Florida Keys Dive Video

I almost forgot about this short video I shot on one of our dives in the Florida Keys. I don't normally shoot video since stills are enough of a challenge. But it's hard to capture the feeling of being underwater with all the fish in a still photograph. And the RX100m2 is supposed to be good at video so on the spur of the moment I took this short segment. It was a shallow dive with some surge, hopefully it doesn't make anyone seasick :-)



This shot was taken around the same time. Which do you prefer?



See also my post on Diving in the Florid Keys

From the Train

A few photos I still had in the camera, taken through the (dirty) window of the train.

Usually the moving train makes it hard to take photos



But due to delays we had quite a lot of time sitting still

Wrapping Up

After a night in Miami we took the train north, stopping overnight in Schenectady as usual at the Stockade Inn and then continuing on to Montreal. We had a little snow in Schenectady but winter really hit when we reached Montreal where it was -16c with winds gusting to 50km/hr.

Miami was our last chance to sit outside for supper. (At Il Gabbiano - expensive but great view)



A nice tile mural on a wall:



Of course, I find my own artwork in the reflections in the water:



There is debate in Charleston over whether the cruise ships are desirable or not. The business people want more customers, but the residents would prefer not to be regularly inundated with tourist hordes. It was a foggy morning and you could barely see the cruise ship at the dock:



We went back to the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston. It's a small aquarium but a nice one. The staff are friendly and they bring out animals for you to see up close and take photographs of. (e.g. the barn owl and the snake below) They also have a sea turtle rescue operation which we toured. Here it's mostly loggerheads with a few greens, the opposite of the Florida Keys.





We also did the Gateway walk through churchyards and cemeteries.





In cold Montreal we took refuge in the Pointe-à-Callière Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History. And now it's time for the two day train ride back to Saskatoon.

See all 8 Miami photos as a slideshow or overview

See all 35 Charleston photos as a slideshow or overview

See also Shelley's blog post Miami to Montreal -- Then Home!

Key West Butterfly Garden

One of the places we visited in Key West was the Butterfly Garden. This seemed like a good one - tons of butterflies in a nice setting. I took a couple of hundred photographs to get these ones. It's always a challenge because they don't sit still for long.



Most of these I took multiple shots in order to get one where the butterfly cooperated and it was in focus. I only took one shot of this silhouette and then I decided it probably wouldn't turn out so I didn't take any more. It ended up one of my favorites. (The "frame" wasn't added afterwards, it was a part of the windows in the background.)



Sometimes half the battle is getting a plain background.



See all 16 photos as a slideshow or overview.

See also Shelley's post with some butterfly photos.

Florida Keys 2

More photos from our time in the Florida Keys. We had a Great White Heron visit our back deck:



There was also a Belted Kingfisher around but, as usual, it didn't cooperate with being photographed. We saw quite a few of these on our drive down the Keys, sitting on trees and fences.



And more iguanas. Most of them are green, but this one was more colorful.



We went to Key West for the day and enjoyed visiting the Botanical Gardens.







We had planned to rent kayaks on Friday, but it was too windy so we visited the Dolphin Research Center instead. I love seeing the dolphins, but I'm a little uncomfortable at keeping such intelligent animals in captivity.



See all 34 photos as a slideshow or overview.

See also Shelley's post 

Diving in the Florida Keys

We hadn't really planned to dive when we were in the Florida Keys, we thought we would have had enough by then. But since we didn't do as much as we'd hoped on Andros (due to weather) we decided to dive a couple of days here. We're glad we did since it was quite different from San Salvador and Andros, and better than we expected.

There are lots of dive companies here. We picked one nearby where we're staying that got good reviews - Abyss Dive Center. Unlike San Salvador and Andros a dive master / guide is optional. We chose to just dive on our own. The first day the dives were shallow (Samantha and Horseshoe) - only about 8 meters (25 feet). There were tons of fish and the coral was in decent shape and colorful (the color is always better at shallow depths).  The first day we had another couple (beginners) with us, the second day it was just Shelley and I and we did a bit deeper dive (the Gap, 20m) first, and then another shallow dive (the Donut). It's nice to see so many fish, although most of them are small. The lobster we saw are also small. The groupers were also a lot more wary and a lot less friendly here. This is likely due to fishing and catching lobster. Even the dive people, who emphasize conserving the reef, are still spearfishing and catching lobster.

