Reflections of My Travel

We had talked earlier in the week with one of the ladies at the excursion desk to find out about snorkeling. We told her that we had been twice last week, in Nassau and in Key West, and that we found the reefs to be a huge disappointment what with them being practically dead and all. She recommended that we skip the snorkeling at all of the ports except Tortola.

hubby in port

She said that would be our best chance to see an intact reef. Happily, she was right. I’m not going to say it was as nice as what we saw in Hawaii or what hubby saw in Australia, but it was by far the best we’ve seen in the Caribbean. We took a boat out to Norman’s Island and snorkeled

in two different spots. First they stopped by a couple of caves

snorkel caves

and we were given forty-five minutes to explore the caves and surrounding areas. This was where the good coral was

brain coral and fishies

staghorn coral and fishies

fan coral and fishie

– not in the caves but at the point of the cliffs.

the point where the pretty coral was

The caves were pretty neat too. There were giant schools of little minnow-like fish that were all swimming and turning in unison.

It was hypnotic to watch thousands of fishies all moving together perfectly. Also, we saw our first squid!

Two of them.

calamari anyone?

They were a lot of fun to watch

fishie squid sammich

because as we followed them around,

single squid

they’d keep changing colors to blend into their new environs.

double squid

poke!

Next we went to a little beachy area where we pulled up to a dock and were given another forty-five minutes to do what we wanted around there. I think most of the folks headed straight to the beach to rest. We stayed in the water and continued snorkeling.

yellow tang

There really wasn’t much in the way of coral around this area

coral and fishies

pretty colors

but there were tons of devil fish

lots of devil fish

look deep into my eyes

and even some barracudas

barracuda

and rays but they were too fast for pix.

fishies

blue tang

pretty red and black urchin

mini-swordfish-looking fishies

We had a great time and it was definitely the best snorkeling that we’ve had this trip.

hubby and me at norman island

view of the norman island cove

Back at the ship,

the pearl in the tortola harbor

closeup of the pearl

we enjoyed a quiet afternoon, had an early dinner, showed up a bit late to the early show, went to a mini-improv show by last night’s comedy troupe, and then went back to catch the late show too.

Tonight’s main show was a comic juggling duo by the name of Sharkbait. Good grief, they were HILARIOUS! We wanted to see what we had missed at the beginning and to see how many of their “mistakes” in the first show were actually part of the shtick (most of them). I thoroughly enjoyed the show both times and laughed heartily.

After the late show, we headed up to another lounge for the Dancing with the Pearl Stars contest. Earlier in the week, S had mentioned that she wanted to try to participate so we found them and waited to hear them call out names. As luck would have it, her name was drawn by the same crew guy that she had done the salsa class with earlier in the week. I’m not sure if other cruises we’ve been on have had this competition but it was a lot of fun to watch. Basically, there were nine crew members who drew names of nine volunteer cruise passengers and they paired up for several rounds of different dances.

gettin' down

The first few rounds, S and Jimmy were not in the top or bottom 3 so they just kind of eked by. Then they were in the bottom 3 but they made the cut. The next round they were the first ones in the top 3 and before long, they were in the final round with two other couples. The dances they did ranged from disco to polka to chicken dance so it was interesting to watch the… um… interpretations.

chicken dance, notice the couple on the floor

The final round was the last 3 couples doing the Time of My Life song from Dirty Dancing. There was some funky stuff going on up on that stage. S and Jimmy were the only ones playing straight and they were the only ones to do THE LIFT. Alas, they didn’t win,

no trophy tonight

losing to one of the topless floor wigglers. Most importantly, S had a great time and we had a lot of fun watching and rooting for her.  After that, we four headed up to the ice cream machine to find that it was closed. WHAT?! On Carnival, you can get ice cream 24×7. On this whole giant ship, the only place that you can get any sort of food after midnight is the little comfort food diner. That just doesn’t seem right to me. Also, they are much less flexible. For instance, there is a hand-dipped ice cream station in the main buffet but they refuse to put the ice cream in a bowl – cone only – and the comfort food diner serves brownie with ice cream but they will not serve ice cream alone. I just don’t get it. So, three of us got brownies with ice cream and one of us got a full meal (W must have skipped dinner!).

towel animal of the day - cool dog

port of st thomas

We didn’t sign up for an excursion in St Thomas so it was a leisurely morning of taking our time getting around. We got off the ship late in the morning and walked around the picturesque harbor.

picturesque harbor

they look like toys in a bathtub

We walked all the way around the waterside

frankly just because i think i look pretty decent

hubby, me, and the pearl

the norwegian pearl and carnival glory (our first cruise)

the pearl

and then crossed back a couple of blocks and walked back. It was interesting to be in a place that so closely resembled the states and felt very safe to walk around.

strike a pose!

I really need to read up on US Territories and what exactly that relationship means as I was surprised to see so many familiar political signs. After walking about seven miles, we stopped at Kmart for some much needed water before returning to the ship.

The afternoon was much of the same routine – buffet, nap, and watch movies. The show tonight was a comedy troupe by the name of The Second City, which is where a lot of the SNL stars like John Belushi and Bill Murray got their start. They did some rehearsed sketches and then they did some improv games. It was a really fun show.  After that, we hit the outside buffet with S&W for some ice cream

carved watermelon on the buffet

carved watermelon on the buffet

and then headed to bed.

finally, a good towel animal properly fitted with eyes/eyewear

Today was our first trip to the Dominican Republic and I was surprised to find Samana to be an absolutely stunning island. It is very green and lush.

bienvenidos samana!

lovely lushness

It is also poor. We did a horseback excursion to Salto Del Limon waterfall. We got on a bus and rode about thirty minutes inland, past many tiny, rundown shacks. There were dogs all over and you could count every one of their ribs.

