A return to memories from yesterday

We were in Maui for 2 days.

Maui was the first Hawaiian Island I visited a long time ago.

I have many great memories from Maui, and one of them was from a beach called Big Beach.  Also called Makena Beach.

This was the first place I tried boogie boarding, and even after getting thrown around by the very large waves of that beach, I loved it from the start.

The first day our ship docked in Maui I was all set to take a big group down to Big Beach.

Unfortunately we had a bit of a setback at first, as there were no cars to rent to get us there.

The beach is a bit far from where the ship was.  But after a bit of scrambling around we found a taxi van, and driver willing to stuff 8 of us into the taxi, and we were on our way.

We all had great fun playing in the waves. Body surfing, and all that stuff.

I even brought back an old favorite of building a sandcastle near the water and watching it get destroyed by the waves.

I also did some snorkeling and saw a large sea turtle, which I was able to follow for a few mintues before he went around the point near the rocks so I had to let him go.

The day was really fun, everyone enjoyed the beach, and it lived up to my memories from 15 years ago.

Snorkeling in Kona

On our second day in Hawaii we were on the other side of the beach in Kona.

My plan was to go snorkeling.  Thankfully a friend from the trip yesterday had the same plan.

We went to a beach called white sand beach first about 15 min south of the town.

Played in the waves a bit, and went snorkeling around the bay.

Then we decided to walk down the street to the next beach called snorkel beach.

Amazing gates of a house along the walk to the next beach

About half way we asked a local how much further it was and he showed us a cool spot that we used to access the reef without having to go all the way to snorkel beach and it was just us rather then a bunch of other people, as lots of tours go to the other beach.

Another fun day in Hawaii.

On the drive back to the ship

Sunset from the ship

First day back in Hawaii, Waipio Valley

The first day in Hawaii and we had boat drill. That kind of changed the plans as we were not able to get off the ship until around 12pm.

I original plan was to go up the volcano. But now there was not enough time.

But we still rented a car and went to the waipio valley.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waipio_Valley

Nothing like a jeep with the roof off.

Its a really cool drive and you have to go down a steep road, and its a bit offroad too.  We rented a jeep as you need a 4x4 to get there.

driving down the valley

That place is also where they filmed the last scene of waterworld.

It was an amazing location, with huge cliffsides and a large valley in between with an amazing beach, and lush tropical forests behind it.

Quatchi in the Waipio Valley

Even that was a long way to get to and we were really pushing the crew all aboard time.  But we still made it back to the ship with a whole 90 seconds before crew all aboard time.

A sign we saw on the way out.  Just one day after the Tsunami scare

Crossing the Pacific Ocean

This cruise began that began in San Diego was the start of a 12,000km crossing of the Pacific Ocean.

With about 15 days at sea total and including with stops in Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, and then Australia.

The vast Pacific Ocean

Ziplining in Costa Rica

I have been to Costa Rica 5 times now.  And one of the things I have always wanted to do was go ziplining there.

I have been ziplining many times in various places, and the basics are similar everywhere you go.

The big draw of the Costa Rica zipline is that it is in the jungle and you can see animals throughout the tour.

Also another thing that was good on this tour was that the ziplines were very long and fast.
To begin the tour we were taken up the side of the hill, we went up very high and the first lines began high up the the trees.

Weeeeee!

This tree was particularly large.  It was about 10ft in diameter at the platform we were at, which was about 200ft up the tree. and it was at least another 100ft up from that.

One of the ziplines we were able to go upside down, and backwards.

Look ma, no hands.

The upside down zipline was actually pretty freaky, and it was a pretty long one too.

One of the last ziplines was about 2,500ft long and we got going really fast.

After the tour our taxi driver took us to a local spot where we could see monkeys.
They lived on the property of some locals, and I guess they see tours stop by often, and are used to getting fed, and are pretty tame.

I am not a big fan of monkeys, but I was talked into letting one climb on my shoulder for a few pictures.

Monkey with baby.

So I finally make it to the zipline in Costa Rica.  

Thankfully the weather was on our side.  The rain kept away during the day. But once we got back to the pier it started pouring rain and I ran my way back onto the ship.

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Last week in Guatemala, I went on another tour.

This time it was to an lake in the mountains called Lake Atitlan.

The lake was formed from the caldera of an extinct volcano thousands of years ago.  And three volcano's are still seen on one side of the lake, with cliffs forming the the other side of the lake.

The lake is the deepest in Central America, at around 350m deep.

Our tour started on one end of the lake and we took a boat cruise across it.

A view of one of the 3 volcano's, with some clouds blocking the peak

Once we got to the other end of the lake we had a really nice lunch at a local resort.  But first we had to run the gauntlet of locals all selling the same 3-4 types of crafts.
The local blankets are really colourful and nice, but I couldn't see what I would do with it so I didn't buy one.

Running the gauntlet on the way back to the boat

After lunch it was back across the lake.
On the side where our tour bus was. We has to walk through a local town, where there was a small carnival going on.  Lots of food stands, and small rides and games were setup.  I didn't get any pictures of that because I was focused on not losing any guests as we navigated our way back.

It was a nice tour, and a good way to see more of the country.

Mud Volcano, Cartagena

On our last visit to Cartagena I went on a crew tour to the Mud Volcano.

The volcano is located about an hour outside of the city, in a town called Totumo.  The mud is supposed to have therapeutic properties, same thing they say about the those spa places that do mud baths I guess.

We had a quick stop at the Fortress for some pictures then we were on our way.

The Mud volcano stands about 15 meters high, and you have to climb some very steep stairs to get to it.

When we got to the top there was a person that was in a wheelchair being carried down.  She was totally covered in mud and I was worried for her and the people carrying the chair down the steep steps at the top.

The top of the volcano isn't very big and can only hold around 15-20 people at a time.  so we wait in line watching as each person climbs into the mud.

There are people who you give your camera to, so they can take your picture without getting any mud on it.

Finally it was my turn. 

There are people who work there who cover you in mud, and give a basic massage.  They are surprisingly good at not getting any mud in your eyes, nose or mouth.

The mud is extremely buoyant.  Its very easy to float at the top few inches of the mud.  And in fact its hard to move around or stand in.
I expected that there would be a wood platform or something like that to stand on but in fact its just mud all the way down.  But at about 5 feet deep the consistency gets very hard so you cant sink at all.

After the massage you are left to play in the mud for a while until you are ready to get out.  It was fun trying to move and float around.

After we got out we walked a short distance to the lake where we can wash off the mud.

The whole day was very fun, and a very interesting experience.

Antigua, Guatemala

A couple of weeks ago was my first time in Guatemala.   

Another new country to add to the list.

I managed to get on a tour to Antigua, which is an old Spanish Colonial town.

Antigua is surrounded by three volcano's.

A couple of weeks before we arrived one of them erupted, and 10,000 people needed to be evacuated.

On our drive into town we witnessed ash coming out of the volcano a few times. 

Antigua is a Spanish town founded after the conquest of the Mayans.  It was created in 1543 after a previous city was abandoned because of a volcanic eruption.

Some replica Mayan art

Quatchi looking at the volcano

One day in Montery

We were in Montery for only a few hours the day after San Francisco.

We tendered into the town, so it made it harder for crew to get off the ship.

Lots of seals watching us as we went into the dock.

Nice little town.   Had a good lunch.   Not much else to say for that day.

Sail-in to San Francisco

Hello all,

Im trying to get caught up on my old posts.

Here are a couple of pics from my sail in to San Francisco.

We had an overnight in this port and I was able to meet up with friends who are living in the area.

Nice to spend time off the ship and feel like a regular person for a couple of days.

Out of Alaksa

After 6 weeks of mostly rain and cold.  We have finally sailed out way south.

Currently we are repositioning our way south.  Heading for a couple of cruises through the Panama Canal.

Lots of different ports, and a few new ones for me.
But also a lot of sea days.  8 of the 16 days are sea days.

Stay tuned for pics.

Sunset from the ship in Alaska.