Manta Ray Island Resort

Yesterday afternoon wasn't great. Lunch was good again, but instead of 25 people using the buffet, we had 79! 54 "day trippers" descended upon us few souls and tore the island apart. They devoured the buffet almost single-handedly, ran the bar out of ice, drank all the cold beer, rented all the equipment, took every chaise lounge, filled all three pools, and flew their drones despite the "not allowed" signs. Even after they left around 15:00 it was bad.

Since there were no cold drinks to be had, I sought out a hammock in the shade. One was sort of not in the direct sunlight. I tried to take a nap on the half in the shade and had just begun closing my eyes when the gardener made me move. He was weed eating.

Okay, whatever, but as I made my way barefoot across the soft grass, I began stepping on sharp ow-wey things. Stickers. He was weed-whacking stickers all over the place.

Okay. Get through that. I'll get in the pool. That has some shade. Nope. All three pools were now full of grass and stickers. #&?@!

Back to bar I go, hot, tired, and angry. I decided against the night snorkeling because I figured with the way the afternoon had gone, I would wind up a statistic.

Then an American woman also travelling solo whom I met yesterday sat down beside me and began recounting her awesome diving trip. All of the sudden, everything was okay again. Sweet as!

Nice dinner on the beach, nice conversation, and nice bottle of bubbly rounded out the end of the day.

This morning, I was packed and out of the tent before breakfast at 7. At breakfast, the lovely German managers and staff surprised me. They began singing Happy Birthday and gave me a lit candle stuck in a muffin. You know you're getting up there when your birthday cake is a bran muffin. 😂😂😂

After breakfast, I began my new fitness routine and took a dip in the pool (clean again mostly). The northbound boat came at about 10 and I arrived at Manta Ray Island Resort just about 11:30. Yay!

Now, I've dumped my stuff in my room and made my way to reception. They're making me count the money before they will secure it. Hopefully, this will be the worse part of this island.

So long [for now] and thanks for all the fish. ✌️Read more