Whales love tuna

August 18th, 2009: My eyes were closed as my mind placed myself in another place to prevent myself from joining the others as tuna was projected off the boat and back into the sea after being held captive in their stomachs for most of the day. The ocean was producing some extraordinary waves tossing us around as we attempted to make our way back to the mainland from the Isle de la Plata after a tour seeing all of the amazing wildlife.

Wanting to see if the waves somehow miraculously evaporate, I slowly opened my eyes. As soon as my eyes fully opened, a humpback whale bought her 79,000 pounds of blubber out of the water as it breached right next to our boat. Everyone seemed to gasp, even those who were ever so kindly baiting the whales with their very own tuna scented vomit.

After taking about 200 photos of missed whale shots as they would quickly rise from the water for air and go back under, I decided to just observe what was taking place and leave the fading memories up my brain.

Clothes washing day

August 17th, 2009: Attractive women must to be banned from all laundry facilities. Being a backpacker it is necessary to wear your clothes much longer than you would normally at home. By not knowing people for more than three days at a time and by not traveling with a girlfriend…it is a commonly accepted practice to wear clothes for a multitude of days. When I handed over my foul clothes over to the beautiful woman behind the desk, I was utterly embarrassed when she held the plastic bag away from her as if the smell was going to attach itself onto her. I left the facility hoping she would not look too closely at the items that needed to be tossed in a biohazard bin, not a laundry machine, praying that the price I was paying did not include…stain removal.

Backpack almost ready to give birth

August 17th, 2009: My backpack is pregnant and it is about to give birth. I started this trip with a bag that was in its second trimester. Now…after 4 months of traveling, it has expanded at almost the same rate of a woman’s belly during pregnancy. When carrying my backpack, I am even experience similar difficulties of a pregnant woman such as having troubles standing up, back pain, moodiness and not wanting to walk too far. Though, unlike a woman…I have a choice to abort this excess baggage anytime I choose, even during the end of my third trimester. No trusty metal hanger or shop vac needed…just a simple plastic bag.

Having options…I have scraped all of my potentially disposable items to see how much smaller I can actually make the backpack. It ended up being about the size of two healthy twins. I can now pick up my pack without having to wear a lifting belt or letting out a somewhat entertaining grunt. It’s feels liberating, but…can I go through with it? Since my friend is visiting me from back home…I might wait for my bag to give birth and hand off my responsibility to her. As I type, I look over at the…twins. They somehow look at me as if it has a conscience, whimpering, questioning my decision. You know what? I think I need some sleep.

(I officially threw out in total…four receipts and a map of some random park. I now have the twins in a plastic bag which now clearly represents the placenta. Impatiently, I wait for my friend’s visit in 24 days)