I got to visit with my brothers while I was on a layover in LA, which was lovely, and my friend Jillian happened to be flying through LAX as well, so we met up for some wine and she did some beautiful henna on me to start my trip!
I managed to sleep for most of the flight to Nadi, Fiji. When I arrived I took a three hour boat ride to the Yasawa Islands. I’m staying on Mantaray Island. The place where I’m staying is a resort, but I’m staying in the dorm so it is more like a nice hostel with open air showers. It’s mantaray season right now, but there hasn’t been enough plankton in the water to attract them since I’ve been here. Fingers crossed!
The water here is an incredible green blue. There is beautiful snorkeling on the reef right off the beach — so many fish and very colorful coral. I’ve been doing a lot of relaxing in hammocks and drinking cocktails 😀 Last night the staff performed Fijian dance for us and then we got to join in for a communal dance. Today I went for two dives. I was a bit scared as it was only my second time to go diving but it was so beautiful I forgot about being nervous after a while. We saw two white tip sharks, an eagle ray (like a giant sting ray), an octopus, a lobster, and a sea turtle. The octopus was my favorite part — it changed color and texture to blend in with the rocks. I’ve seen videos of octopuses and cuttlefish doing that, and it was amazing to see it myself. We swam with the sea turtle for a while, which was really cool too. I’m really enjoying being here and just relaxing. 
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