alisoncole's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries

alisoncole's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member alisoncole on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/alisoncole en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:34:54 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Last day in paradise — Honolulu, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1209010440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1209010440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1209010440/tpod.html Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:34:54 -0500 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Today's entry is an amalgamation of 2 days, since both yesterday and today were all "one day" for us, being that we got no sleep as one day blended into the next on our journey home. Yesterday was our last day in paradise, but our plane didn't leave until 9:15pm in the evening, so we still had nearly a full day to take in before it was time to go.Because Ben had been ill the night before and still was yesterday, we got up late and I was able to get us a somewhat late check-out, at noon instead of at the normal 11am. We put all of our luggage in the luggage holding area in the front lobby, and found out it was also alright to keep the car there until we left for the airport this evening.Ben had planned to rent his motorcycle today, but then he agreed not to as I was worried that he would get sick again today and then not be able to drive it. So we walked a block down from the hotel and found a place to go for breakfast. I had some toast and hash browns and Ben had a fruit plate, plus freshly squeezed orange juice for both of us, all for the bargain price of only $40 inclusive!! Actually, I didn't mind too much paying this amount for our food, since it seemed like we had hardly spent money on food all week, and this was actually the only time we had eaten out at a restaurant. Shortly after our breakfast, Ben started to feel sick again, so we went back to the hotel where they have a 'hospitality' room that people checking out can use for the day, and I got him to lay down on the couch to rest. I stayed with him for awhile but then he insisted that I go out and enjoy Hawaii for our last several hours here, so I did that, knowing that he was safe resting there at the hotel. It was around 2pm at this point and my goal for the rest of the day was to spend it at the beach, as I could think of no finer way to spend the next three or so hours of my last time in Honolulu, Hawaii. I walked down to the busy Waikiki beach and found a nice spot on the sand to lay my towel down on. One last time to soak this all in, to apply my senses to behold the sparkling sun, beach and water; to hear the sounds of the people frolicking around me; and to feel the heat of the beams of sunlight bearing down on my now very well tanned skin, and the sand and waves of warm, blue water beneath my bare feet. Too tempting to resist, I took off my dress (wearing a bathing suit underneath!) and ventured into the water one last time. I had little precious opportunity left and had to allocate my time wisely for this afternoon, but I ended up spending a good hour or so basking in the water - I just didn't want to get out! After finally mustering up the will power, I did part the Hawaiian ocean, knowing that it would be my last time in it for maybe a really long time, and spent the remainder of my time bathing on the beach, reading my book and then napping restfully. It was my plan to be back at the hotel by 5pm so that I could quickly shower and we could be on our way. Running a bit behind though, I didn't leave the beach until 4:45pm, and still had one more stop before heading back to the hotel, which was to go to the International Marketplace again to purchase some chocolate and Kona coffee for Ben that he had wanted to buy for gifts. And since I was there anyways, I couldn't resist but to buy another helping of the delicious spaghetti with garlic sauce and tofu that I had had there earlier this week, since I knew as well that pickings would be slim for the rest of the day - especially with no food offered on the plane. I then went back to the hotel's hospitality room and Ben, thankfully, was still there, safe and sound. I took a shower and then we were on our way to the airport. We made it to our gate with barely any time to rest before it was time to board the plane. The plane was to leave at 9:15pm and then arrive at 5:55am in Seattle (note the time change). By the time we got to Seattle we were both bagged from not having slept much at all in the past 2 days, and we still had the 2.5 hour drive to Vancouver ahead of us! I drove most of the way back, since I was less tired than Ben, and when we got to the Canadian border around 9am, we were finally home. Our week in Hawaii flew by fast and I only hope that we can go back again someday soon.