I love the Christmas Tree Worms. Each pair of "trees" is one worm. Look close and you can see the "heads" of the worms. You have to move slowly though - if they sense you (water movement?) they disappear ("fold" up) in an instant. I commonly have a couple of photos of them out, then subsequent shots of nothing.



The barracuda were quite curious and unafraid as long as you didn't make any sudden moves.



In the Caribbean, there are lots of these on the menu - conch fritters, conch salad, conch soup. It's not just the French who like eating snails! (Conch are large snails, this one was about 10 inches long.) You can see its trail in the sand.



We didn't see many Sergeant Majors in the Bahamas, but most places they are common.



It's hard to give a good feel of just how many fish there are. Imagine being surrounded by flocks of colorful birds (only slower and quieter!)



View all 41 photos as a slideshow or overview.

Florida Keys 1

We're renting a house in Marathon for our week in the Florida Keys. It's nice not to be in a hotel for a change. The place we're renting backs onto the water (common here). This is the view from our deck/dock:



This bird was waiting for us when we arrived. At first I thought it was a Great Egret, but since its legs aren't black I think it's a Great White Heron (a white colored variant of the Great Blue Heron)



The weather is much improved - sunny and warm. We're planning to do a few more dives, but otherwise we're just relaxing and checking out the area. We visited Curry Hammock and Long Key State Parks, and Crane Point.

The most common pelicans down here are the brown ones. I took this shot through the car window as the pelican was flying along beside us on one of the Keys bridges.



But there are also the white pelicans that we have in Saskatchewan down here for the winter (smart birds!)



We're seeing green iguanas all over the place, although I don't remember them from our visit a number of years ago. They're not native here, but they certainly seem to have moved in. I like them, but apparently they can be a pest. I even saw an ad for an iguana exterminator! I got too close taking photos of one of the iguanas and it dived into the water and swam away. They can swim really well!



There are lots of little lizards as well, not sure what kind(s?) they are.



Crane Point was nice. I liked the huge Golden silk orb-weaver spiders. In the photo below the big one is a female and the little one is a male. The body of the large female is about an inch long. Bigger orb spiders have been known to catch and eat small birds and snakes.



We also enjoyed revisiting the Turtle Hospital. It's awesome to see the different kinds of turtles close up. And it always feels good to see people rescuing injured and sick animals. This is Zippy, a juvenile Loggerhead. Young turtles have such lovely patterns on their shells.



I just finished reading Life in a Shell: A Physiologist's View of a Turtle, it was quite technical, but interesting. For example, I learnt that sea turtles plan the depth of their dives and spend most of their time at that depth since they can only adjust their buoyancy while they're on the surface. For some lighter local flavor I'm reading Under Cover of Daylight by James W. Hall.

View all 45 photos in this set as a slideshow or overview.

Andros to Miami

This morning we flew from Andros Island to Nassau and then to Miami. One of the longest segments was the hike from the arrival gate to the baggage pickup to the rental car center.

The only minor annoyance was Budget Rent a Car giving us a Ford hybrid instead of the Prius that we booked. Their defense is that the fine print says they can substitute. Seems like misleading advertising when the choice on the web site says "Toyota Prius", shows a picture of a Prius, and the booking confirmation says Prius. I just re-read the booking confirmation and I don't see anything about substituting. It's not a big deal, but these kinds of moves piss me off. If they don't rent specific cars, then they shouldn't pretend they do.

Some from-the-airplane photos taken with the RX100m2. Of course, now that we're leaving the Bahamas the weather is improving!

Miami

downtown Miami, hotel Urbano was at the bottom left near the causeway

a Miami marina

Small Hope Bay

From Riding Rock on San Salvador island we went to Small Hope Bay Lodge on Andros island for more diving. We got in one day of diving and then the weather turned bad - too windy for diving. We went for a walk in the morning, but otherwise just hung out and relaxed for a change :-) The next day was still windy but not as bad and we went out diving. Tuesday was still rainy but the wind has dropped so we dove again. It was pouring rain in between our two morning dives so we got a little chilled. On the positive side, that must have scared away the 13 other divers and Shelley and I were the only ones to go out for an afternoon dive. It was still raining a little but we didn't go far and with only one dive we could come back right after so it wasn't as bad. It was nice to have just the two of us plus the dive master (instead of the gong show of 15 divers). I didn't take my camera on all the dives but I got a few decent shots when I did.

It's too bad lionfish are a bad invasive species - they are definitely fancy fish!





