After a journey nearly 24 hours long, finally I'm in Jucaro. I hope Gualberto, the guide that has accompanied me on my last trip, has been informed about my arrival: I didn't have the possibility to call him, because here, in this remote corner of Cuba, obviously, phones don't exist. Luckily, there he is, on the quay, beside the Explorador, the boat that will take us to the Tortuga.

The "sharks' man" is there, cheerful, waiting for me despite my five hours delay. The other guests take their places in their cabins, while I stay chatting on the deck. Cuba and the Queen's Gardens have fascinated me. It has been love at first sight: a love and liberty dream: a magic place where to find yourself. And not even two months later back here I am, again. My journey by boat is long and at the end I fall asleep on the bench in the control cabin, but suddenly they wake me up: we are berthing at the Tortuga "mi casa flotante entre ciel y mar", my floating house between the sky and the sea. And I truly feel at home, in this paradise lost in the middle of the sea, 50 miles away from the shore. Hundreds of isles, of caios, covered by mangroves and inhabited only by iguanas, caimans, pelicans and tortoises. Everything is just the same as it was 500 years ago, when Christopher Columbus had arrived. It's a world that goes beyond imagination: it's difficult to describe in words the environment that surrounds me: these are emotions that have to be lived, they're too deep to be recounted! I'm very tired, but a few hours of sleep will be enough for me to recover: the adventure is about to begin. The first time I went to the Gardens, I remained fascinated, but just as a spectator of what was happening around me. The close encounter with the shark is always an exciting experience. In all the documentaries on the sharks I had always seen the group of tourists aside or protected by a wall, while the guide was trying to bring these predators closer with caution, attracting them with some food. In that case the situation appeared immediately different. Surprised we saw the boat surrounded by the fateful fins, while our leaders were diving calmly in the water: they were so calm that we followed them: in the blue, surrounded by sharks of all dimensions, I saw Gualberto, Elvis, Noel and Boris grasping the sharks by their tales, playing with them, herding them. But I was just a spectator. This time it's different: there are two of us, Gualberto and me. Enormous sea bass pass me by rubbing against us, letting us caress them: it's not a tourists' attraction: not many scuba divers reach this place: a strange relationship has been created between mankind and fish.

The water is very clear, the scenery is enchanting: tunnels, deep canyons covered by reefs, horny corals and sponges of all colours: it's different to be just in two in this vastness: you become an integral part of this wonderful world. In a narrow gorge a nurse shark seems to be asleep while a big ray detaches itself from the seabed a few metres below us: magic!

The great Carousel begins when we start going up: below the boat about a hundred sharks swim in all directions, it seems impossible that in a few minutes we will be there too, in the middle of the shoal. Gualberto smiles to me asking me if it's all OK, and he calmly starts going up. I'm next to him when he grabs the fists shark by the tail: he has explained to me that it's enough just to catch them by the fin and to bend it slightly: the shark remains as though paralysed. I try to stroke it, then I gesture him to let me hold it: for a few seconds it's in my hands, a bundle of darting muscles, and I manage to hold it. Actually you need a lot of power. Only a few seconds: I must be careful, when I let him go, that he doesn't face me, to avoid a risky "frontal" attack.

Gualberto grabs one, then an other: I take photos one after the other. Then, all of a sudden, I find myself swimming after one of them: it's not very big, not longer than a metre and a half, but it still is a shark: a hesitation is enough, a wrong movement and also a shark of these dimensions could bite you off a hand. It's an incredible emotion, I get back on the boat and I hug everyone. It's a situation of such a harmony between sea and man!! And it's nice to share with some friends such an emotion!

The second immersion is more peaceful: there are "only" a few dozen gigantic sea bass that calmly swim with us.

The programme for tomorrow is even more fascinating: we'll look for the bull sharks, much bigger than the grey sharks that we saw today and, as it seems, also more aggressive. But the first impact has been overcome, by now, and I'm ready for any experience. The boat anchors on a platform at -30 m, covered by white sand and surrounded by rocks, then the cliff falls into the blue to a depth of about one hundred metres. The water is very limpid, we can see the seabed: a sea eagle crosses the way majestically, around us the usual Carousel of sharks. We start going down with our shoulders against the cliff. Gualberto has got in his hands big pieces of barracuda with which he tries to attract the bull sharks. Here come the first: they pass in front of us as if they were indifferent, accepting the food. But in the meantime, one circle after another, they attract us into their territory. Nearly without noticing, just following their evolutions, we have passed the -50 metres. Suddenly from the blue, one of them arrives in a vertical upwards nose-dive: now their attitude is different: from the deep blue he points straight up to us, to curve, then, at the last moment. It's clear the situation has changed. He isn't assaulting us yet, the fins, in fact, aren't in the usual attacking position, he is just alerting us that we are entering in a world that doesn't belong to us. A kind of "final warning". I'm not afraid. My guide is calm; the situation is still under control. Slowly we start going up and the sharks bit by bit get farther. I've really got the impression of having assisted something unique in its beauty. Days go by, and soon it will be time to go, but my heart stays here, in this terrestrial paradise, where watches are useless, because time here hasn't any sense. I will come back soon. Goodbye, Cuba.