]]> Swimming with dolphins — Waianae, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208871720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208871720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208871720/tpod.html Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:14:09 -0400 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Waianae, Hawaii, United States

This morning we had to be up very early to be at the Waianae Boat Harbour in Waianae, a community on the north west side of the island, by 8am so we could go swimming with dolphins! I had booked a "dolphin excursion" with a company (aptly named) Dolphin Excursions, after reading a lot of reviews about how fantastic an experience this was, and, also, to make one of Ben's dreams come true - to swim with dolphins! I thought it would be much better for him to do it out in the open ocean in their natural habitat with them, where anything could happen, rather than in a controlled environment like at the Ocean World park I had had dolphin encounters at this January. Plus, this tour also offered the chance to swim with sea turtles and to go snorkelling. Viewing humpback whales is also a usual part of the tour, except we missed out humpback whale season by only a week, as it officially ends on April 15th, after which time the humpbacks are on their way back to Alaska. It was about an hour's drive from our hotel to drive to the bay at Waianae. The weather was looking good - again, cloudy in the morning but looking like it was going to clear up and be another hot, sunny day, which it was! Ben and I slathered on the sunscreen really well when we got there, as we didn't want to get burned anymore and we could already start feeling the rays bear down. This time I made sure that I brought Ben's cowboy sun hat for him because he has kept forgetting to bring it with him this week and as a result keeps getting sun stroked (or it is sun stricken?). But silly me, it was only after we got into the boat that I realized that I hadn't brought MY hat with me - it was back at the hotel!! The boat we got onto was an inflatable vessel that seated about 16-20 people. Ben and I got two of the seats right at the front. There was a driver, our guide, and then Chuck the photographer, who was there to capture our experiences on his digital camera to sell to us later on. We pulled out of the marina, and were only on our way out for about a minute, still well in the harbour, when we started to see dolphins in the water right away! Fantastic - they were everywhere, just swimming around us! The dolphins were Spinner Dolphins, named so because they like to "spin" around in the air, just for fun and at their own will. I took lots of photos, but am not sure yet how well they turned out. They spun and jumped so fast for my slow shuttered camera that I kept missing catching them in the air, but most likely still got some good photos, which I will check later. There was already another tour boat on the other side of the harbour, and they already had people in the water, snorkelling and swimming among the dolphins. After viewing the dolphins for about 5 minutes (and me personally being in total awe at the sights), we were told to jump in and swim with them. Easier said than done! When it was my turn to go, I had some uneasy hesitation: 1) because I have a fear of swimming in the open ocean where creatures like sharks or octopi can come at you, 2) because I was a bit nervous about swimming among the dolphins, and 3) because I'm scared to jump into the ocean, where it's cold and I'm all exposed to the above. But I had to do it in order to have this amazing experience, so I just did it, plummeting into the clear blue sea with my fins, snorkel and mask on.After getting used to the initial cold of the water, the rest was great. We were all wearing lifejackets here, so no chance of drowning, and it actually wasn't scary to be swimming in the deep ocean because it wasn't that deep, and you could see exactly how deep it was because you could see the bottom of the ocean, since the water was so clear! It was maybe about 40 feet down, and the bottom was all sandy, with not much down there but sand. Once we were in, it was not as easy as I thought it would be to suddenly just start swimming with the dolphins in their natural habitat. We were told that the dolphins were kind of temperamental about if they wanted to swim with the humans, who they saw in the bay every single day. Sometimes they were playful and in the mood for a lot of interaction, and sometimes they weren't. Today it seemed like they weren't really in the mood for coming to explore us and mingle, so it was up to us to find them and then swim over to where we could get close, but that proved to be a challenge. Also, it is illegal for humans to touch sea mammals, or to be less than 10 feet away from them, but I wasn't sure how that was going to work if we were swimming in the same area as them and they were just there right next to us. I tried to stay close to Ben so that we could see the dolphins together. By this time, the always sceptical Ben who didn't think that we would actually see any dolphins at all, much less be swimming in the ocean among them, was becoming a believer after all, and that even was reinforced further when a dolphin swam right up to him, circled him four times, and then jumped in the air three times in a row right in front of him! I was right behind him watching this and it was amazing! Ben thought it was amazing too and he said that the dolphin was only 1 foot away from him when he came up to him and swam circles around him (I didn't get to see that part). So even that experience alone made the whole trip worth it, I think.Again, it was an effort to get close to the dolphins, but I did get to see them swimming ahead of me, and then even swimming underwater, which was really, really cool, because you always see them swimming on top of the water and I had never ever seen dolphins swimming under the water, especially with my head under the water as well! I was able to get some very distinct photos of them underwater as well with my disposable underwater camera.After a half hour in the water with the dolphins, we were beckoned to go back on the boat, where we were whisked away further out in the water and up the coast to where there was a reef and a good snorkelling spot. When we were ready to anchor down, we spotted a big sea turtle swimming on the surface just in front of us! Wow! I hadn't realized that the sea turtles here were going to be so big! Everyone got into the water again, to snorkel, and I took my time and went in almost last, with Ben still in the boat behind me. When I jumped in there were many brilliant yellow butterfly fish below me. Ben threw in part of a muffin to feed them and they all came rushing around me and beneath me. They were everywhere! It was kind of freaky, since I was looking underwater at them all, all surrounding me but yet not touching me, though they could have.The water in this area was again about 40 feet down, but this time with a rocky (reef) bottom. Totally crystal clear again, which is definitely not something that I am used to back home in Canada with our cold, dark, murky waters there. There were lots of fish everywhere - lots of the yellow fish, plus black fish with stripes, and black and white striped fish. I didn't see any more sea turtles, unfortunately, although I was looking for them. After about another half hour of snorkelling, we were reeled into the boat again and so ended our ocean excursion in the beautiful, sea-creature populated waters of Hawaii - quite an experience to be had!
