| I felt like Jacques Cousteau! Thousands of colorful | | | | sharks, but fortunately none came our way. We |
| creatures swam all around me. I saw brilliant | | | | did see a jelly fish but it kept its distance. I was |
| yellow fins and sky blue bodies. There were purple | | | | impressed with the royal blue starfish everywhere |
| and orange fish, and some which were chocolate | | | | and a black and white striped sea snake. Only |
| brown with white polka dots. The fish came in an | | | | later did I find out it was poisonous. After about |
| endless array of shapes and sizes and a rainbow | | | | an hour our guide Dee Dee said it was time to |
| of hues, even a lovely neon pink. It was amazing! | | | | head back. I was the last one out of the water. I |
| Snorkeling off the coast of Boracay Island in the | | | | just couldn't get enough of the ocean landscape |
| Philippines was a memorable experience. Twelve | | | | below us. |
| of us rented a boat one morning to have a look | | | | Young Boracay men were hovering around our |
| at a nearby coral reef and its interesting | | | | snorkeling boat in little outrigger canoes which |
| inhabitants. Our guide Dee Dee and her | | | | were loaded with coconuts. For about fifty cents |
| brother-in-law Henry took us out to Crocodile | | | | you could buy a coconut with a straw and drink |
| Island. There are no crocodiles there, but viewed | | | | its juice. It was the perfect way to end our |
| from afar the outline of the island is truly | | | | snorkeling experience. |
| crocodilian. Outfitted with first class snorkeling | | | | We had more excitement to come however. As |
| equipment we maneuvered our way over the | | | | we headed home and rounded the end of |
| bamboo struts on either side of our boat and | | | | Boracay Island the waves grew larger and larger. |
| plunged into the water. The scene below was like | | | | Soon our boat was rocking dangerously from side |
| something right out of a Jacques Cousteau | | | | to side and we could see Henry struggling at the |
| National Geographic special. The water around | | | | steering wheel to keep us headed straight on into |
| Boracay is pristine, supposedly the clearest in the | | | | the waves. When Dee Dee instructed us to all put |
| world, thus providing a spectacular view of the | | | | our life jackets on, I got a little nervous. That |
| coral on the ocean floor. | | | | feeling only intensified when Dee Dee began to |
| Everywhere I looked there seemed to be a | | | | finger the cross around her neck and whisper, |
| unique kind of coral. Some resembled giant | | | | "Jesus save us. God protect us." I admit I pretty |
| mushrooms; others were more like cauliflower | | | | much held my breath till we rounded the cape of |
| heads or domes with mazes etched into them. I | | | | the Boracay and entered more placid waters. |
| saw inky black coral that had the shape of | | | | Although I wouldn't want to live through those |
| porcupine quills and others that looked like the | | | | tense fifteen or twenty minutes again they did |
| human brain. One reminded me of giant fingers | | | | help to insure that snorkeling on Boracay Island in |
| and another was imprinted with a design similar to | | | | the Philippines is not an experience I am likely to |
| that on a cameo brooch or necklace. | | | | ever forget! |
| The waters around Boracay are known for their | | | | |