Coldplay
Being an older sibling has a lot of perks, but one of the biggest downsides is missing out on family vacations that take place once you’ve left the house. (And yes Mom, I know I got to go to Mount Rushmore without Ellen when I was 2, but if I don’t remember it, is that really equal to Thailand?) While I am not one to generally get jealous - my life has been filled with just as many wonderful experiences - I distinctly remember one exception. While I was grinding away at college, the rest of my family enjoyed their biennial trip to Southeast Asia, this time combining the usual week of service in Vietnam with a week of vacation in Thailand. During this week, they enjoyed an evening swimming with bioluminescent algae, which was subsequently relayed to me as “spectacular,” “breath-taking,” and (I think I made this one up but I hear it in Dad’s voice so I’m sticking to it) “The coolest thing we’ve ever done on these trips.” It didn’t help that these comments were followed with “the camera just doesn’t do it justice” so it was left to my imagination to picture this wonder of nature.
In reality, I was genuinely happy for them and totally understood that many things in nature just have to be experienced. I offer this story to say that I have been in your shoes when you then hear me tell you: bioluminescence really is that awesome!! I hope one day that you too will get to see it for yourself if you haven’t already!
Following Oaxaca City, Vrinda and I traveled to Laguna Manialtepec, just a short drive north of Puerto Escondido on the Pacific Coast and known for its bioluminescent plankton. We were a little apprehensive to start our tour as, even with the moon only a quarter-full, the lagoon was bathed in light, which meant that we could not get a dark view of the water. No matter, the local guides set up floating blackout tents on the far side (away from human - and hopefully crocodile - habitation) of the lagoon. Once inside, I first thought that the world had been flipped upside down, as it was dark above me but stars floated below, twinkling in and out of existence on the surface of the water. Bioluminescent plankton. Swimming around, we soon discovered that we could spark all kinds of reactions; kicking our feet stirred up the area and created a white, shimmery cloud (not unlike a half-formed Patronus, iykyk), while moving our arms across the surface of the water generated soft whirlpools filled with individual flashes of white light. My favorite was splashing Vrinda with the water and watching her outline blink on and off for a couple of seconds before fading. Much like the northern lights, only a professional camera in deep darkness and a long exposure time can capture the visual, and even then the images are more of an average than the constantly changing panorama unfolding in real-time.
And much like the northern lights, I hope everyone is lucky enough to have this experience at least once in their lives too.