Nemo
I went snorkeling!
The truth is, I almost didn't go snorkeling. I'm not a confident swimmer - I won't drown, but I'd prefer to be in the shallow end where I can see my feet. I signed up for the trip with a group of friends and told them I had low expectations but high hopes for myself. We all knew we'd have a great time regardless of my success, but we'll discuss that later 😬
KAUST is right on the Red Sea - a great resource for the university's research, but also a very fantastic place to snorkel, dive, fish, and have fun. Our marina has group tours you can sign up for, or you can rent a boat (with a captain, thankfully) to do what you want. We had a guide, captain, and captain's assistant on the boat with us for a 6 person snorkeling trip. The trip cost about $40 per person and it included equipment and food - what a steal!
So, now that you've seen how cool it was, I'll tell you how embarrassing I was. Once I got into the sea, I swam for about a minute next to Rikke, telling her that I was afraid of how deep it was even though I had a life jacket on (nerd alert!). I saw the reef coming up, but from above the water it looked like the millenium falcon was coming at me. I was terrified but refused to actually look - I didn't want to know if there were fish by my feet or if it was shallow or sharp or anything.... I was just afraid. Completely afraid of everything. I told her I wanted to go back to the boat and she coached me through it like a champ. It should be known that Rikke's job here at KAUST is working with 3 year olds, so I think she was exactly the right person to be handling me and all my feelings. Our guide saw I was struggling and came over. He had a life ring with him (just in case) and told me to hold onto it. He basically put me on a leash and after a couple minutes of trailing along after him, I decided to look into the water. It was amazing. Over time I traded fear for interest... but not enough to let go of the life ring. I am amused at my shortcomings and think it was a really successful trip, considering my illogical fear of marine life. I was pretty embarrassed of myself but now I just laugh - if that is what it took for me to get out there, fine. I'll definitely go again and hopefully I won't need a leash next time! There's so much to see in the Red Sea!
The truth is, I almost didn't go snorkeling. I'm not a confident swimmer - I won't drown, but I'd prefer to be in the shallow end where I can see my feet. I signed up for the trip with a group of friends and told them I had low expectations but high hopes for myself. We all knew we'd have a great time regardless of my success, but we'll discuss that later 😬
KAUST is right on the Red Sea - a great resource for the university's research, but also a very fantastic place to snorkel, dive, fish, and have fun. Our marina has group tours you can sign up for, or you can rent a boat (with a captain, thankfully) to do what you want. We had a guide, captain, and captain's assistant on the boat with us for a 6 person snorkeling trip. The trip cost about $40 per person and it included equipment and food - what a steal!
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| I look like a total dork here, but real life is real life. |
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| Photos don't do the colors justice - it was SO beautiful |
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| So many fishies! |
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| red sea selfie - just kidding, my friend Rikke had the camera the whole time because you'll read later on that I couldn't handle that responsibility. |
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| We had a little visitor come back to KAUST with us. The captain found him in the water and the poor little birdy couldn't fly, so we took him back to land. |
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| post-snorkel lunch on the sea |
So, now that you've seen how cool it was, I'll tell you how embarrassing I was. Once I got into the sea, I swam for about a minute next to Rikke, telling her that I was afraid of how deep it was even though I had a life jacket on (nerd alert!). I saw the reef coming up, but from above the water it looked like the millenium falcon was coming at me. I was terrified but refused to actually look - I didn't want to know if there were fish by my feet or if it was shallow or sharp or anything.... I was just afraid. Completely afraid of everything. I told her I wanted to go back to the boat and she coached me through it like a champ. It should be known that Rikke's job here at KAUST is working with 3 year olds, so I think she was exactly the right person to be handling me and all my feelings. Our guide saw I was struggling and came over. He had a life ring with him (just in case) and told me to hold onto it. He basically put me on a leash and after a couple minutes of trailing along after him, I decided to look into the water. It was amazing. Over time I traded fear for interest... but not enough to let go of the life ring. I am amused at my shortcomings and think it was a really successful trip, considering my illogical fear of marine life. I was pretty embarrassed of myself but now I just laugh - if that is what it took for me to get out there, fine. I'll definitely go again and hopefully I won't need a leash next time! There's so much to see in the Red Sea!
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