A week has passed since my last lesson. I have to wait for my companion's ears to unclogged before we can complete our training. We must, at all times, "balance" all the cavities of the body that contain air. Ears, eyes, teeth and even guts, for which it is recommended not to eat foods that make you fart before a dive. Well… for this last bit my companion is going to have to accept a certain discomfort, his constitution being more… flatulent..uh… petulant. However, for the ears, there is no question of taking any risks knowing that his eardrums could perforate.
This morning everything is fine so, again, we go to the nautical club. Our captain, Igor for the close friends, is waiting for us with the ship.
On the way to the Baru peninsula, we pass a bush that floats in the middle of the bay of Cartagena. It welcomes a flock of magnificent frigatebird or man o' war. These seabirds, which feed on fish, cannot dive because their plumage is not waterproof. So, they have developed a few feeding techniques. They are kleptoparasite, pecking at other seabirds to force them to disgorge their meals. After forcing the other seabird to regurgitate its meal, it will dive and catch the prey before it hits the surface of the water
Profiteers not just a little…
We arrive in Baru, at the Ciénaga de los Vásquez diving park. The National Navy carried out three shipwrecks there and a museum has set up the Jardín Medusas where you can see sculptures by the artist Germán Botero.
It is a diver's paradise.
I prepare my equipment under the watchful eye of my instructor, put on my wetsuit, and all the rest of my equipment, and I finally jump into the water. Suddenly everything is fine. The temperature is perfect and we are weightless, my equipment and I.
The instructor joins us and we begin the descent slowly, very slowly. My companion has difficulty balancing his ears…but with a lot of patience, he manages. We begin the exercises and everything is fine, everything is going very well 😁.
Using the compass, walking through wreckage, removing the mask, breathing with a faulty regulator and finally an emergency ascent. Ah.. that I know 😂😂😂
Upon our return to the surface, my instructor was grinning from ear to ear. I have completed all the exercises, passed all the tests, I am Certified. He succeeded in his bet. For my part, I remember the first day well, and I am as surprised as I am happy to have passed the course.
Already, I'm thinking about my next dive...