]]> Kayaking in Kailua — Kailua, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208835060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208835060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208835060/tpod.html Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:41:14 -0400 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Kailua, Hawaii, United States

Today we got up early for kayaking in Kailua, which is a 30 minute drive across the island to the south east side, and home of supposedly the "best" beach in the United States, as described in all the brochures. This seems to be the spot where all the kayaking on Oahu takes place and it looked like a fun excursion to be had. Instead of going on a guided tour, I figured that it would be better to just go off on our own to explore the area. There were nearby islands that we could paddle to with the promise of seeing sea turtles in their waters! We were unsure at first if the weather would be up to a day of kayaking, but after some hesitation (after driving through the mountainous area that was filled with clouds, and then having it lightly sprinkle with rain), we decided to go for it anyways, and that was a very good choice. April is Hawaii's "winter", and I was told by the people at the kayak store that the weather is always like this here in April - cloudy and a bit rainy in the mornings, especially in the middle of the island, but warm and sunny on the coast. I could see the clear blue sky out by the beach and, wow, did it ever turn out to be a nice day! We rented a double kayak for 4 hours, which we picked up near the beach, at a canal that we first had to paddle through for a bit, then pick up onto a short stretch of sandy beach, and then drag over to the ocean. The ocean's water was a beautiful turquoise blue and the water was pretty warm! Very nice and refreshing. It was fairly wavy, however, which is not the kind of water that I've ever kayaked in before. Thank goodness Ben was there, as he is an experienced kayaker and knew exactly what to do to paddle successfully through the waves, or else we would have surely capsized many times, I think! There was a small island directly across from the beach, and the guy who gave us the kayak said it would take 20 minutes to kayak out there, and one hour to paddle to the 2 big "Twin Islands" that were somewhat further down, in front of the adjacent Lanakai beach. Both of them had bird sanctuaries on them. We decided to go to the smaller (closer) one first, and made it there in only about 10 minutes! You could walk around the circumference of the island in about 15 minutes, but we took our time, stopping for photo ops and to precariously make our way around the rocky edges of the island that were covered in holes, looking like coral. Only the edges of the island were accessible to walk over as the rest of it was roped off as it is a bird sanctuary, and we saw lots of sea birds in there nesting, which were very cute. Ben was fascinated by the medium-sized black crabs that were all over the rocks on one side of the island. After our tour around the island, we decided that the two big Twin islands (Mokulua Islands, I think they're officially named, or something like that) were way too far (and dangerous) to go out to. The paddling out to the small island had been really hard work with all of the waves to go through, and I couldn't imagine doing that for 60 minutes straight to get there, and then another 60 to get back! In any case, I wanted to kayak out to the Lanakai beach, which was across from the Twin islands, as there was supposed to be a reef just in front of it, and thus, snorkelling. With all of the waves to fight through, it too was a lot of muscle power to make our way there, as we were going against the waves. Ben found it too difficult and when we were more than halfway there he declared that he was quitting, but then decided to keep going with me. I thought it was fun! What an adventure! I was I the front of the kayak and the waves kept splashing on me, but the water was so nice and fresh and I didn't mind at all. If this had been back on Vancouver Island, yes, I would have minded, but it's a totally different experience here. The blue ocean is inviting and you want it to splash all over you, and even just jump right into it. Oh, and when we were leaving the small island, Ben said he saw a sea turtle in the ocean beside us! (but I didn't see it) We finally made it to the beach there - what a victory! It only took us 23 minutes, but it was 23 minutes of very hard work. We both collapsed on our towels on the sand and laid there catching the sun for about an hour. The weather was so nice at this point - it was really hot, but there was also a breeze which complemented the heat perfectly. Ben was very happy to be there and even said he would like to return again this week, but drive there next time! After sunbathing, I jumped into the water. Again, like Waikiki, it was not too cold so you could easily get into it. Wavy, but not too wavy near the shoreline. I could see the reef further down and people were snorkelling there, but we decided not to try snorkelling as it seemed like it was too wavy to really snorkel