Bear had an incredible opportunity, not jut to see whale sharks from a boat, but to jump in the water and swim right next to them and touch them! He said initially everyone was really cautious about getting in the water, but eventually got use to swimming by a mammal that can eat the whole! Bear said that one of the guides was pointing out to him where one of the whale
sharks was, and he jumped in and was swimming as fast as possible to try to find it so he could swim with it, but wasn't seeing it. The way he put it was that "he was molested by a whale shark". It came up from below and behind him, and he got a dorsal fin a little too close to his assets! He spent quite a while with the whale sharks, then got to go snorkeling at one of the local reefs where he saw all kinds of neat tropical fish. We have
cichlids in our tanks at home, but he got to see many different varieties of them in their natural habitat. Someone along on the trip was able to take videos under water, so as soon as he sends them to me, I will post a link for everyone to see! At least he didn't get eaten and had the experience of a lifetime. And the private survived too!
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Bear will be changing to another unit, and with that comes yet another address change. As soon as I get that, I will be sure to send it out to everyone. The reason for the change is that he still hasn't gotten his government passport, and this other unit is going somewhere that doesn't require a passport. Their missions too won't start until the end of December or early January. His 1
SG has said that he will be sure to send Bear out with the first rotation leaving in February, so that is wonderful. And, if for whatever reason he has to stay with the unit until they leave, he will be coming home in early March.
Caitlyn told him that he has to be home for her next birthday, so we'll see if that can really happen.
We were so relieved to hear that power has been restored to our family in Kansas! Praise God from whom all blessings flow! They are still in our prayers to recover from everything and that hopefully no more bad weather comes their way (even though they are supposed to get more snow tomorrow).
We truly appreciate all the support and prayers we have received!
Erin, Bear & munchkins
Bear will be changing to another unit, and with that comes yet another address change. As soon as I get that, I will be sure to send it out to everyone. The reason for the change is that he still hasn't gotten his government passport, and this other unit is going somewhere that doesn't require a passport. Their missions too won't start until the end of December or early January. His 1SG has said that he will be sure to send Bear out with the first rotation leaving in February, so that is wonderful. And, if for whatever reason he has to stay with the unit until they leave, he will be coming home in early March. Caitlyn told him that he has to be home for her next birthday, so we'll see if that can really happen. 
1 comment:
It was truely an incredible experience. These sharks reach 40ft, 15 tons and have a mouth as wide as 4 feet. I must admit i was a bit nervous at first knowing that Africas shores are known to have one of the largest great white shark populations didn't really help the situation either. There were 2 close encounters on this outing for me. There is the one that Rene refers to on the blog and then another where i was swimming behind one when somehow another whale shark snuck up on me and nearly t-boned me if you will. Fortunately i was able to miss getting run over by that one and even managed to retain all of my body fluids(ha ha). How an animal that big sneaks up on a person i have know idea but it happened fairly often suprisingly and not just to me. I think they were more curious about us than anything but when they come directly at you all you really see is a really big shark and the first couple of times it happens fight or rather flight kicks in not that it really does any good but it certainly magnifies the whole experience. I hope to be able to get you all some videos soon.
Love you all
Bear
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