‘SEE THERE’ – A Tale of Snorkeling & Dolphins

Yesterday, we all headed to Musandam, Oman for a cruise to make good use of the beautiful weather. It’s a three hour long drive and Willy took the onus upon himself to drive us there and bring us back. We drove through Ras Al Khaimah, which is one of the 7 emirates that forms UAE. It’s more like a village as compared to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and you will not see the tall sky scrapers and the big city razzmatazz. . It’s got a sober setting and the mountains and sand add to its rugged look.

WHAT IS IN A NAME?

We stopped at the border and had to get our passports stamped. In the process many of us got rebaptized. Perrin became Berrin, Ayesha became Asian, Melony became Bello, and Sharon [pronounced Shaa Rin] became Sharon [Che Ron]. The guy at the counter called Sharon and told her “it’s a dangerous name to keep in this part of the world.” And she did not get it at first but it dawned upon her soon and she said, “Yeah! The Palestine guy na.” Willy and I burst out laughing because she could have almost been shot and have us shot too for making such a faux pas.

The drive from the Oman border to our destination was real wow. Beaches on one side, and the hills on the other. It’s a winding road, about 45 kms or so and took us about 40 min and we enjoyed the view. We then headed straight for the cruise and rented out our snorkeling equipment.

DOLPHINS – SEE THERE

As part of the whole cruise thingy we went to this spot where apparently you get to see dolphins in the sea. Now everyone on the boat was really excited to see dolphins in their natural habitat. There was a group of French nationals on board with us [three whole generations] and they seemed as excited as us about the whole deal. Now I was one of the first people to spot a duo of them and then the whole spot the dolphin contest began. Everyone was moving back and forth, side to side to spot them and they did not disappoint us. They [13 I counted] kept surfacing from time to time and one of them swam along the boat underwater for a good 10 seconds or so. [Willy managed to get the whole thing on camera]

I was really enjoying the whole chase and there was a lull in between so I decided to keep the crowd engrossed. “See there!” I shouted and pointed to the right everyone who was on the left side of the boat ran over and came to the right and was focusing on the direction I was pointing at. After about 20 seconds during which nothing seemed to be moving Perrin finally realized that I was pulling a fast one on them and she and Mello beat me up. I laughed for about 15 minutes or so just thinking about the prank I had pulled off. I guess even the French nationals aboard saw the funny side of it and I got a few friendly smiles the next time I ventured that side of the boat. I did the whole ‘see there’ routine about 5 more times during the entire trip and I always found takers for the same.

HOLLYWOOD VS BOLLYWOOD

Mello and I had a talk about movies that could be shot at this location with the hills around and being totally uninhabited with just a couple of trees on every hill. I was thinking on the lines of Lord of the Rings and I was happy that she was sharing similar thoughts till she said, “we can shoot one song sequence in different clothes in every different location.” Women! I tell you. Why is it always about clothes and looking good? I thought that Frodo and Sam could have been entering Mordor from here and she was thinking of Sridevi in a sari and Jeetendra in white trousers dancing with thousands of pots. She always makes me laugh.

SNORKELING

Now the image I had in my mind about this was totally different. I assumed we would be dropped at a beach and we would walk in and wear our equipment and then put our heads beneath and watch the fish. We anchored about 10 meters away from the land and then everyone had to jump in do the whole snorkeling thingy. Well I did not know how to swim so I sat in the boat with Melo and watched all my friends do it [snorkeling, I know what you were thinking] while I took snaps of them enjoying themselves. Perri was the bravest and she went in without a life jacket. Willy and Ayeshu actually did the most snorkeling and Carter went in with a life jacket and was floating about in the water. Carter started drifting with the current and he managed a few backstrokes to reach the boat again. [You had us worried there Carter]. I threw pieces of banana and khubus to the fishes and watched them fight over it. Why get into the water when you can see the fish from the boat?

About two hours later we reached another spot and this time I made up my mind to get into the water. So on came my life jacket and soon I was off the boat and in the sea. Perri being such a sweetheart decided to give me company given my fear of water and I stayed close to the boat at all times and she did her best to take me a few feet away but I stayed within the 6 feet radius. The water was a bit cold and twice my head did go below the water but I did not see any fish. No mermaids as well though the old French lady did give me her hand to help me overcome my fear of being away from the boat which I politely declined. If I am going down I’d rather it be a young French lady. Jones joined us pretty soon and the remaining on deck had a good time at my expense clicking away like the paparazzi, savoring every moment of my discomfort. If that was not enough the guide on our boat was telling people on the other boats about my fear and they too came to enjoy my plight. [I am sure the others on the boat must have been shouting – see there, at me.]

The next time I head for such a trip I shall have mastered the art of swimming I have decided.