Four-eye butterflyfish are normally found in pairs like these two.

Thursday the wind was back and conditions were pretty rough. Six of us still went out for a single dive in the morning. Some of the waves were getting pretty big, maybe 10 feet, but once you're under water it's fine. Considering the rough water, the visibility was reasonably good. We saw a fair sized turtle. But the highlight of the dive was towards the end. I turned back to check on Shelley and there was a big black shape. It took me a few seconds to figure out what I was seeing. White spots, fins, huge size - OMG it's a whale shark! I frantically signaled Shelley and the dive master that was with us. By the time the dive master had made a noise to signal the rest of the group the whale shark had glided past and disappeared into the blue. Only the three of us saw it. It hardly seem to be moving its fins or tail, but it was still making a good speed. Whale sharks get up to 40 feet long - I'd guess this one was "only" 20 or 25 feet, but that's still a big thing to go cruising by! Whale sharks are not common here - apparently this is the only sighting for several years. (Note: whale sharks eat plankton - they aren't dangerous.)

We also wandered down the beach and in the mangroves, but there wasn't a lot to see - a couple of herons, some egrets in the distance, and a few turkey vultures overhead.





Unfortunately, the weather stayed rainy and windy for the rest of the week. We got in one more rough dive and that was it. It's still relatively warm (especially compared to Saskatchewan!) but hardly a hot sunny Caribbean experience. Luckily we still have one more week in the Florida keys - hopefully the weather will improve a little before we have to return to winter!

See the 31 photos in this set as a slideshow or overview

San Salvador to Andros

To reduce my environmental impact, I joined the Infrequent Flyer Club and I've flown very little for the last three years - only a few short flights between Florida and the Bahamas. (Of course, car, bus, and train also have an impact, but less, and they have the potential to be sustainable, unlike flying.) The less I fly, the more I hate airports. Waiting in lines and "lounges", crappy food, security antics, and throughout being treated like you're in kindergarten. When we went through Nassau, we checked in and were told our next flight would board in an hour and a half. So we went and got a snack and coffee before going through security. We made the mistake of sitting near the check-in counter to eat it. The attendant came over and asked if we were lost. I said no. "So why didn't you go through security like I told you?" she said. When we said we had lots of time she just said "you should go through security like I said." In other words, do as you're told. I restrained myself from making a smart ass reply.

Nevertheless, I love the actual flying part. I love looking down at the earth from above, and seeing the clouds below.

I must admit the waiting in San Salvador couldn't be beat. We went over to the airport, checked in and dropped off our luggage, and then went back to the resort to wait till flight time.



It's very cool to look down on the islands of the Bahamas.



The colors of the water are amazing.



From Nassau to Andros it's a very short flight. (From where we're staying on Andros you can see the lights of Nassau across the water.) We're staying at Small Hope Bay Lodge where we stayed a couple of years ago. It's a nice spot on the beach with a small number of cabins among the palm trees. It's a family run place that's been here a long time. And it's even quite eco-friendly. I like that they charge extra to use the air conditioning since you don't need it this time of year, yet people would use it just out of habit.

See all 9 photos as a slideshow or overview

See also Shelley's recent posts: San Salvador and Riding Rock Resort and Dixon Hill Lighthouse

San Salvador 3

That's it for diving in San Salvador. We fly out Saturday morning so Friday morning's two dives were our last. The weather is changing and there's a bit more swell and the visibility is not quite as good, but still great diving. On our last dive we spotted a small sea turtle at the beginning of the dive. We got quite close and I took some photos and then we continued on our dive. Partway through the dive we saw it again. And then on the way back to the boat we saw it a third time. Most other times when we've seen turtles they take off once they see us. But here they don't seem too worried about people. This one did seem a little nervous about the sharks, especially the bigger ones. It would head for the bottom and keep a low profile when they went by. I don't think sharks normally hunt turtles but they could.






We had Friday afternoon free since we weren't diving, so we rented a car and drove around the island (55km). The main point of interest is the lighthouse at the north end of the island. There are lots of nice beaches but not a lot else. The population of the island is about 1200. San Salvador's main claim to fame is that it's where Columbus first landed in the Americas in 1492. (The island is one of the East-most of the Bahamas.)







From here we head over to Small Hope Bay Lodge on Andros island, closer to Nassau and the mainland.

See all 34 photos as a slideshow or overview

See all Shelley's San Salvador Sunsets post