I’d try snorkeling. Why not start in the Galapagos. Proud of my set of borrowed snorkeling equipment, I set out with the tools to see some serious fish! Looking like I was scaling mountains with every step, I approached a liquid dream, the salty water holding Galapagos sea creatures. Electing not to rent a wet suit, my skin didn’t have the magic buoyancy of my friends, so I, a strange and clumsy bird, hopped from rock to rock in the shallow end. I tried to prove to myself I could dip my head below water and still breathe. Excitement surged in me when I saw a small blue rimmed fish! My friends in their floating skins extolled their prize, a massive sea turtle! On the beach Thantcyn laughed at his crazy wife piddling in the water for small things. I was hooked, if not at all that confident, of my new snorkeling ability, and all the awesome underwater friend-making possibilities it provided! I couldn’t wait for the next dive!Later that same day, we hurtled, like spies in an old Bond flick, in our rubber raft, towards The Devil’s Crown: a ring of black volcanic daggers piercing the graying sky! Somewhere buried in its treacherous name, the cool whip of the wind, and the thunderous crash of waves, I shivered: what am I doing? Thirty feet of water between me and the ocean floor, on only my second attempt at snorkeling! At least I was strapped with a life jacket, and wouldn’t drown, I hoped! Over the roar of motor and waves, our guide called out, “I watched you all snorkel at the beach and you’re not very good so we’ll start on the more protected side of the Crown.” Well, Duh! I have no gold medals in snorkeling, but our European shipmates grumbled. Laughter is a good way to combat the fear of having to plunge into Satan’s jagged hat. With a great display of ungraceful hugging and clinging to the side of our life raft, I dipped into the water, testing my buoyancy. Then, slowly, I peeked at what mysteries lingered beneath, a deliberate dangling marionette. Colorful living stars clutched on their dark volcanic perches as I hyperventilated through my snorkel. With flippers pumping I steered away from sharp rocks to a deeper world where fish elongated like slithering, swimming pencils, and shadows were sting rays floating through space. One slid just below me on massive dark wings! I lingered, awestruck by its grace, until an icy blast of salt water shot down my throat, ripping me from my underwater dream. Drawn in by the other worldly peace below, I calmed becoming one with my wobbly liquid world. I made friends with large bug-eyed neon fish, and giggled at the shimmering school of silver slivers shimmering past me. The round body and flippers of a sea turtle stayed just beyond reach but I saw its quiet timeless shape. I drifted for an eternity, between the thunderous clash of white waves, smashing against the Devil’s Crown, and the cool calm glassy stillness below. A piece of me is still there, in limbo, forever circling the Devil’s Crown…
