caracol

Floating in the wooden canoe at high tide, the reefs below them undulate close and dark turquoise not far beneath the water's surface. As they drift further from the dock, the reefs fall deeper and deeper until they can see nothing below them except iridescent cobalt blue, streaks of sunlight dissolving in crystalline sheets in the bay's density. Moments later, the reef again rises toward them, so close that they worry for a moment that it might collide with their boat; instead they find a calm spot in the water in the midst of the small group of islets and stop to gaze into the shallow water, rich with life. Brightly colored fish about the size of a human hand hover here and there, as schools of tiny black minnows dart in and out of holes in the coral. For now time has stopped, and they simply wait for twilight, when they will return to their stilt house to make dinner and rest for their dive early the next day.