Free Announcer Aika Kanda Manatee and Himty Summer Vacation Travel Diary 3

“I want to swim with manatees!”

After a six-night, eight-day trip to Florida, I had planned to visit Tropicana Field, the home of the Major League team Tampa Bay Rays, on the last day. Since I learned that each Major League ballpark has its own unique character, visiting all 30 of them has become one of my dreams. So far, I’ve only been to 12. Among them, Tropicana Field was a challenging location for me to visit without my husband, as I can’t drive.

Just five days before leaving Japan, my husband suddenly said after watching Florida videos on YouTube, “I want to swim with manatees!!”

Wild manatees inhabit the waterways of a town called Crystal River along the Gulf of Mexico, and it’s the only place in the U.S. where swimming with them is allowed. (Can we go to both the ballpark and this place on the last day?) I worriedly researched and found that our accommodation and those two locations were positioned in an exact triangle… and it turned out the total driving time was five hours.

Still, my husband insisted, “It’s fine, let’s go to both!” A person with bad knees due to their weight wanted to drive for five hours after walking around Disney World for two days!? I was astonished at my husband, who was neither looking at the map nor considering his knees objectively, but after thinking it over for a night, I decided to accompany him on his whim, realizing he would likely pass away before me.

On the day of the trip, my husband indeed felt exhausted and wanted to take it slow in the morning. Anticipating this, I had already booked the manatee tour for the afternoon. I swallowed my tears, suppressing my yearning for the ballpark.

Then we headed to see the manatees. After learning that we must not touch them, and that they can be startled by loud noises, we boarded the boat while being cautious about our voices and the air we exhaled from our snorkels. The boat was full, with a capacity of ten. It was said that manatees are more common in winter, and there are days in summer when you might not encounter any at all. In fact, even after an hour and a half, we hadn’t seen any. With only 30 minutes left, my husband, who had been laughing just moments before, started to panic, saying, “I’m fine with no manatees now, just let me at least get in the water!”

Then, from the instructor searching underwater, came the call, “Everybody Go!!”

Suddenly, everyone rushed into the water, trying to swim quietly. I was the only one lagging behind since I can’t swim. Seeing this, my husband gestured for me to “hold on to my waist!” When I grabbed on, I finally caught up with the group. Although there should have been manatees nearby, the water was murky, and I couldn’t see anything. As I was looking around underwater, the instructor tapped my shoulder. They were signaling something, but I couldn’t decipher it. At that moment, from the left rear, a thick, black mass resembling a torpedo came swimming toward me with a low grunt!

 

 

A staggeringly huge body.

“Manatee!!” I couldn’t articulate the words since I had my snorkel in my mouth, but I was so surprised that I shouted out loud. It was so close. It dove right beneath me, almost touching my stomach. I instinctively raised both palms next to my face, thinking, Absolutely do not touch it! For a few seconds, I endured as the manatee blocked my view with its back, completely still.

As the manatee swam past and everyone followed, I stood there in a daze, overwhelmed by its size. I had thought it would be about the same size as my husband, but it was easily five times larger. While I was still in shock, I suddenly realized my feet were touching the bottom. (Huh!?) The water was only just over one meter deep. (With this shallowness, the manatee and I were up and down?! No wonder it felt so close!)

In the distance, I could see my friends chasing after the manatee. One person turned toward me and took off their goggles. It was my husband. He was likely worried that I wasn’t following. He sent me a “Good!” sign, and when I nodded, he resumed swimming with the manatee. I suddenly thought, My husband is surprisingly petite. Maybe it was because I had just seen the manatee. I usually felt like he was quite hefty, but maybe that wasn’t the case after all.

When we returned to the boat, my husband looked very satisfied. I no longer felt any lingering regret about not being able to go to the ballpark. When I smiled and said, “That was fun!” he responded with bright, boyish eyes, asking, “Where are we going next year!?” As I replied, “Where should we go?” I thought to myself, Life is indeed enjoyable with this person! under the clear blue sky of Florida.

His first book, “Where are you going on the road called Royal Road? is now on sale!

Aika Kanda, born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture, graduated from the Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics at Gakushuin University. She joined NHK as an announcer in 2003 and left the network in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active primarily in variety programs and is currently a regular main MC on the daytime show “Pokapoka” (Fuji Television Network).

From the October 18-25, 2024 issue of “FRIDAY