Monday in St Thomas

St. Thomas is a duty-free haven. The primary focus of most folks here is to pick up as much booze, tobacco, perfume and jewelry as possible. (Did you know that if you buy loose gems, you don't have to pay duty on them because they don't count as jewelry? They're just rocks.) DH and I rolled out early, met our expedition leader on the dock, and wenet out to ride underwater motor scooters. They have a clear acrylic bubble full of air that you stick your head into, and then you embrace the airtank and steering controls much the way a cellist embraces her instrument. They go about as fast as a speedy swimmer, but they take you 8 feet down, and they are really cool! I am always astounded by the numbers of fish that show up. It's almost like Disney is holding a casting call or something. Allll these bright, alert, stripey, photogenic fish all over the place! Big ones, dinky ones, bright ones, dark, and flashy. We were guided by a team of handlers who kept us in safe areas and pointed out interesting sights. One brought me a very spiney starfish and let it crawl over my hands. I was giggling like a five-year-old about to wet her pants, but no one could hear me. I could be as goofy as I wanted, cooing, "Oooooo, fishyfishy. Heeheeeheee! Preeeeettty!"

The boat trip out to Buck's Island where we got our ride was pretty rough. One of our party wound up decorating the inside of his scooter. All the fish rushed over and cleaned up after him. He was in the middle of a swirling ball of fish for a minute. It was pretty amazing. And all the way back, his face was the most interesting shade of sage green.

On the way back, the salt dried on my skin in sparkly crystals, I've never seen that happen before. It was really neat. Itchy and tight-feeling, but neat.

After returning to the room for a shower and change of clothes, we made our way to the Lido deck for a delicious buffet lunch. I especially enjoyed the mushroom fritters and the thai noodles with cilantro dressing. DH had pizza and a hamburger.

And then, we went out and bought a new camera for me. A digital camera! A Canon 600 Powershot with battery charger and connector cables and two memory cards and a seven instruction books. I'm practicing really hard and hope to post photos soon.

I had to buy WIFI minutes from the cruise ship so I could blog, and I'm trying to be thrifty with them. I can blog in the library, without electric outlets or cigarette smoke, or in the Onyx Room with full access to both. I have been walking around the ship with the laptop on and open, looking for other hotspots. Right now, while the ship is still in port, the casino is good. I'm set up on a video blackjack machine.

So now I am back to the room before I suffer battery death. I'll plug in the camera and see if I can transfer photos. Oh, wish me luck! It is so warm and green and beautiful here, I really want to share it. I was riding on the front of the boat in the wind in a wet swimming suit, and it felt GOOD!!




DH with St. Thomas in the background.