Dubai day 2

Who could imagine that we would find a French baker just a few hundred meters from our hotel in Dubai? one baker that serves tasty bread, great patisseries, and a great lemon iced tea...one name: Paul. Enough of free advertisements... Hanna got up earlier than me this morning (nothing unusual) and went to the swimming pool.. Just before noon, we took a private limo to the Dubai mall (I love those GS 2012 Lexus), where I had an appointment for a shark diving specialty course at the Dubai aquarium. 3 dives, a first orientation one, a second for underwater photography, and a third for shark feeding...water at 23 Celcius, unlimited visibility, 22 pounds on my lead belt, 5.5 mm neoprene wet suit...and tens of tiger sharks and sand sharks...I did not really get scared but I was also not really reassured when entering the water. Having a 4 meter-long tiger shark about 2 meters from your mask is not the most relaxing experience in the world, but it gives you a very nice tingling in your spine. The feeding of the sharks is also a once-in-a-lifetime thrilling event, where you come to realize that your fingers and toes would not stand long attached to the rest of your body, were you to forget whom you're dealing with. They are surely not cute and cuddly, rather powerful and silent hunters, for whom divers ought to have respect. As for the few sharks remaining in our oceans (we've already killed 95% of all sharks in the world), let us just leave them in peace. We, humans, do not after all belong to the oceans, we're merely paying them a few visits once in a while."Flipper the Dolphin" and "jaws" are definitely two movies, which did no favor to dolphins and sharks, respectively.

While Jeje was having fun making bubbles in a big acrylic water tank, Hanna was taking pictures, enjoying the Dubai mall and visiting the Cheesecake factory...

I am writing this short day overview from the third deck of our hotel, with an uplifting view onto a turquoise infinity pool, the Jumeirah palm island in the background, and a Mojito (and Hanna) next to me. What a great way of smoothly ending a beautiful day...and do not forget...do not blame the sharks!