Lakshadweep -Kadmat Dec 2005

Hi,I am back from lakshadweep and had a fantastic time. it is an amazingly beautiful place with clear transperant turquoise blue andgreen waters, even near the shore. The coral reefs are beautiful teeming with fish and variety of marine life. I could fulfill two of items on my wishlist - snorkeling and scubadiving the latter from "Lacadives" training institute for scuba diving- got a cert for having completed the 20min introductory dive. Saw Green turtle tracks - when it comes ashore for laying eggs. Also met Mr. Hisham and Ms. Andrea members of BNHS and LEAD working on a partnership project to save Giant clams.

Another out of the world experience was collecting planktons. - Algae in the sea waters when washed ashore at night time emit florescent light. Picking up the floroscent blue grains from the sand was thrilling. It was as if the sea had thrown up gems from its hidden treasure house for us to appreciate.

Once you get used to breathing in from your mouth and allow your nose the rest that it never gets, snorkelling and scuba diving is fun.It is like you are absorbed in a different world surrounded by fish big and small, beautiful coloured corals of numerous shapes and sizes and all you have to do is float about enjoying the spectacle. It is important not to get too excited and grin from ear to ear as I did and get gallons of salt water in your tummy!! The experience of travelling on a ship is novel in itself. We could spot several dolphins practicing their famous dives. Had a distant and not so satisfactory view of sooty terns and noodys.

We were lucky enough to witness the rising moon from the ocean waters- a great orange orb rivaling any sunrise in its beauty. I had never seen the moon look so orange ever in my life. The setting moon that we got to see on the day of return was a beauty in itself lending a mellow soothing sparkle to the sea waters.The sun rise that i could capture on my camera was one of the best possible for me till date. I hope the pics look as good on the CD as they look on the camera LCD.