"Diving Like a Queen"

Here in the Gili Islands, near Bali, Chuck, Nate, and I have enjoyed two scuba dives. Signing up with Deive Trawangan, we were met with a full retinue of gracious Balinese helpers who filledour tanks, instructed us, carried all our equipment, and drove our boat to the dive site. Our Indonesian divemaster Ink (his real name!) assisted my every move, buckling all the clasps on my dive vest (what service!). During the dive, he swam at my side, pointing our a brown octopus, thousands of purple and yellow reef fish on life filled coral heads. On the next dive we swam next to 4 giant green turtles quietly feeding, one of which looked ancient and was over 4 feet in length, digging a hole in the sand. Upon surfacing to our boat, our helper took all lour gear and welcomed us with a platter of fresh fruit. All of this cost $38/person. I was "diving like a queen!"

How fortunate we three are to dive on a healthy life filled reef cheaply and with so much help. All the world's reefs are now endangered and you see dead white coral everywhere in waters which are getting warmer and warmer. With global warming, all of this beautiful life may disappear. So it is a great privilege to fly to the Indian Ocean and swim in clear aquamarine waters with beautiful, healthy sea creatures which may soon be gone.