successfully. We quickly ate our lunch that we had packed along, and then it was time to head back and return the kayak. Ben said it would be an easy trip back to the beach further down that we had started from, which I was looking forward to. Getting out into the ocean from this beach though was not that easy, because, again, we had to fight past the waves coming in. Ben got the kayak out to the height of my chest and then I was supposed to get myself in the front, but that wasn't going to happen and it almost capsized the kayak! So we tried again by starting from closer to the beach and it worked, but then had to fight our way through the waves there to get out. After using our muscle power again to get out far enough, we were able to let the kayak just calmly sail towards our destination. We held the paddles out horizontally and used them like sails to carry the kayaks along with the wind. It only took us 15 minutes to get back, though it was quite a ways to go. After returning the kayak, we drove around the area and the coastline there a bit, and ran into the Marine Corps base, but we couldn't get on the base to look around since we didn't have our ID on us. We started to make our way back across the island to Honolulu and passed by the Ala Moana beach park, which I'd like to swim at one day. It was a large bay area with very calm waters, so perfect for snorkelling. We called it a day when we got back to the hotel. Despite spraying the sun block on all day, we were still burned, but not too bad. But it was a long day and very tiring! Very worth it though to do the kayaking and exploring of the area.
]]> Waikiki Beach — Honolulu, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208734260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208734260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208734260/tpod.html Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:30:08 -0400 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Today we were supposed to go kayaking, but Ben wasn't feeling well so we stayed in the hotel all morning while he rested, and then in the early afternoon he felt better and we decided to go down to the beach here in Waikiki and then go window shopping.  The weather was the same as the previous few days and we made sure to thoroughly coat ourselves with the 45 SPF sunscreen before leaving.  It was sunny with clouds dotting the sky above and around the forecasted 28 degrees.  We walked the 2 blocks or so from our hotel down to Waikiki beach, the sight of which was breathtaking (our first time there in the day where we could actually see the beach and water well).  Waikiki Beach spans far in length, but in width is only really about 5 metres wide at some points, so as you can imagine it was quite crowded with people, both on the sand and in the water.  The sand was so yellow and fine and the water was so blue and actually warm, so I can see why it is such a popular and busy beach!  What I liked about it also was that you could go quite far in and still only be up to your chest in the water, and the bottom was completely covered in sand - a perfect area of the ocean that is probably not commonly replicated anywhere else.  I had been here on this exact beach 28 years ago, also swimming in the ocean, and so it was kind of strange and neat to have the sparse memories of a 4 year old finally filled in by the matured perspective of today's experience. It was great to feel the calm, warm, blue water around me and very relaxing.  Lots of good people watching as well and there were lots of surfers further out that were surfing in the waves.  The break water was much past where all of the people were wading in the ocean, and so by the time the waves got to us, they were calm and barely noticeable - just a mild swell of water here and there, but nothing treacherous and no danger of being pummelled at all!  I stayed in the water for about an hour.  Ben came in as well for a bit and then spent the rest of the time on the beach, while I enjoyed the water and tried to soak in as much of it as I could at that point, being that it may be my last chance in these waters for a very long time! (but hopefully not another 28 years!).  It also felt warmer to stay in the water than to be out on the sand as well, as it was a bit windy outside and it started to lightly mist again as we were leaving. After the beach we walked down the beachfront road towards the police station, where Ben made his obligatory visit and chatted with the police officer there at the reception desk for awhile.  He said he would definitely take a job with the Honolulu Police Dept. if he came here to live, and they said they are short on officers as well and could use him!  After that we continued to walk along and hit the International Market Place, which is a "market" area of outdoor stalls selling merchandise similar to that of the swap meet that we had been to yesterday.  Lots of things to see though and Ben looked at what seemed like many watches, while I bought a small souvenir for my sister.  By this time Ben was hungry, and I was as well, which was perfect because there was a food court there that actually had several places with food that I could actually eat!  