Day: September 29, 2016
Immersed in light
My friend, Cheri, gave me a scoby before we left Luperon, and since then we have been enjoying delicious kombucha. I also have kefir and have been brewing that. I decided it was time to make more tea for the kombucha, and the best way to do that on a boat is by using the suns energy.
There are a few scattered boats where we are, but no one seems to be aboard – aside from pelicans.
Gabriel and Aidan went into town yesterday to explore and penny board, and today the rest of us will join them. In preparation for swimming in the bioluminescent bay, Danny, Mycah, Emma and I set out in the dinghy, meandering through the mangroves in the light of day so we knew where to go at nightfall.
I love being among the mangroves. There is so much life among them. Nurseries filled with juvenile reef fish can be found safely tucked deep within the forest of roots.
Tunnels and arches present themselves around every turn, like an enchanted maze.
When evening fell I noticed a fin in the water near the boat, and slipped in to investigate. Danny was cooking hamburger patties on the grill at the stern and everyone else watched from the deck. The fin surfaced once again, this time revealing that it was a bottle nosed dolphin. She was interesting in a passing fishing panga. I stayed in the water for a while hoping she’d return, and at one point she came fairly close. I loved being there, the sun setting as I swam, alone in the coolness.
Once darkness fell we made our way to the bioluminescent bay. No moon had risen yet. We slipped into the dark water and as we did, lights ran up our bodies where we moved. I brought my fingertips together then flicked them out and a spray of sparks shot out, lighting the water. I swam down, each hand stroke surrounded by a glittering halo of light. I surfaced and listened to everyone exclaiming how beautiful it was, how magical. We tried taking photos but nothing captured the magic. Mycah commented that it’s just as well, because some things just have to be experienced in person. It’s impossible to describe how beautiful it is. Every single movement we made – no matter how small, was saturated in sparkling light. We played and splashed and floated and laughed and lay quietly, caught up in it all. As we rose up out of the water, light dripped from our hair and bodies. When Danny started the dinghy, the prop spun streams of light from it and the wake left behind us was like a perfect reflection of the milky way.
Adventures of a Tribe 