Day 7: Under The Sea

Today we went out to Fig Tree Bay near Protaras. It was absolutely 'heaving' with holidaymakers...people with very little on by way of clothes wandering about the shops; enormous blow-up crocodiles and dinosaurs; umbrella shades stretching for seemingly miles on end, every single one spoken for; and white-hot sand that burned the soles of your feet in seconds, so that you would every once in a while see someone go screaming past you on their way to their small spot of shade. 

But there was great beauty to be had, too - once I got in the water and put on the snorkeling gear that Rachel and I had purchased for the princely sum of 15 Euros, I snorkeled round the whole little island there looking at mini fishes, larger fishes, coral reefs, rocks, and the way the sun sparkled down through the waves to cause beautiful blue and light-blue reflections underneath me. I loved the feeling of being right in there amongst the fishes - whole schools of fish would swarm about me and I would swim along with them, their visible bodies invisible to the touch.  It was quiet, too - all the noise of the tourists and the locals and the swimmers and the boats just disappeared, and all I could hear was the breathing in and breathing out through my snorkel tube, and this mysterious quiet underneath.  I saw several fish that looked remarkably like Nemo (42 Wallaby Lane Sydney!), but they zoomed off before I could speak to them.  Every once in a while I had to drop my head to rest my neck from looking out in front of me all the time, but it was very relaxing and incredibly beautiful. 

I love the detailed beauty of things under the sea.  And the colours are so vibrant - bright yellows, brilliant purples, six thousand shades of blue and green...and the sun reflecting in and out in crazy patterns on the sea floor.  It reminds me that when I look out at the sea I think that it is a fairly calm expanse of blue...but there is a whole world underneath it that I can't see, and often forget about.  What kind of beauty in your life is initially invisible to your eye?  How often do we think that we see one kind of beauty, or all that there is, and when we dig deeper there is more than we could have imagined, that strikes us speechless as we explore?

I'm sorry I can't share underwater photos with you, but this was the kind of beauty that I can't take a photo of - at least, not yet with the equipment I have.  One of the purchases I would love to make would be the underwater housing for my Canon 7D...it's a beautiful thing. On the list!!  I will be taking more landscape photos later on during my trip, so watch this space.

And watch out for underwater beauty, or anywhere you can find it!