the stars at night, are big and bright

when lp and i got to puerto escondido 

one of the first stops we made was to visit gina 

at the tourist information booth.

and she told us that if we were lucky

we would have the opportunity to see bioluminescent plankton

at laguna de manialtepec. 

it happens only a couple of times a year -- 

the lagoon is flooded with ocean water,

and the plankton come in to breed. 

and they make the water shimmer. 

and you can swim with them. 

and you can shimmer.

yes please.

times a million.

but, she said,

they aren't here yet.

come back in two days. 

we went back.

not yet. 

come back in two more days. 

so we went back. 

and gina was so excited to tell us: 

they are here.

go see them shimmer. 

go swim with the plankton.

it's one of the coolest things in the world. 

so we went. 

we called up lalo 

and he picked us up

and drove us out to the lagoon. 

but we got there too early; 

it has to be pitch dark to really see the plankton.

so he took us on a little tour of the lagoon at sunset.

and as we drove around, 

it got darker

and darker. 

and the stars came out. 

like i have never seen before.

first it was the brighter stars, 

but soon there were so many stars 

it was unbelievable. 

and we saw both bands of the milky way. 

and maybe i decided i was going to make up some constellations,

(like the spider)

while looking for real constellations. 

and, 

because i'm a rockstar, 

i totally found some real ones: 

scorpio and sagittarius.

(and the big dipper.

but whatever, 

that is so old news.)

and it was amazing.

(this picture does not do it justice. at all.)

and then we saw the plankton. 

and the water really did shimmer. 

as we are about to jump in:

"are there any crocodiles?"

"no no. don't worry, 

there aren't any cocodrilos."

so we jumped in.

and we shimmered.

and it was PHENOMENAL.

(i wish i could describe it, 

or that my camera could have worked, 

but it was spectacular.)

so we swam,

and we shimmered.

and as we are climbing back into the boat,

"just kidding, 

there are crocodiles."

amazing.

there is a good chance that this was the best night of my life.