Today we took a long drive over to Hopkins, a small Garifuna coastal town.<\/p>\n
Almost immediately after we arrived, we went snorkeling which was a new experience for me. It took some time to get comfortable with it and all of the things to remember: hands\/arms at my side, don\u2019t touch the coral or they\u2019ll die, and getting used to having flippers on my feet.<\/p>\n
On the way out to the reef, as we were swimming over some sea grass, Professor Fernandez and Donovan (our boat captain) saw a Barracuda. Almost\u00a0simultaneously they said, \u201cLook, there\u2019s a big Barracuda\u00a0below us!\u201d But I felt like I had my hands full just keeping up with them and I answered, \u201cI don\u2019t want to look!\u201d\u00a0 Later when I felt more confident with snorkeling, I regretted not looking at him\/her.<\/p>\n
It was beautiful when we got to the coral reef. The fish were amazing \u2013 what beautiful colors and patterns! I am looking forward to finding a book where I can identify some of the fish we saw. I was making mental notes of colors and patterns of the fish.\u00a0 We also saw a large Spotted Eagle Ray. Very cool!<\/p>\n
We came back to the resort and a group of\u00a0girls went to dinner at an adorable place Stephanie recommended (she had lunch there).<\/p>\n
Next it was time to go to the Drum Circle. I had no idea what it would be like so I went with an open mind. As soon as we walked in and saw a stage, I knew we were in for a treat; that this wasn\u2019t some random people drumming on a beach like back home.<\/p>\n
The performance was great – ten times better than I expected! We learned during their break that they have won the Battle of the Bands competition several years in a row. They also got (almost) all of us up to dance.\u00a0We were pretty embarrassed for the most part but we did it anyway \u2013 and why not? They were putting on a great show for us, the least we could do was respond with enthusiasm and participate at their request.<\/p>\n
We only spent one day at Hopkins but it was definitely a memorable stop!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today we took a long drive over to Hopkins, a small Garifuna coastal town. Almost immediately after we arrived, we went snorkeling which was a new experience for me. It took some time to get comfortable with it and all of the things to remember: hands\/arms at my side, don\u2019t touch the coral or they\u2019ll … Continue reading Snorkeling in Hopkins and Garifuna Drum Circle by Dina Athanassie<\/span>