I got myself ready with all the necessay things and started on one of those boats. It was not looking too deep there but I was sure that it was more than my expectation. At some point it felt, whether we were going in a sea or in some well maintained swimming pool. Water was very clear and we could see the stones at the bottom. As we reached the island, there were few trucks waiting for us to take us to the resort. I had no clue what to expect so blindly followed the crowd. That resort was small and there also there was no beach! :( Somewhere I was cursing myself for taking this trip. Mean time we were offered coconuts, the one I got was not tasty at all :( I just went and sat on one of those cement blocks like a lost soul. After all, these experience can't be that bad! I got up and started looking for any information that will give an idea about the program for that day. Then I found a notice board detailing the plan for the day. I was happy to learn that we would be going on a boat to another island near by! There were few islands at sight, not too close from where we were standing. Slowly I pulled out my camera and started clicking few photos.
The boats were ready and it was time to start. I kept my camera back into the bag and started waiting for my turn. Mean time, the organisers over there got some kayaks. Somewhere I felt that they were calling me for a ride. By the time I kept my bag at a safe place and reached there all kayaks were taken. I asked one of those organisers whether it was safe to kayak till that other island. He only said, "It depends on your confidence!". Was he challenging me? by looking at my small built! May be not... Later I came to know that he was one of the senior instructors for marine life studies. Finally I got one kayak, guess I might had scared the person who was using it. Well... I waited enough, it was time for action!
As usual, I started slow and it took me a while to understand how to maneuver the kayak with that paddle. This learning by experimenting took me quite far from the shore. I tried coming back to the shore for few minutes. But the shouting from the daredevil me was so loud that I had to yield to him. Slowly I turned back and started kayaking towards the other island! It was not very difficult, just that one had to have some guts. As I was kayaking, I noticed my bag to be going in one of those boats! The friends I made on board the previous day were convinced that I was not going to return back and were nice enough to carry my bag to the other island. There were moments when I almost gave up and wanted to ask for help. But NO, I have that tenacity to continue to be a daredevil. At last I reached the destination :) Now I felt the obligation to return that kayak back at the other shore! If I had known that they were going to get all those kayaks back to this island, I would not had taken that pain! I looked at it as another challenge for myself and started my adventure back. By then I became an expert with that :) Instead of returning back to the place where I took the kayak I went to another island near by and from there I returned to the starting point. It was a great fun! I was really thrilled :)
Now like a nice boy I got on to the boat and reached the island safely ;) The rocks were too sharp, after all they were all dead coral reefs. I was glad to find my bag at a safe place. Everyone was getting ready to enter the water. I had no clue then, what was it store for us in those waters. The description I saw at the notice board said 'Sea bath at Tilakkam islands'. I was thinking, "Am I supposed to take bath now? if so, why was everyone preparing themselves so much?" It was hard for me to control the temptation to get into the water in my jockey thongs! There were no changing rooms, so went behind some of those bushes and very reluctantly changed into my swimming trunks. There was one other organiser giving snorkels to everyone getting into the water. It looked cool and I collected one and was all set for a great experience!
After taking the instructions on how to use the snorkel, I started swimming in those shallow waters. Initially I did not pay much attention to the device, it did not take me much time to realise how wonderful invention it was! It was the window to that underwater world. Once I got the glimpse of the beauty underwater, I stopped swimming and started walking with my head underwater. There were small colourful fishes in different shapes. For a moment I thought, how insane are we to eat those wonderful creatures... cruel humans! I could not stop myself from taking an extra helping at lunch that day. I must acknowledge that those fish were yummy! See... what a hypocrite I am :( May be that's why I don't think I even like my own self either. Ok... let's come back to snorkeling :) I went on few hundred meters like that along with few friends, not knowing any details about what we were looking at. It was definitely a great experience, for the first time looking at a different world. After going that far in water, we met this nice guy who gave us a nice tour about everything underwater. He later turned out to be one of the organisers who took care of our food arrangements that noon. He was very knowledgable and showed us various live corals and the marine life around them. He stopped us at one point and told us that we must return as there were some poisonous algae beyond that point. He was really of great help, we tried to tip him during the later part of the day to which he simply declined. Here I must mention about the hospitality of those islanders, I had never come across such nice people... simply amazing. Slowly we walked back to the shore, but it was so tempting and a wonderful visual feast that we got back into the water again. This time we gathered all those who were hesitant to venture into the water and got one instructor as well to accompany them. We let the instructor took care of them and we started exploring other areas, each one was better than the other. As we understood little more about them, we started getting closer to these corals and started playing with the fish around them. I want to try it again some time soon :) After an extensive exploration we reached the shore. There we had something even more interesting waiting for us. The guy who challenged me for kayaking was there inviting us to explore another part of the reef. We gladly followed him. He showed us some places where there were innumerable fish of same type concentrated in one small area. He started giving us a more detailed technical explanation, which none of us could follow. We were very glad that he showed us some very interesting parts of the reef. While returning from that island, my good friend wanted to try kayaking back. Seeing his enthusiasm I gladly accompanied him. I guess we reached back the starting point before the motor boat could reach :) Great achievement, more than that it was a great experience.
Later we had freshwater bath and a sumptuous lunch. By the time we were done with luch they and arranged a nice dance program to entertain us. For some time we were spellbound by that music and the movements. I clicked many photos but could not get any nice shot worth posting :( As soon as the dance program was over I wanted go for a walk into the island, but they had different a plan to take us around some interesting places inside the island. Finally they dropped us at the beach... Yes it was a WOW kind of beach! By then I was so exhausted that I drank a full bottle of water in one shot. In that excitement my Rayban sunglasses took a high jump and landed on a rock! This was nothing new to them and I also handle them roughly. But this time I had to bid goodbye, it was a bit painful to miss them. Well, nothing lasts forever! Slowly I gathered myself and walked into the beach, still gloomy :( These goggles had accompanied me in many trips and sometimes even helped me in making good pictures. I sat there at some solitary place for few minutes in silence as a mark of condolence!
Everyone had left leaving few of us at the beach! I was sure they were going to send few vehicles to collect us, but I thought I would walk back that distance. It was a pleasant walk and also it was getting dark. Just then I saw the vehicle which collected the missing ones at the beach and hanged on to it literally to get dropped near the resort. We packed up all our belongings and headed to the boats that were supposed to take us back safely on to the ship. As it was almost dark the tides were more than normal. All of a sudden the announced that it would be the last boat so all must adjust in that. As we started in the boat, we could not go much further from the shore, the tides were in full swing. The ship was visible at a distance and the shore also, but the tides were giving us an experience of yoyo! I covered my backpack with all weather sheet and was enjoying the ruthlessness of nature. It became very difficult for the parents, as the kids started crying loud. Most of the old folk started some bhajans. I was very sure that almost all those who believe in God had started saying all kinds of prayers. And there I was sitting silently so detached and romancing with that ruthless nature. Finally after a great struggle the boat men got us close to the ship. Then started the real problem! There were two embarking points on either side of the ship. The tides were so high... suppose if we had reached one side of the ship, that tide could easily flip the boat and collided with the ship causing all of us to go under the ship! On the other side, by the time anyone could embark they would fly into the sea as the boat would easily move away from the ship. Seeing this state they had started the ship and kept it moving leaving us behind. This caused another panic situation on the boat. Few had started shouting at the ship thinking that it was going to abandon them in the middle of the sea! WOW... it was amazing, how the human mind thinks :) At last, the ship and the boat managed to find a convenient position so that all could embark safely. Very soon we were onboard carrying with us a wonderful experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment