The Island of St. Martin is like many beautiful Caribbean Islands - great beaches, gorgeous weather, fantastic scenery and much more ! When I visited the island a few years ago, I did all the usual tourist stuff, checked out the casinos, beaches, 
scuba diving, shopping, etc. 

I told my family I was going to "inspect" the nude beach. They were surprised at my interest knowing I'm basically a shy guy. 
Well, to make a long story short, when I arrived at the nude beach I was pleasantly surprised to see it was 200+ yards long.A group of 6 "nudists" for lack of a better word were at one end so I went to the other end. I took off all of my clothes and ran out into the water up to my waste. I looked all around and to myself, " OK, I now can say I visited a nude beach ! "  I got out of the water, laid down on my towel and took in the beautiful weather. Within 5 minutes 2 very attractive women approached me and made themselves compfortable. Well, I was very "uncompfortable" !!  My goal was just to be able to say " I went to a nude beach " to my friends - not to exhibit myself or look at nude women !  Although I am an "all American Male" !!!!

I laid there for awhile debating what I should do? Go back into the water up to my waste, turnover to lay on my back or lay on my chest, find my darker sun glasses so they don't see my eyes, or just leave?? !!  As I'm thinking all of this one woman, the closest one to me, asked if I'm a regular there or a nudist because I had no tan lines. (The tanning beds at my health club were beneficial after all.)  I said no, I was just a tourist. She said she marveled at my tan buffed body. I BLUSHED !!  She then commented she had just arrived to the Island to be a nurse at the local Hospital and could she "move closer to talk" !!  I politely said I was leaving !!  I felt like saying " Young lady, " I just wanted to say I visited a nude beach ! " But I said nothing, put my eyes back into their sockets and left with a big smile !! 

The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa has everything a vacationer could ask for. Hula lessons, luau's, wildlife and culture tours, Waikekee Beach, Diamond Head and much more. What caught my eye was scuba lessons in a pool and than out in the Pacific Ocean at an old ship wreck. Not being a "swimmer" I thought this could be workable for me !!

So I signed up and took my first lesson in a large outdoor swimming pool. I learned fairly fast and was anxiously looking forward to the next days "real dive" in the Pacific Ocean. Anxious is probably the wrong word because the next day I struggled to get down to the ship wreck. It seemed so unnatural to breath that far below the surface. I would start to hyperventalate once I got down 20 feet or more below the surface. My master diver would give me the signal to go back up to relax and take deep breathes.

On the fourth attempt "success" ! On a bright sunny day the water and fish were mesmerizing! The master diver handed out to the class hard pieces of bread to feed the fish. After about a half hour a large school of several hundred beautiful small fish came nearby followed by several 4-6 foot long sharks. Not huge sharks but large enough to make my eyes big. Our master diver gave us the signal to freeze and stop feeding fish with the bread. We watched nervously as the sharks swam all around us, but they appeared to be watching the school of fish more. Thanks God !  This lasted for only 3-4 minutes, but seemed like an eternity to me !!

Even though I'm not a swimmer I would go scuba diving again in a flash !!  Beautiful and thrilling - with or without the sharks !!

Try scuba diving if you get the chance !!  You won't regret it !!

Bears are one of my all time favorite animals. They can be elusive, funny, mysterious, sneeky and downright cruel !!  Whether walking in the woods or hiking in the mountains you can come across Bears. Depending on the situation and how you react can save your life.

Once I was hiking in the beautiful mountains of western Colorado when such an occassion happened to me. I was hiking up the mountain at about 9,000 ft late in the afternoon when all of a sudden a 300 pound sow (female) Bear with 2 cubs crossed the path 20 yards in front of me. The mother Bear stared at me with glaring eyes. I immediately started talking in a soft tone " Hi, momma Bear. I know you don't like people. I will back up slowly and give you your space with your babies. "  As she turned towards me to perhaps charge, I sat down and again said, " Hi momma Bear. I'm OK if you are OK. Sit down and lets talk. "  With that she abruptly turned and slowly walked away with the 2 cubs following her. I was very lucky, because mother Bears with cubs are the most dangerous Bears in the woods. Mother Bears will kick the butt of Male Bears twice her size to protect her cubs !!  So, the message is clear, don't mess with mother Bears or else !!

In a much different incident in northwest Alberta, Canada I spotted a Bear following me on my trail. I don't know if the Bear was a Boar (male) or Sow (female). When I noticed the Bear following me I got visably nervous. Not a good situation being stalked be a Bear. The Bear was only about 200+ pounds, but still big enough to kill me or do some serious harm. I started talking in soft tones. I put my hand on my knife I was carrying on my hip ( it would have done no good but made me feel better). I said, "If you leave me alone I'll leave you alone ! I mean you no harm and I'm sure I will taste terrible. "  I froze as the Bear walked up to me and smelled me all over. I'm thinking should I pull my knife to defend myself or wait to see what the Bear is up to. My nerves during my sky diving experiences were never so frazzeled!!  A stalking Bear is a scary thing indeed ! Watcing the Bear and not making eye contact, I believe I was the first human the Bear had encountered or should I say smelled, and the Bear was just curious. After several anxious minutes the Bear stared me in the face and walked away. I don't know if it was the soft tone speaking, the promise " I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone", or I just did not smell good enough to eat, because the Bear just walked away like nothing had happened.  I found out that evening an eighteen year old young man had been mauled and eaten about 4 miles north of where I was. The young man and his girlfriend saw a Bear about 100 yards from their tent as they were exiting the tent. They did the worst possible thing. They ran and set off the instinctive nature of a Bear to chase prey. Big fatal mistake !!

Another event happened in Alaska, just two years ago. I was hiking along the edge of a gorgeous small river near Homer, Alaska, which is the Halibut fishing capital of the world (my favorite eating fish of which I caught a huge 60+ lb, but thats another story).  As I was walking a HUGE Bear stuck his head out of a bunch of bushes about 15 yards from the shore. The Bear started " Huuffing " to let me know it did not like me there !!  Its like a dogs bark but you can distinctly here the  'Hhuufff" !!  I saidvery softly, " Mr. Bear, I'm sorry if I'm in your favorite fishing or drinking spot. I had no way of knowing. Don't move, I'm leaving. " I slowly backed away my heart racing so fast and loud I'm was sure he could here it. The Bear did not move or stop "huffing" until I was out of sight perhaps 100 yards.

Bear size can be judged by their head and ear size (small ears large Bear) , long or short legs, and flat large head (large Bear) or shepard dog head size (small Bear).

Three different adventures. All could have had very bad consequences !!  I was "lucky" to keep my cool and live to share these true stories !!

Am I a Bear Whisperer - I don't know ??  !!