We arrived in Grand Turk in the morning and the ship docked.
We headed out and walked with our group along the beach to wear a boat awaited to take us on a reef snorkel and stingray experience. We did snorkel as Tash doesn't scuba dive, and there wasn't a listed excursion for diving (I later found out a few divers had done a non-Princess dive trip and had a great time).
We took the boat a short distance out to the reef and as we did they passed out the fins, masks, snorkels and snorkling vests and went over procedures. Water in the area of the reef would be about 15 feet deep so no issues.
We got in and started swimming around a bit to view the reef and assorted sea life there.
One lady on the trip got immediately kinda freaked out snorkeling and was then towed around the reef by one of the tour guides so she could view the reef. Good on her for giving it a go, and sticking to it even after getting scared and still staying in the water and getting the experience.
It was a nice, relaxing time snorkeling in calm warm water. No complaints there. After about a half hour We then re-boarded the boat and headed to the waters by a beach where the stingrays were known to hang out.'
Sure enough one came right in and up to the tour guide and the stingray experience was on.
The stingray was big. You got to hold it, give it a kiss, and get a stingray hug. The hug felt like being covered with a large, wet, soft, mushroom:
A rather gentle animal, it was rewarded with fish for its efforts, and seemed to enjoy the interaction as much as all the people did, as it happily hung around.
Once the tour ended, we wandered around for a bit, and then headed back to the ship for a nap and to hang out our wet clothes.
Then on to dinner and I again played craps and won $25 to make it the end of another great day.
4 comments:
The lady who got scared on the snorkeling experience, and the crew that helped her continue on, both deserve a well done. Especially the crew, who went out of their way to ensure that the woman will long remember not only the experience, but the kindness that the crew doled out in abundance, by making certain that she was not left out, or scared.
My wife and myself used to go to Florida in the winter, most every year when I was working, for a short break from the winter, more important for me than for her. And on a couple of occasions were able to interact with Rays. As you said, a gentle and quiet creature, they seemed to love the contact with people, as they swam around, as long as the people did not attempt to become too familiar. A gentle touch on the top of the Stingray was just fine by the fish, but try and either push into them or grab them and they would avoid you the next time around. They really are a smart creature, and quite beautiful, by fish standards.
I am glad for you that you were able to spend some time where it is nice and sunny. One other thing about the Stingray, and that is Tisas, the gun building company, is making a 1911, in both .45 and 9mm, called the Stingray. They are hard to find right now, but they seem to be a very nice 1911, at less than 600$. The only reason that I am even interested is that I owned a 1911 in .45 and I shot that gun better than any other pistol I have ever shot. The drawback, for me, was the .45 ACP caliber. I could handle the gun just fine, but the drawback was that I wanted to go to just one caliber that I would have to stock, and the 9mm is much cheaper. Now with a very high quality 1911 in 9mm, I am considering getting my hands on one, and checking it out.
Do you have any insight as to the chances of the gun control bills, currently in committee in the Michigan House and Senate, being passed once they are brought to the floor?
When I looked at the numbers for each party in the Michigan legislature, it appeared that yes, the Democrats have a majority in each house, but it is a thin one in both cases. Maybe 2 or 3. The Democrat majority is something new, as the Republicans had the majority in each house for many years. I wonder if all the Dems are just as much a "follow the leader" group, voting 100% in lockstep with their party leaders here as they do in Washington? Or might there be just enough pro-firearm Dems here in Michigan that would make passage of these bills an uphill endeavor.
I'd be interested in reading a reply from anyone who may be tapped into the pulse of Lansing on this one.
pigpen51: Yes indeed it worked out well for her. Interesting about the Tisas Stingray. I've got a Springfield Armory 1911 RO in 9mm and it shoots great.
Dave: From what I'm hearing they are really whipping this forward and not allowing for dissent, just like they did their huge spending bill to prevent the income tax cut from taking place. There's a lot of bad bills they've introduced and I'll go over them soon - none of them would have prevented the MSU killings, and they are more restrictive than are being reported.
Ahhh, Turks and Caicos, I've always wanted to go there and yet know that I never will.
Looks like a great time !!
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