June 1999-
Friday afternoon after work I set off for Morrocoy with the rest my SCUBA classmates. It took about three hours to drive to the town of Tucacas, where we were staying for the weekend. This was my first experience driving a long distance in Venezuela but we had a convoy of four cars and it was problem free. Once arriving at Tucacas we stayed at a small posada run by an old Belgian. The posada wasn't in the most beautiful part of town and had a hefty metal gate and eight-foot high walls to keep us safe. The rooms were pretty minimalist but that is what you get for seven thousand Bolivars (US $12) a night. Ruben and Mike were supposed to go grocery shopping before the trip but all the ended up buying was beer. I thought that we were going to eat well during the weekend but that was not the case. Saturday morning we awoke early and went to the dock, where we set off for Cayo Norte, a small island about three kilometers off the coast. I had gotten plenty of sleep the night before, having turned in early, but some of the others hit the bottle a little too hard and were not feeling so great. The salty air and smells of old fish at the grungy dock did nothing to help this. However once out to the beautiful key all thoughts of the night before were left behind.
Karin, our instructor, checked everyone's equipment before we walked into the ocean from the shore. This proved to be easier than diving from the boat. I took lots of pictures on the island but I did not bring an underwater camera to capture any images from the dive. I had enough to do though since this was my first real diving experience and Karin had us performing exercises. I was a little flustered on the first day while I was trying to get used to the sensation. It was hard to stay still while we did lessons such as flooding your mask and buddy breathing. Once I just relaxed and focused on the beautiful fish and corral I did much better. The day went by very quick and before I knew it we were back at the posada on Saturday night. Not content to repeat the previous night's dinner Tom and I went to the grocery store and purchased some spaghetti. Over dinner I had a chance to talk to Britt about a trip to the Amazon that she was planning for the following month. It sounded like a spectacular trip.
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