Today marked a very monumental day. Sadly the leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro passed away overnight. The people of Cuba loved Castro so the country has a respectable 9 days of mourning. There will be no music, parties or festivals until after the 9 days including at the resort. The TV’s have been broadcasting about Castro’s life as a tribute to his memory. It was very cool to see the live feed of thousands of people gathered in one spot to pay their respects to their leader. It is amazing how peaceful the resort is without music. Tucked away in the Hills, nothing but the sound of wind barreling over the mountains. As I was drifting off to sleep I could hear the wind howling as it made its way throughout the resort and up the mountains.
Our first dive of the day was the School Masters Reef. It was a pleasant dive. There was ton of coral with lots of interesting things to see. At this point, a lot of the dives are starting to blend together as reefs start to look very similar. The diving however, is still enjoyable. I find when I dive I get super relaxed and go into an almost meditative state. I leave the real world behind and enter into the underwater kingdom. Swimming along looking at all the different patterns on the ocean floor, the varieties of fish and unique markings. Today was the first time I ever got to see Trumpet fish. In fact, I saw two right next to each other. They were long and skinny and blend very well into the reef if you are not paying attention. While I was filming, they split up and went different directions. I was filming off to my right and when I looked back to my left, the second one had already blended in and was nowhere to be seen. On the way back to the boat poor Emily ended up getting seasick. Having an empty stomach, bumpy waves and a full 35 minute dive will do that to you. After getting some food in her belly she was feeling a lot better.
As I returned to my room, I was just about to strip down, with my balcony windows wide open, next thing you know I saw Chris crawling across my balcony. Luckily I was untying my pants or else he would have regretted that move. Right away I knew he had locked himself out of his room by shutting his balcony door behind him. I let him in and off he went back into his room, another funny moment to add to the list.
The second dive we headed back out to Sponge City for the third time. This time we were more west so it still gave us a different view. I do enjoy this dive because of all the sponge coral. The different tubes, barrels, and vase sponges really make for a unique landscape. I saw two large barrel sponges today that almost look like they were carved from black ice. They had spikes jutting upwards creating an almost evil Ice Queen castle look. It was really unique. At one point, two Lion Fish were hanging out inside them. I’m noticing that my air consumption is getting better and better. The diving is extremely easy compared to the conditions I’m used to. It makes this vacation really relaxing, as I am confident and comfortable in the water. I find myself still trying to practice skills as I’m diving just to make it a bit more challenging for myself. At the end of the dive, Dawn started looking sick. Turns out her blood sugars had crashed to a dangerously low 1.3. Typically 3 is as low as you want to go and 5 is a healthy target. With my dad being diabetic, I knew the toll it was taking on Dawn. I fetched her bag, which had her blood meter in and some glucose to kick start her blood sugars. After about 20 minutes the colour started to return. Add on some food, and everyone was happy!
I returned from my second dive, headed to my room and took a nice hot shower to freshen up to spend the rest of the day topside in the sun eating food. I was half naked when I heard a knock at my door, then before I could get there the maid opened up. She gasped (I had my pants on) apologized to which I told her it’s okay because I saw the A/C repairman behind her. If I had to show a little skin to get the job done, I’m okay with that! All joking aside, thankfully I can now rest well escaping from the hot Cuban weather, feeling more like a polar bear back home.
Looking off in the distance you could see a storm brewing in the mountains. It was clear at the resort but it created a unique visual. Dark, blackening clouds covering the mountain range with rays of sunlight peaking through and then a clear sunny sky over the resort. As the night progressed, it drizzled a bit of rain but for the most part, the mountains protected the resort. We had some power flickering but overall the power remained steady.
At dinner, we were joking around about trying to push going to bed until 8:30pm, as we were all exhausted. I managed to spend the night chatting and it wasn’t until about 9:30pm that I crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s dives as we are doing the Maze which is apparently the best dive site Santiago De Cuba has to offer. Until next time!
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Justin Steele
The Green Ranger