This one is from Ann —

Did I tell you how much I love our kayaks? Today we launched them again and paddled over to one of the sea caves that I had been admiring. The one under the Booby Perch rock. And the kayak fit through perfectly! Very cool.

Into the sea cave...

...and out the other side. Later in the day, we snorkled through. It was a little scary at first since it was dark, but once we got used to the darkness, it was very cool.

The water here is pretty clear (We are still at Isla Isabela) so as we paddled around we were able to see fish swimming below us. And coming out of the sea cave we could look up at the boobies perched at the edge of the cliff. I think they liked us better from this angle.

After a glorious kayak around we came back to Charisma. Bob had gotten aboard when I noticed an unusual pattern in the water nearby. Bob grabbed the binoculars and identified a school of fish feeding. So I paddled over and investigated! The water was bubbling with activity. I took the waterproof camera, stuck my hand in the water, hit the shutter and got pictures of a school of 15-18″ Crevalle Jack (like a small yellow fin tuna) which we will post later. I was able to follow them around a little longer and be part of the fun.

Ann got this by just sticking her hand in the water with the waterproof camera from her kayak

We got our snorkel gear and headed back out in the dinghy. We used a small anchor Bob brought for the dinghy and Jacque Cousteau-like we flipped backwards out of the dinghy and into the water. Okay, truth be told, Bob did, I just slipped over the edge of the dinghy and into the water.

It was beautiful snorkeling! Most impressive was the school of about 400 Pacific Lookdown fish. At first Bob points to them, like, “Look at that school of fish!”. And they just kept coming! Like I said, probably 400 of these 6-8″ thin silver fish schooling along right next to us. Amazing! Of course there were many other beautiful fish to see among these rocky shores. But then I looked up and we were back near the sea cave! “Swim through it!” I tell Bob. So he does. I followed him thinking, this is scary! It was very deep and pretty dark but beautiful. Blue phosphorescent fish were swimming below us, and there was, of course, a light at the end of the tunnel. So fun!

Back on Charisma a little later, we were treated to a whale show about 60 yards off of our stern. Do things like this really happen? Crazy. Two whales were diving and showing their flukes for 20 minutes while we’re anchored a mere 60 yards away!

We finished our day with “hammock time” while we enjoyed the songs of the hundreds of birds circling over our heads -including the rare Red-billed Tropicbird that will not let me photograph it!

P.S. To Missy: Tonight we’re cooking the last of the fish we caught yesterday and using the cookbook you got us for Christmas. Since the fish is close to snapper, we’re using the recipe for snapper on a bed of sliced potatoes, green beans, julienned carrots and tomatoes with olive oil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar all wrapped in foil and baked. It’s in the oven right now and the aroma is heavenly!