So yesterday we had a switched schedule so diving was in the afternoon and we got to sleep in until 8! Some woke up early and read in the early morning while others snoozed away. We then had an exciting lesson number two concerning tropical marine biology before the advanced divers got to practice their navigation skills on land before our navigation dive under water. This included walking in perfect squares around the garden with large towels over our heads!

 

After a delicious traditional Fijian lunch of pumpkin and sweet and sour chicken curry, we headed to the dive boat and quickly after boarding we found that the seas were rather rough. Some of us were completely soaked from the splash of the waves before we started diving! Once we submerged the rough seas were quickly forgotten as we glided over great reefs with lots of colorful fish and great coral. Some sneaked a peak at a crayfish before returning to the boat above. We cruised the reef once again increasing our dive time a lot from the first dive which we were all very proud of. Soon we were heading back to the house tired and very much in need of a shower. Dinner was delicious yet again and we got to meet Papa, one of our shark feeders and the spokesperson for the village we'll be visiting. We ended the day by watching “Sharkwater” to prepare ourselves for our very first shark dive tomorrow! We all fell asleep quickly excited for the coming day.

 

 

This morning we woke bright and early at 6:45 for a fun-filled, exciting, and finally sunny day! After breakfast, we walked over to the dive shop and headed down to our boat, the Predator, where divemaster Andrew and shark feeders Papa and Tumbi were waiting for us! We geared up while having our shark safety talk, then jumped into the waters of shark reef for the first time. The immensity and closeness of the bull sharks surpassed all of our expectations! We were lucky enough to see bull sharks, white tip reef sharks, gray reef sharks, and black tip reef sharks over the course of our two dives. Stephanie, Broderick, and Erica all even found some shark teeth while underwater, which they'll be bringing home as souvenirs.

 

In the afternoon, we finished our second academic journal and headed into the arts village to buy our sulus for the community service and homestay projects. We all had a lot of fun walking around between the shops! Tawne, Lucy, Lucia, and Morri enjoyed their stop at the local smoothie and juice place, while Broderick, Jack, John and Aaron explored the internet cafe. Erica, Claudia, Aiden, Stephanie, and Katie wandered through the other shops after buying sulus, stopping at one to speak with Usu and Melanie (two locals) and learn to count from 1-99 in the Pacific Harbor Fijian dialect. After our stop in the arts village, we headed back to our villa for our first general lesson on sharks! We headed out to eat dinner and returned just in time to collapse on our mattresses to get some beauty rest before our second shark dive tomorrow!

 

Steph and Katie, Leaders of the Days