Hannah turned around, caught a great view of him and we even had the treat of him gliding to the surface for a quick breath of air!

Then he slid away effortlessly, leaving us both giving each other underwater high-fives! After a while of watching various schools of fish, fish chasing other fish, and noting all the different colors; some vivid and some well-camoflauged, I was praying again, asking God for a chance to see another turtle. What happened? You guessed it!!! Another turtle! This one wasn't a green turtle, though; it was a Hawksbill!! Yay! Plus that, it was bigger than the first! Hannah didn't get any good shots of that guy, though, but not even ten minutes later we saw a THIRD turtle!!! And he was the biggest one!

So it is with the greatest pleasure we share this not-the-best-but-the-best-we-could-do pictures of the best snorkel day EVER!!

Thank you, God, for an absolutely experience in your beautiful creation under the ocean's surface. We were truly blessed beyond belief today!!