It has always been interesting listening to folks try to explain their experience swimming with the whale sharks.
They seem to get all tongue tied, using lots of words like awesome, unbelievable, incredible, etc.
Many seem to struggle to find the words to describe the experience at all, they get frustrated and give up and tell you that you just HAVE TO do this.
And now I know why.
I was thinking it would be interesting to go back and ponder my decision to make this special trip, it might help put this whole thing in perspective for the few that care to listen.
I recall talking to a fellow Fibromyalgia buddy on the beach 3 years ago, she asked me if I thought it would be worth going, she knew full well that going would be difficult (to say the least) on her body, banging around on a panga for and hour and a half up and an hour and a half back just might do her in, I told her that I thought it was not worth the pain she would likely endure as it would ruin the rest of her time on the island and it might take weeks to recover.
Of course she decided to go on the trip and later she told me when they arrived at the spot with the whale sharks she could hardly get in the water and she could not swim and they had to pull her out of the water and her dream of seeing the whale sharks went horribly, then the ride back to land was very difficult for her as she lay flat on her back and she told me later it took a month for her fragile body to recover.
Recently I went out on the water for a snorkel trip, it is a 2 hour tour of the waters around the island, it was fabulous for an hour, then I had to ask to be taken back to land as I could not function any longer, my body locked up, I could not move my head and I had to be done and back on land, FAST, head pounding, neck hurting, shoulders on fire, hips hurting, etc.
So I have put a whale shark trip off for a long, long time, not wanting to face the pain of the trip my body would likely endure, not wanting to head out for an hour and half only to find there is no way to get into the water and get to land any time soon.
I met Captain Jorge Mostalac at Mark & Donnas Ixchel Penthouse Happy Hour a month or so ago, he seemed like a very nice guy and so I contacted him to see if he would meet with me to talk about my concerns before I went out.
He assured me that he would do all he could do to help me and he was very confident that I would enjoy the experience, he has that look in his eye like he knows something you don't; know, I trusted him and gave him my deposit and prepared for the trip the next day, it cost 125.00 per person to go with Jorge although others cost less for their smaller boats that are not covered, etc, and I am glad I decided not to skimp, not on a day like this, not with this wreck of a body, not for a special day like this, no way.
I was a good boy and went to bed early on a Saturday night so I could be up with the sun and meet Jorge at 7:30, a couple of friends decided they would go on the trip too and I was glad they were going with me.
We were to meet him at Bally Hoo, but he hollered at us from Velasquez and we sat down and had some fruit and bread before we left which I thought was a great start to the day.
We boarded his large 33 ft boat - complete with GPS, radios, life jackets, 2 awnings, an on-board bathroom, padded seats, chicken sandwiches, soft drinks and bottled water - and headed over to Punta Sam and picked up a family of 8 Mexican folks that live in Cancun, some had done the trip before and wanted to share it with their kids, they were very nice people.
We headed northeast and we were really moving along fast, 25-27 knots, we passed quite a few boats on the way up, I tried to distract myself from the screaming in my neck, I wished I had a pallet of Tylenol to take right then and there, Jorge was very cool asking me over and over if I was OK, what a good dude he is, and of course, I lied through my teeth telling him I was fine.
We were one of the first boats to arrive, only 4 others in the water when we got there, when we left, there had to have been FORTY boats out there, wow.
Swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines by RumbleVideo
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7209503
They seem to get all tongue tied, using lots of words like awesome, unbelievable, incredible, etc.
Many seem to struggle to find the words to describe the experience at all, they get frustrated and give up and tell you that you just HAVE TO do this.
And now I know why.
I was thinking it would be interesting to go back and ponder my decision to make this special trip, it might help put this whole thing in perspective for the few that care to listen.
I recall talking to a fellow Fibromyalgia buddy on the beach 3 years ago, she asked me if I thought it would be worth going, she knew full well that going would be difficult (to say the least) on her body, banging around on a panga for and hour and a half up and an hour and a half back just might do her in, I told her that I thought it was not worth the pain she would likely endure as it would ruin the rest of her time on the island and it might take weeks to recover.
Of course she decided to go on the trip and later she told me when they arrived at the spot with the whale sharks she could hardly get in the water and she could not swim and they had to pull her out of the water and her dream of seeing the whale sharks went horribly, then the ride back to land was very difficult for her as she lay flat on her back and she told me later it took a month for her fragile body to recover.
Recently I went out on the water for a snorkel trip, it is a 2 hour tour of the waters around the island, it was fabulous for an hour, then I had to ask to be taken back to land as I could not function any longer, my body locked up, I could not move my head and I had to be done and back on land, FAST, head pounding, neck hurting, shoulders on fire, hips hurting, etc.
So I have put a whale shark trip off for a long, long time, not wanting to face the pain of the trip my body would likely endure, not wanting to head out for an hour and half only to find there is no way to get into the water and get to land any time soon.
I met Captain Jorge Mostalac at Mark & Donnas Ixchel Penthouse Happy Hour a month or so ago, he seemed like a very nice guy and so I contacted him to see if he would meet with me to talk about my concerns before I went out.
He assured me that he would do all he could do to help me and he was very confident that I would enjoy the experience, he has that look in his eye like he knows something you don't; know, I trusted him and gave him my deposit and prepared for the trip the next day, it cost 125.00 per person to go with Jorge although others cost less for their smaller boats that are not covered, etc, and I am glad I decided not to skimp, not on a day like this, not with this wreck of a body, not for a special day like this, no way.
I was a good boy and went to bed early on a Saturday night so I could be up with the sun and meet Jorge at 7:30, a couple of friends decided they would go on the trip too and I was glad they were going with me.
We were to meet him at Bally Hoo, but he hollered at us from Velasquez and we sat down and had some fruit and bread before we left which I thought was a great start to the day.
We boarded his large 33 ft boat - complete with GPS, radios, life jackets, 2 awnings, an on-board bathroom, padded seats, chicken sandwiches, soft drinks and bottled water - and headed over to Punta Sam and picked up a family of 8 Mexican folks that live in Cancun, some had done the trip before and wanted to share it with their kids, they were very nice people.
We headed northeast and we were really moving along fast, 25-27 knots, we passed quite a few boats on the way up, I tried to distract myself from the screaming in my neck, I wished I had a pallet of Tylenol to take right then and there, Jorge was very cool asking me over and over if I was OK, what a good dude he is, and of course, I lied through my teeth telling him I was fine.
We were one of the first boats to arrive, only 4 others in the water when we got there, when we left, there had to have been FORTY boats out there, wow.
Swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines by RumbleVideo
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7209503
