Snorkeling at Mullin's Bay

Today was a rather simple day, thankfully.  I woke up early to meet a friend (name: Raquel) I had met on the hike up Chalky Mountain at Mulin's Bay Beach, which is just south of Speightstown.  We spent about two and a half hours swimming, laying in the sun (read: burning), and snorkeling.  This was the first time I have ever gone snorkeling in the ocean and it was amazing.  About 15 feet out into the water was a shallow rocky area where hundreds of fish live.  We saw many different kinds - blue, striped, yellow, etc - as well as large schools.  It was quite the experience and has made me determined to get my own snorkeling gear as well as a waterproof camera; there are many "better" places to snorkel in Barbados, including one location where the old British government purposely sunk a damaged WWII naval vessel in the late 1940s to create an artificial reef.

After snorkeling we went to grab a bite to eat at a local joint called Zuma's Pit Stop, which was recommended to us by one of the Jet Ski proprietors on the beach.  I had the roast chicken with macaroni pie (Bajan take on mac&cheese), rice&peas, and tossed salad, all for $15 Barbadian.  Add two Banks to that and the total tab was $20 bds, or $10 U.S.  It was quite a steal given the quality and quantity of food we were given, not to mention the local character (all sorts of people coming in to drink some rum at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday) and imported character (an old British ex-pat who quote "spends most of his life in this here chair," indicating to a special chair right at the bar.

After that it was farewell to Raquel while I went to pick up a package at the post office, which is conveniently located across from a grocery store I frequent.  I was an idiot and forgot the charger to my Macbook Pro and the passport photos for my student visa application at home.  My Dad sent them in this package which got here yesterday.  All in all, a little over a week to send a package from NYC to Holetown, Barbados isn't too shabby.

That was the end of my day outdoors - I was too tired and dehydrated to do anything else.  I took some photos of my time at the beach today but am too lazy to upload them right now (I'm telling you the heat really kills productivity!).  I will add them to this post maybe later tonight or tomorrow after I get back from dropping off my student visa forms and picking up my books at the UWI bookstore.

Thats all for now - see you folks tomorrow!

UPDATE: As you can see I put up some photos from the beach.  And yes, that photo of me and Raquel was the best one we took...yikes!