Two Off My List...Part III of the Andaman Adventures

January 26th 2009, Republic Day
I was so excited about this day that I just couldn’t sleep due to the excitement of it all! Finally snorkelling!! Hurray! A hurried breakfast and a short drive to the jetty later, we were finally sitting on one of those colourful motor boats I had been eyeing from the moment we arrived on the island. Speeding over and being at a close proximity to the water I had been sighing over ever since my first viewing from the airplane, was thrilling, to say the least. I wanted to keep my hand in the water through the entire journey, but I had to be the responsible mom and not give any ideas to my over excited EO.

As we neared Elephanta I could see and hear proof of other tourists frolicking on the beach. The beach wasn’t wide and it didn’t stretch till forever, but it was surrounded by trees, which gave it an idyllic charm. No crude, thatched-roof huts, to tin-roofed snack shops…just tree stumps serving as stools and branches serving as clothes-lines. We set the boys up with their tools, swam around a lot with EO; YO was more interested in discovering the taste of Lays Sour Cream and Onion flavoured chips seasoned with sand. And then...the MIM and I took turns to go snorkelling.

Gentle reader, IT WAS MINDBLOWING!!! The coral reef, the huge blue starfish, the schools of rainbow coloured fish, everything, all of it, just took my breath away! I wanted at least twenty more pairs of eyes to drink in the beauty of it all. There was so much to see and marvel at. I felt so lucky to have this dream come true...so INCREDIBLY lucky. That is now one thing I can cross off my The List. You know! The "things to do before I turn 40" list!

We had a lovely picnic, packed for us by the Wild Orchid hotel from where we booked the snorkelling trip. After lunch, it was time to go back. A glass-bottomed boat hitched up with our motor boat, and so we were able to give the boys a glimpse of the underwater garden. The YO was too young to understand, but nevertheless, he got very excited when he saw all those fish and the EO just wanted to see the blue starfish that I was talking about. Unfortunately, we couldn't show him any, but he was fascinated by the whole experience.

We came back tanned and exhuasted, but thrilled to the core.

For the evening, we had hired a car to take us to the Radhanagar Beach, rated as one of the top ten beaches in India. It was a 45 minute drive and we went through the incredibly lush, green, tropical vegetation. That itself is quite a wonder, meant to be stared at, marvelled at, wondered about. You just can't help but thank God enough for these pockets of natural greenery left in the world.

Radhanagar Beach is stunning. White sands as fine as powder, the myriad shades of blue, in the water as well as the cloudless sky, the lushness of the greenery...words don't do the magnificence of the place justice, so I won't even try. All I'll say is that we were in awe! We stayed there till sunset, drank in the beauty of the sea welcoming the sun and left soon after.

After a good dinner at the resort, the boys watched half a movie on the MIM's laptop and just crashed. And then...

...another fantasy of mine came true! Hehehe! That's one more I can cross off The List. And no, I'm not going to tell you what it was. All I'll say is that it was deliciously raunchy and naughty, and I felt so alive, so vital and ten years younger. And on the eve of one's --th birthday, that's so not a bad feeling to feel!

Oh and yes, of course the boys were out of sight (but within our hearibg distance...you know, just in case they woke up crying!)