The interesting thing about bus rides on excursions is learning some of the location’s history. Samana was actually colonized by Americans; slaves that had escaped via the Underground Railroad.

When we arrived at the horse ranch, we were given a demonstration on cocoa. They picked a cocoa pod (?) off a tree, busted it open, and handed out the seeds for us to sample. Sadly, they did not tell us that the proper way to sample them was to suck on them, not bite into them. As the guide was telling us how sweet the seeds are, I was wrinkling my face at the bitter taste of the one I had just bitten into. The seeds are coated in a slimy substance, which is sweet, and that is what you are supposed to suck off. Next, they explained that the cocoa we are used to is actually made from grinding up the seeds once they’ve dried. They then passed around a plate of cocoa powder, mixed with a little bit of sugar, for us to sample. Yummy.

After that, we got fitted for our horses

my horse luka

or in hubby’s case, mule.

hubby's mule manuel

Unfortunately, it turned out to not be the horseback ride that I was expecting. Instead of us getting to ride to this waterfall, we each had a non-English speaking guide that led the horse the entire way.

line of riders and leaders navigating steep terrain

The upside to this is that the trail was very muddy, rocky, and steep in places so, as an inexperienced rider, I would have been very intimidated trying to control the horse on my own. 

hubby, me, and our "steeds"

I did have a good time, though, especially when the horse, Luka, would pick up his trot a bit.

looking down on luka and his shadow

We were carried by the horses (and mules) for forty minutes or longer, up hills

beautiful terrain

land and sea

and across rivers

me and luka fording

until we got to another small ranch where we dismounted and continued on foot down a steep and rocky trail,

the trail and the falls we're headed to

zoom-in

us and our destination

across a small waterfall pool,

quick stop at the smaller falls

to the beautiful 120′ falls of Salto Del Limon.

crowded but beautiful

Truly, it was gorgeous. And, after such a wretchedly hot ride and hike, I was beyond ready to jump in.

cooling off

hubby under the falls

The pool was clear, cool, and wonderful.

falls from the pool

i was trying to take one looking up from under the falls but i kept getting pushed out

We swam around for thirty minutes or so and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

self-photo at the falls

hubby and me

love this pic of my hubby

hiding behind the rock

When we felt that we out to be going, we got out, redressed, and grabbed our guides to head back up to the horses. The refreshing feeling from the dip didn’t last long on the steep and ridiculously hot hike back up but at least there was a covered pavilion at the top for us to rest a bit while waiting for our other cruise-mates. Hubby even managed to get himself in on a friendly game of dominos with some of the locals.

hustler

On the ride back, we passed by women washing laundry on rocks in the river and their children playing nekkid in the water around them.

i didn't even notice the nekkid kid in the background when i was taking this

It was a glimpse of a very different life. Along the ride, I marveled at the fortitude of my guide, hiking effortlessly alongside my horse across steep and rough terrain in ridiculous heat. I tried my best to converse with him but my Spanish is not very strong. Hopefully he at least recognized the effort. Either way, he did his best to tell me all about our surroundings while we travelled and i did my best to understand and ask questions.  

his description: "pina colada!"

When we had returned to the ranch, hubby asked the bus guide what the average wage was for the residents here – the equivalent of $250 USD per month. I was very happy that we had remembered to put some cash in our pockets before leaving the ship this morning so that we could tip our respective guides but I wish that we had had more for them. What a life!

our guides miguel and omar

On the bus ride back to port, we made a stop in front of a school where we were quite the attraction for the children coming and going through the gates without any adult supervision in sight. The bus guide got off for a few minutes and came back with a couple loaves of fresh, warm “English bread” so named because it is the type of bread that the original American slave colonists baked. He allowed all of us to take chunks of the bread, which was very yummy. It was a sweet bread, made with coconut milk. And it helped stave off our hunger until we made it back to the ship and, ultimately, the buffet.

We ran into the Alaskan couple, S&W, who had done an ATV excursion to a waterfall. Unfortunately, it sounds like it wasn’t nearly as nice as the waterfall we went to but at least they enjoyed driving the ATVs.

Since we were already wet from the waterfall, we grabbed some food and then went to test out the pool. In the five cruises we’ve been on, this is the second time we’ve gotten in the pool. It was actually a very nice pool but the chlorine and salt water combo was a bit much for me. We sat in the Jacuzzi for a few minutes watching the deck games before finding some loungers in which to nap. Sadly, the nap didn’t last long thanks to being right in front of the very loud steel drums but our room was mere minutes away and much more comfortable for napping anyhow. We napped straight through the early show and decided to forego the late show for a late dinner. We didn’t feel too bad since it was a singing/dancing Vegas review style show and those just aren’t our favorites. We ran into S&W and went with them to the karaoke lounge where both hubby and W were brave enough to get up and sing.

hubby singing pearl jam's cover of "last kiss" - notice the giant bed lounger on the right

W singing jimmy buffet's "come monday"

W&S enjoying some karaoke

today's mediocre towel animal - snake