I was so hungry by that point and it was hard to choose what to have.  They had a veggie burger and fries, a Mexican place with vegetarian burritos, Chinese chow mein and fried rice, and a place with a few yummy-sounding items including a tofu curry, which I almost got.  But then I saw they had spaghetti too which I suddenly craved and so got a tofu and vegetable stir fried on top of the spaghetti and garlic sauce.  What a great choice, because it was delicious and definitely the best meal that I've had since I've been here! (probably the only real "meal" as well, since it's just mostly been 'snacking' so far)  I also got a filling orange/wheat germ/ginseng protein smoothie.  Ben got a strawberry-banana smoothie as well as his signature quesadilla. After that it was getting late, and surprisingly a bit cold, and we started to make our way back to the hotel.  Ben found one of the motorcycle rental places that he was looking for, and although it was closed, we were able to see what motorcycles they have and he saw 3 right away that he would like to drive.  I have promised him a ½ day motorcycle rental while we are here, although I am somewhat nervous about riding on it with him, but I know that he really wants this and I want him to live out his dreams!  He told me today though that in addition to the basic motorcycle riding course that his dad made him take when he was a kid and getting his motorcycle license, he also took the advanced course and then the instructors' course after that - so I'm figuring that he's got to be pretty good at riding motorcycles and it should all be okay.  We went back to the hotel and tried out the hot tub for a bit, which was nice and very hot, and then turned in for the evening.  I want to make sure that we are well-rested for tomorrow morning as I want to get up early so that we will make it to kayaking in the morning. 
]]> Aloha Stadium Swap Meet — Honolulu, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208661120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208661120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208661120/tpod.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:17:16 -0400 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Today we started off our day by going to the Saturday Farmers' Market at Kapiolani Community College, which runs every Saturday from 7:30am-11:00am.  It's supposed to be the best farmers' market in the area and I wanted to go to stock up on fresh fruit, specifically, for the remainder of our stay.  I especially thought that it would be a lot cheaper to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmers' market rather than from the grocery stores, which were fairly expensive.  We got a bit of a late start to the day and arrived there at 10:30am, only a half hour before it closed, but that was fine since we were able to walk through it in about 15 minutes and then we were done.  It was fairly disappointing compared the other farmers' markets, such as the one we had gone to in L.A. last summer.  I had wanted to buy bananas there, and did not see any! (only little ripe plantains)  I also didn't see any apples.  Ben wanted to buy pineapple(s) but did not see any that were decently priced.  We ended up just buying a small bag of cherry tomatoes for $3 and that was it.  There were a lot of good, well-priced greens (ie. basil and arugula) which I would have loved to have bought if I had had a kitchen to prepare them in, but had to pass on those.  Otherwise, not much there for us.  It was only about a 5 minute drive from the hotel though, so not too far out of the way. After that we were going to drop off the car at the hotel and walk around Waikiki; however, Ben mentioned the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet that he had heard about that morning from some tourists he had spoken to at our hotel, who told him it wasn't worth going to.  I told him I'd be interested in going to it (it's a big flea market held on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays) but I hadn't thought that Ben would be into it so I hadn't mentioned it as a possible activity for today.  But since we were in the car already, we decided to go and I punched it into the GPS and we were on our way there - a 21 minute drive from Waikiki, near the airport. The Aloha Stadium Swap meet consists of convocation of apparently 700 vendor stalls that fully encircle the stadium a couple of times - one stall after another after another after another!  I didn't think it would be an activity, with all the walking and all the shopping, that Ben would be particularly into, but he enjoyed it, and no doubt because we got some really good bargains today!  Of course I enjoyed it as well, as I always love a good bargain. Many of the stalls contained duplicate merchandise, but many of them didn't, and I think it was worth it to spend a good amount of time walking through it, as we did, despite some online reviews I had read.  We got there just before noon and stayed until the end, at 3pm.  The stuff being sold ranged from all kinds of Hawaiian themed clothing to coconut purses to coconut bras to wooden carvings to sunglasses to jewellery to packaged nuts to cell phone covers to kitchen gadgets, and much more.  