Bill and I did a really fun snorkeling trip this morning. We took a two person kayak out to my snorkel location, and parked it in the cove I found. The guy who gave us the kayak told us to stay in an area where they could see us, and technically we did that. Bill spotted a huge stingray napping partially covered in the sand. It was spectacular! We could also see where it had been sleeping in other places. It left indentations in the sand, especially with it’s long tail. It watched us carefully as we floated over it, but it didn’t move. I sort of wanted to dive down to look at it more closely, but it’s not called a stingray for nothing so I decided to forgo my natural tendency to try to make friends with animals that prefer to be left alone. I also saw a big puffer fish, and Bill found a pretty large lion fish. The lion fish are beautiful but they are invasive in the Caribbean, which apparently causes problem for the native fish. At lunch, we met a couple who had hunted some during their dive this morning and the resort was cooking the fish they speared. They said the fish were good.
On the way back from snorkeling, Bill paddled the kayak so I could swim back. That was a lot of fun! It’s not safe for me to swim in the open water with out him kayaking beside me because of the boat traffic. The boats would never see a snorkeler and it would be a very dangerous opportunity to get run over. It is safe to swim beside the kayak. Boats can easily see it and avoid it. It was a pretty long swim in open water, but it was a calm day, there were hardly any boats making waves, and I enjoyed the open water swim. I saw a small ray, several huge starfish and some crabs. I also found some sunglasses that someone lost. I had been wanting to snorkeling in some deeper areas, so I appreciated Bill’s willingness to kayak beside me. I’m a good swimmer but I’m slow compared to the kayak. I’m thinking about getting some small fins. I don’t generally like fins and I always turn them down when we snorkel with the group, but some small ones designed for the kind of activities I enjoy might be okay. I frog swim instead of flutter swimming (legs behind you kicking like scissors), and frog swimming seems harder with fins.
This afternoon, we both worked out at the gym. Bill did weights inside and I did a variety of exercises on the yoga deck. It was hot and humid and I loved it! It was a good workout. I was supposed to have Spanish class at 4:30 but my Spanish teacher was late and my internet connection was bad, so my friend, who does Spanish with me, and I decided to wait until next week when I’m back in the US.
We’ve talked to some people in the last couple of days who have told us what it’s really like to work here. The resorts pay people by the day, and their wage depends on how many guests are at the resort. They get paid very little for working very hard and they aren’t allowed take tips. All the staff seem happy and they smile all the time but most of them are really struggling to make ends meet. It’s gotten worse because of Covid, but it’s like this all the time.
In the future, Bill and I are going to look for more ethical ways to travel. In our other vacations, I felt like we were contributing to the local economy and local people. This time, we are making Couple’s Resorts even richer, and they are putting almost nothing back into the economy. The resorts dominate everything here. They snatch up the best land, they keep tourists on the resorts so small business owners can’t engage with the tourist economy, and I’m sure that they control the government too. People want to move up economically, but there are almost no opportunities here to do that. I really recommend that people find a different kind of vacation. Avoid Couples and Sandals. Bill and I hope that we can make some good recommendations in our future trips.
Traveling with Emily! 