<figure id="attachment_393821" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393821"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="450cfd70"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/e9b035a0843312bd06693c1ccf4652c9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393821" class="wp-caption-text">Illustration by Kanda-san</figcaption></figure>
<h2>I want to swim with manatees!</h2>
<p>On the last day of my six-night, eight-day trip to Florida, I was scheduled to visit Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. Ever since I learned that each major league stadium has its own unique character, one of my dreams has been to visit all 30. So far, I have only been to 12. Tropicana Field, in particular, was a difficult place for me to visit without my husband, as I cannot drive a car.</p>
<p>（I had been thinking, &#8220;I can finally go there!) ) Five days before we left Japan, my husband saw a video of Florida on YouTube and suddenly said, &#8220;I want to swim with manatees! I want to swim with manatees!</p>
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<p>He told me that wild manatees live in the waterways of Crystal River, a town on the Gulf of Mexico, and it is the only place in the U.S. where you are allowed to swim with them. (You can go to the ballpark and to both on the last day!) ) I was worried, so I looked into it. Worried, I looked up the location of the two places and found that they are exactly at an equilateral triangle and the total driving time is 5 hours.</p>
<p>Still, my husband said, &#8220;Don&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;ll go to both! My husband said. A 5-hour drive the day after 2 days of walking around Disney World by a person whose knees are in shambles due to his weight?　I was appalled at my husband&#8217;s inability to look at a map or his knees objectively, but after thinking about it for a night, I decided to go with my husband&#8217;s idea, who would probably pass away before I did, rather than my dream.</p>
<p>On the day of the tour, my husband was still exhausted and wanted to take it easy in the morning. In anticipation of this, I booked the manatee tour for the afternoon. I suppressed my longing to go to the stadium with tears in my eyes.</p>
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<p>Then I went to the manatees. After learning that we were not allowed to touch them at all, and that they were startled by loud noises, so we had to be careful about talking to them and breathing out of our snorkels, we boarded the boat. The manatees are most abundant in winter, and some days you may not see them in summer. In fact, an hour and a half after the start of the tour, we had not seen any manatees. There was only 30 minutes left. My husband, who had been smiling earlier, was getting impatient and said, &#8220;Forget the manatees, at least let me get in the water! He was getting impatient. Then, the instructor who had been looking for us underwater said, &#8220;Everybody Go! I was so impatient that I started to think, &#8220;Forget the manatee, let me at least get in the water!</p>
<p>Immediately, we all went into the canal. We began to swim frantically, being careful not to make any noise. I, who could not swim, was the only one who lagged behind. My husband, who could not bear to look at me, made a gesture of &#8220;Hold on to my waist! I grabbed him, and finally we were able to join the group. There should have been manatees nearby, but the water was too murky to see anything. As I was scurrying around in the water, the instructor tapped me on the shoulder. He was signaling something, but I could not read it. At that moment, from behind me on the left side, I heard a &#8220;Noooooooo!　A black mass like a massive torpedo approached us from the left rear.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="My vision was blocked..."></div>
<h2>A staggeringly huge body.</h2>
<p>XXX (manatee)!&#8221; (manatee)! I couldn&#8217;t speak because I had a snorkel in my mouth, but I was so surprised that I let out a loud yell. I was so close to the manatee that I almost touched my stomach. It was so close that it was almost touching my stomach. (Never, never, never touch it!). ) and as quickly as I could, I took a position to show both palms next to my face. And for a few seconds, when my vision was blocked by the manatee&#8217;s back, I endured it without making the slightest move.</p>
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<p>The manatee passed by, and while everyone else followed, I stood there alone, stunned. I was stunned by the size of the manatee. I had expected it to be about the same size as my husband&#8217;s, but it was easily five times his size. As I stood there in a daze, I noticed that it had legs. （I was stunned.) The water was only a little over a meter deep. The depth was only a little over one meter. (Manatees and I were up and down in this shallow water!　No wonder we were so close!) (That&#8217;s why we were so close!).</p>
<p>(In this shallow water, a manatee and I were up and down! Only one of them took off his goggles. It was my husband. He must have been worried that I was not following him. When I gave him a &#8220;Good!&#8221; sign, he nodded and started swimming with the manatees again. I suddenly thought, &#8220;My husband is surprisingly small. Maybe it was because it was right after seeing the manatee. I always felt he was very fat, but maybe that was not true.</p>
<p>When we returned to the boat, my husband was very satisfied. I had no more regrets about not being able to go to the ballpark. It was fun!&#8221; I told him with a smile, and he looked at me with boyish eyes and said, &#8220;Where are you going next year? My husband said, &#8220;Where shall we go next year? Where shall we go? (Life is fun with this guy!), I told the blue Florida sky. I told the blue Florida sky.</p>
<figure id="attachment_393822" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3004px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393822"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-393822 size-full" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/695002d97b11ca3cd791054813aeec37.jpg" alt="" width="3004" height="3734"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393822" class="wp-caption-text">Kazuki Shimomura</figcaption></figure>
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<p>His first book, <a href="https://amzn.to/4dbWKKN">&#8220;Where are you going on the road called Royal Road?</a> is now on sale!</p>
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<p>Aika Kanda was born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from Gakushuin University with a degree in mathematics, she joined NHK as an announcer in 2003, and left in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active mainly in variety shows, and currently makes regular appearances as the main MC of the daytime TV program &#8220;Poka Poka&#8221; (Fuji Television Network).</p>
<p>From the October 18-25, 2024 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY</p>
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 Aika Kanda

 On the last day of her trip to Florida, Aika Kanda was planning to visit the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. However, she decided to go with her husband's idea, "I want to swim with manatees! I decided to go along with him. Her husband was impatient when he heard that there are days in summer when he cannot see the manatees, but with 30 minutes to go, a miracle happened...

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

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