Last week while we were stuck inside the Center unable to go out into Jerusalem, we took a day trip down to the beaches of Eilat, the southernmost point of Israel. It is close to both the Egypt and Jordan borders, right on the Red Sea.
Eilat is known for really good scuba diving and snorkeling. While my limited snorkeling experiences in Hawaii have been wonderful, I must say that this exceeded all previous snorkel excursions. By a lot. Usually I look for beautiful fish which were plentiful in Eilat, but I have never before seen such beautiful coral reefs! They are an incredible animal (yes, coral is an animal. It eats plankton.) Anyway, I was so amazed and fascinated by the many different schools of fish all hanging out at the reef. A somewhat obscure but accurate comparison would be a popular high school hangout. No one is in a hurry to get anywhere, everyone is just peacefully enjoying good food, good friends, and good people, or fish, watching.
By the way, fish have no fear. On my first trip out, I became entranced by a large school of fish which swam directly in front of me. After admiring them for a few seconds and with my goggles blocking my peripheral vision, I used my arms to propel me in a different direction. As I continued to rotate more and more, I finally made a complete 360 and realized there was no opening among the fish. This giant school of fish had turned into a fish circle, which was eerily reminiscent of shark hunting behavior. I freaked out for about a second until I realized how cool it was. I floated idle for a short while, bewildered and amazed by the insignificance I was feeling from a group of finger-sized fish. I've never felt that way before and may never again.
1 comment:
that first picture reminds me of a childrens book called swimmy. its about a little black fish. anyway, how are you? sounds like life is good!
Post a Comment