If you wanted to purchase any of that kind of stuff at all, this was the place to do it, as the prices were really good.  I needed sunglasses and I ended up buying three pairs (at $5, $6, and $7).  Ben got another pair too, for $5, in addition to the pair he had just bought this morning near the hotel.  He was enamoured with a stall that sold all kinds of weapons that are illegal in Canada, such as big knives, num chuks, and ninja stars, and bought a set of thumb cuffs there for $6 to add to his arsenal of police paraphernalia.  I bought a set of 3 pretty coloured stone bracelets for $3, a dolphin necklace for $2, a dolphin toe ring and turtle toe ring for $5, a pair of sandals that I had previously seen (and wanted) in the ABC store for $16 for $13, 2 bras for $10, 3 hair bands for $5, and probably some more that I am forgetting!  I love getting good deals and there were many to be had here!  Lots of not-so-good deals as well, and LOTS of stuff that I would have liked but didn't absolutely "need", and I really did control the ardent shopper in me to not spend too much.   The sun was piercing down like a laser beam and I had not brought my sun hat and was worried about getting sun stroked again, so Ben let me wear his brand new cowboy hat that he had bought in the morning, insisting that he didn't need it despite my constant checking on him.  The sun was really hot though at times and we could frequently see that we were getting burned, so we kept spraying the sun block on ourselves.  And then it started to lightly "mist" in the air, which was, I think, God's perfect method of cooling down people in this kind of treacherously scorching weather.  I had never experienced this kind of precipitation before in my life, which can only accurately be described as an actual mist!  It was perfect!  It took us until about 2:45pm to walk through about ¾ of the circle, and then we felt we had seen enough - well, actually, I think we felt we had seen enough about halfway through, but if we hadn't kept going I wouldn't have found the hair bands I had been looking for, to control my out-of-control hair on this trip! We went back to the hotel then and stayed there for the rest of the day, watching tv - what a great way to spend a Saturday evening in Honolulu!  We were going to go out to a comedy club in the evening that Ben wanted to go to, but then he wasn't feeling up to it after all the walking today, oh, and eating sweet, succulent pineapple at the flea market that he had been vying for since we got here.  We were watching multiple back-to-back episodes of a reality tv show called "Rock of Love with Brett Michaels", that I don't think we get in Canada, so it was well worth it to spend our time viewing this high quality programming.  The weather was about 28 degrees today again, at least, and sunny with clouds in the air again - really great weather.  Tomorrow we have plans to go kayaking at Kailua Bay.
]]> Haunama Bay — Honolulu, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208439960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208439960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208439960/tpod.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:09:21 -0400 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Today was the day to go snorkelling in Hanauma Bay - the "nature preserve" known as the best snorkelling location on Oahu which used to actually be a sunken crater.  This was one of the activities that I was most looking forward to, to see all kinds of sea creatures in their natural habitats up close!  According to all of my lengthy internet research, it is highly recommended to get there first thing in the morning - like at 7am - so that you arrive before the barrage of tour buses arrive at 8:30am, after which time the bay is supposed to be too crowded and cloudy to see much at all.  So I wanted to get there super early, at 7am, so we could get an early start to our day.  I actually got up at 5:40am so that this would happen, but we ended up not leaving until just before 8am and making it there just before 8:30am.  It only took about 21 minutes though to drive there from Waikiki.  Oh, and I had checked the weather online this morning as well, and surprisingly it had changed from yesterday to being sunny and 28 degrees to being "cloudy with sun" and  having "isolated showers" throughout the day and a 20% chance of precipitation.  So I wasn't sure what that was going to mean in terms of the actual weather today. It cost $1 for the parking, plus another $5 per person to enter the site.  Upon paying our money, we were ushered to line up for a viewing of the mandatory 9-minute film that everyone entering the bay has to watch in order to be allowed down into the bay.  This is to ensure that everyone is adequately educated about not disturbing the sea life and the coral in the area.  So, basically, because too many people have ignorantly ruined the bay in the past decades since this beach has been such a popular tourist attraction,  they have a strict rule now that you cannot touch the coral reef at all (anything that looks like "rock" in the water), nor touch any fish or other sea creatures either.  