We had plans for an excursion today that started at 9am with snorkeling on Champagne Reef. Weeelllll, this was the view this morning ...
So we went to Plan B. See how flexible we are? We decided we'd enjoy our room service and head down to the port to check out finding a taxi ride to take us to the falls and Emerald Pool and whatever else island tour was available. There are always taxis and drivers wanting your business. We found Barry and we was our most informative tour guide today. But first we started the day out right ... With a local beer. :)
Our fist stop was the Emerald Pool and waterfall. It was about a 30-40 minute drive but only because the roads are rough and curvy and the speed limit is mostly 30mph. So it's not really that far, but the drive is tedious. And by now we've seen multiple rainbows, more rain and sunshine. Barry told us that rain can happen at any time anywhere but that there are places on the island that can get up to 375" of rain a year. That's a LOT of rain. The people here carry umbrellas everywhere.
The hike to the waterfall/pool was petty short, but it is beautiful. It took Gigi and I twice as long as it did the guys because we were stopping every few feet to take pictures of the trees with their amazing roots. I have never seen anything like it before. We each took way too many of what probably looks like the same thing over and over but we just couldn't help it! Look! Aren't they gorgeous?
Our first glimpse of the falls/pool ...
The pool itself didn't look to emerald today but was still a beautiful place. I waded in a little bit. The water was a bit chilly as the locals like to say. They don't use the term cold apparently.
Next Barry took us to another waterfall a short distance away. I forgot to take a picture of the name but I think it was the Salton Falls. Barry went with us on this short hike. Here he was telling us about the fern trees. I have never seen a fern that grows like a tree and gets 20' tall. The rainforest is an amazing place!
On the way to this waterfall, Gigi managed to slip on a leaf and went down hard. She's gonna be feeling that bruise for a while. Poor thing, she was moving slowly the rest of the day, but trooper that she is, she made it back to the van without a single complaint.
Our next stop was Mr. Nice's fruit stand. He doesn't charge for any of the tastings but asks that if you enjoyed it and can afford it, please leave a donation. He was a trip. And the food? Wow. That's what fruit is supposed to taste like. The bananas on these islands are nothing like we get at home. It's almost like they taste like artificially flavored bananas. The grapefruit was so mild and less acidic than what I'm used to. And the Cocoa beans? Wow. I've never had a real cocoa bean before. Something else I ate that those who know me well will not believe ... I can hardly believe I ate it. Coconut. Real coconut. This was roasted and baked with cinnamon and real cane sugar. He called it coconut candy. It almost looked like a very thin pasta. But this is what we did with it - took a spoonful of the coconut candy and put it on top of the banana and then put a cocoa bean on top of that and took a bite. Unbelievable. I loved it!! Here's a shot of his stand:
Then he did a demonstration of stripping and juicing a real sugar cane. It was fascinating and the juice
From it tasted nothing like the artificial crap we get at home.
This was the highlight of the tour for me. Was a great little perk we all loved. Oh yeah! They had this sign posted. How stinkin' cool is that? LMAO!!!
All along the way Barry told us about life on the island and local vegetation. He even stopped at one point and picked a piece of lemongrass for us. The aroma filled the van. Amazing! Poinsettias grow wild here. Check this out.
And hummingbirds are everywhere. Kind of like rainbows. He said they don't even notice them because they see them so often. This is my lone shot of a Dominican hummingbird. LOL
Life on this island is really simple and down to basics. Their motto is, "We grow what we eat and we eat what we grow." They are big into herbs and natural healing and the children are taught these things growing up. He said the younger generation tends to try to get away from this though. They like their KFC. So sad. Oh and the healthcare system on the island ... Interesting. From birth to 18 and 65 to death everything is free. From 18-65 you pay for yourself, unless you have insurance. He showed us where their president lives and talked to us about the the political parties and government here. All I all it as a great day spent seeing the island and learning about their culture. I can definitely see the possibility of spending a week here exploring at some point.
We returned back to the port around 1:30 and went to a little local cafe Barry recommended for a sandwich. We all chose the seasoned cod fish sandwich since it was a local item. The guys got another Kabuli and us gals decided on a shandy for something different. Both sandwich and drink hit the spot and was delightful!! While we were sitting there a guy approached us to peddle his CDs. Here we go again. He said they were recorded in Bob Marley's studio. Uh huh. Well, the owners of the cafe knew this dude and shooed him away. Then told us he's trying to sell blank CDs. For real! You can't make this stuff up!
We returned to the ship for some chill time. Got a scoop of ice cream on the way to our cabin and just relaxed the rest of the afternoon. I finally uploaded photos from the week to my iPad and started going through them. Bob and I did make it to the sauna though. Hope we're sweating out all this alcohol!! LOL After my shower I continued sifting though photos until time for dinner. I had just thrown on a sundress after my shower and let my hair dry naturally. I had planned to do something with it before dinner but then we all talked ourselves into slumming it and going upstairs to the Ocean Cafe for dinner instead of having to get dressed up to go to Blu. Before we left for dinner I looked outside and the most beautiful rainbow was there. It was so vivid!! How beautiful is that?
We had already seen the menu for tonight and none of us were crazy about it. It didn't take much to convince ourselves.
We had been told Mazy took over the cafe and had noticed the food looked way better up there than it did last year. We hadn't been able to see Mazy yet but figured we would on Thursday since it's sailing day and we'll be on the ship all day. Lo and behold I was walking past a drink station with two trays in my hand (mine and Bob's) and looked over and there was Mazy. We had been told he only worked breakfast and lunch, that we wouldn't see him for dinner. But there he was!! I got so excited and hugged him and the poor man didn't recognize me. LOL that's how gracious and awesome the man is. When I told him my name and that we were with the Riddles in Blu last year it started coming together for him. I took him over to where they were sitting and we had the most wonderful conversation with him. He sure remembered the missing shoes story. LOL. He's like an old friend. He bought us a round of drinks and hung around to visit as long as he could. But the man has a lot going on and he's very busy. We'll see him again I'm sure. He would do anything in his power for us. He's in charge of all the food now!
Ok. Pacing myself now. Tired. But almost done. I was the lone person in our group interested in seeing the show tonight. Everyone else was done and last night was so bad. That's fine. I went by myself. The was a full house. I found a chair on the end I the back at the bar. I had a glass of water I tried to set on the bar, not realizing there were some raised sections and some recessed sections. My water glass tipped over and pour out on the couple sitting directly in front of me. They got pissed. I fled. Tried to find someone I could get a towel from but was coming up empty handed to just kept fleeing.
Either way I was done and came back to the room to work my journaling. So nighty night..
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