Shells and Other Treasures

Today was relaxing, but our agenda was less than exciting.  Scattered through out our day were beautiful shells, the joy of a new and better bungalow, and stunning marine life.

Dad and I journeyed out in the midmorning to seek shimmering shells and colorful pieces of coral.  Late last night, rain pounded the roof of our bungalow and we heard various things fall and bang outside. The rain and the tides must have washed up several treasures on the beach.  We found a stunning purple moon shell and various other loot.  Soon Dad reminded me that we would start moving our things to the resort on the hill, Phi Phi Hill.  We both did not want Mom doing all the work, so we started back up the shores towards the bungalow.

With sighs of relief, we made it up the long stairs, with all of our gear, to Phi Phi Hill Resort.  We checked into a simple room with AC and a spectacular view of the ocean and the beach.  It may be the wooden walls or it may be the traditional bamboo broom leaned up against the door, but we thought the room carried a spectacular vibe.  I finished a short lesson of math, and then, just like the day before, and hopefully like many future days, we grabbed our masks and fins and headed back to the beach. 

With a quick splash and a couple kicks, the entire family advanced towards the shark island, a short distance off Koh Phi Phi.  We saw similar life forms as our last journey.  We saw parrot fish, sergeant majors, and angel fish, but what I found most amazing were the giant clams.  Dad taught me how to dive, pop up, and clear my snorkel so I could get a better look at the clams and other organisms.  Dad showed me that If I waved my hand in front of the giant clams they would see me and close up for protection.  The giant clam's shell was embedded in the rock so the only visible and movable part of the clam was its wavy purple opening.  The really big clams we saw were open and dead.  Disregarding our four other senses, we used only our vision as we made our way back to the beach.
 


Today I saw a new room, many shells, and thousand of little fishes swarming all around us in the Andaman sea.  Wow, traveling is exciting, but I particularly the love R & R of beach resorts!  Tomorrow, we will hike to another beach said to have not been discovered by most tourists! 


Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!