Kayaking with Jellyfish

[guest post by Ryan]

Our last day in PNG we went to an island where we could snorkel and kayak. Due to the extremely rainy weather, we were the only toursits on the island all morning (compared with about 8 staff members and a handful of wallabies an birds of paradise). We still managed to have great snorkeling, however (gotta love the always-warm northern Coral Sea waters). We saw a enormous diversity of corals and fish along with most of the characers from Finding Nemo. The fish came in every shade of color and some were absolutely gorgeous. In the afternoon we went kayaking. At first it was pretty normal then we saw more and more jellyfish in the water. They were pretty and interesting and so we were enjoying ourselves. Then my leg started tingling. I moved my leg to sit in a better position and there, right next to/under where my leg had been, was a jelly with very long purple tentacles. After paddling in trying hard not to touch it, we asked what kind of jelly it was. Apparently a Portugese Man O War. Somehow, luckily, I avoided being stung. So now I have been tandom kayaking with a Portugese Man O War.