the beach!!

The great thing about playing in an ocean that's surrounded by a coral reef is that though the water is “choppy”, like on a lake, it's not brutal with waves knocking you all over the place, salt water swiftly being shoved up your nose, your head bouncing off the ground after being tossed like a pansy by an enormous wave.  It's just calmly floating you along with the current - good playground for an almost 5 yr old and a 6 yr old - and a great place to learn how to swim! The water comes up to my knees so Seth and Cole had a great time throwing themselves into the water, practicing putting their faces under while holding their breath, trying to float, and moving their arms and legs in a swimming motion.

I, again, feel truly spoiled. This morning as the boys were playing on the beach I was lying on a beach lounge chair getting a full body message while listening to the kids play, hearing the breeze, and the waves breaking in the distance. (I won't tell you how much I paid as I don't want to “rub it in”....no pun intended.) It was a great blessing though as my shoulders and neck were extra uncomfortable after driving “Bumblebutt” for 12 hrs.

We took a long walk on the beach and looked for shells and fun finds. We passed a group of Malagasy who had just caught a bunch of oysters and were deshelling them...jackpot for the boys shell collection! We also found a starfish while playing in the ocean. Did you know that they can fold their arms in and turn into a little starfish box? Maybe not all of them but this one did! Way cool!

I got to eat lobster for the first time in my life here in Foulpointe. I can't stand the thought of eating seafood but JeongAe wanted to try it and I didn't want her eating by herself so I joined her. I LOVED the lobster! They caught us fresh lobster and served it with rice and loka (vegetables). We each ate 3 lobster tails and paid a total of $5.00 each! YUMMY!!!! We were also able to buy lychee. (picture to the left) It looks kind of sea anemone like but it's delicious!

We were able to take a boat out to the coral reaf and go snorkeling! The boys did a really good job.  I was impressed! All in all we had a GREAT vacation and are so thankful for the opportunity to have seen another beautifull place in Madagascar!