I learned today as well that it is illegal in Hawaii to touch the endangered sea green turtles, which I was hoping to see. The bay was totally beautiful and enormous - way bigger than I had expected from the pictures I had seen (in which I had obviously grossly miscalculated the proportions of size).  I took some photos of the spectacular view from above - absolutely stunning, and I'm sure I'll find it hard to believe later on that I was actually there!  There was a somewhat steep wall on a paved road to get down to the beach, which took about 5 minutes - or you could optionally take the "tram" down, which cost 50 cents to go down and $1 to go up.  At the bottom we were met with a beautiful and large beach with lots of space for sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling.  The water, however, was largely covered by the coral reef, so you had to be careful about where you swam since at that time in the morning, when the tide was still kind of low, there was danger of easily touching the coral if you tried to swim over parts of it.  Ben and I chose a spot down at the left far end of the beach where we laid down our stuff.  I hadn't been snorkelling for a very long time, since I was little, so I didn't know how I was going to fare.  And one dip of the toe into the crystal clear but very fresh and cold water proved that it was definitely going to take me some effort to really get into it to actually swim and snorkel. (I hate cold water - it was cold like a swimming pool!) Ben had no problems just easily wading in.  I, however, didn't feel like venturing in right away.  We laid down on our towels to sunbathe a bit.  The weather was sunny with clouds hovering over that alternated between sunny hot and then cool temperatures when the clouds were passing over, and it was about 22 degrees at that time in the morning, which is actually not bad by our Canadian standards at 9:00 in the morning!  I got so comfortable lying on the beach that I actually briefly fell asleep, as did Ben.  Very surreal to be able to lay on a beautiful beach in the warm weather, and next to come was the snorkelling adventure! Thank goodness for Ben as he was able to show me how to walk properly in the water while wearing swimming fins (backwards!) so that you can manoeuvre yourself, as well as showing me how to clear up water from the mask when it starts to fill up, which happened a lot.  Once I actually got used to the cold water all the way up to my head, I just got right in and started swimming, and... seeing fish!  There were all kinds of tropical fish swimming in the water beneath us - it was really incredible and the first time I had ever seen sea life of this nature (that wasn't in an aquarium!).  They were actually just like fish that you would typically see in an aquarium, for lack of a more thorough description.  I tried to take pictures of some of them with my underwater camera, but it was too hard to see through the viewfinder if I was actually getting them in the shot, so who knows - I might get some good surprises (or not) when I do get the film developed.  One of the last fish I photographed was very pink, with blue stripes on it I think it had.  Very brilliant!  We didn't stay long in the water - maybe only 15 minutes.  Ben had gone back to the beach, so when I finally realized where he was, I went over to see him.  The waters in the bay were very calm, due to the big reef breaking the waves coming in, but he said that a wave had gotten him and scared him, so he went back shortly after.  I was psyched to go back in and see some more, but we laid down to sunbathe more.  The sun was becoming extremely hot at this point - and I had actually read online this morning that the UV index was "10", which is supposed to be very, very high.  I could feel the UV rays burning into my skin, and was really vigilante about applying and reapplying the sun block lotion frequently, as I did not want to get burnt! Ben, however, was not so conscientious about it, but at least he agreed to put sunscreen at all (which he refused to do last year in L.A., and, as a result, was badly burned).  I had my trusty Venice Beach sunhat with me, which I kept covered on my face the whole time we lied there, but Ben did NOT bring his hat and was just lying there totally exposed, which I knew was going to affect him badly.  I'm not sure how long we were there for because it was very relaxing and I fell asleep a bit again, but then we got up and took a walk along the beach into the more populated area.  It was about 12:30pm at this point and we were going to go snorkelling again, but then Ben changed his mind and so we decided to call it a day there and head back to the hotel.  Ben wants to go back there, which would be great, because there are other areas in the bay that we want to snorkel in, which we could see much better when we were back at the top and you can see where the coral is and where the turquoise open blue water is. On the way back from the hotel we passed by a "Foodland" store (which seems to be the only supermarket chain here) and decided to stop by there to get the sourdough bread and cereal that was too expensive at the Down To Earth store the day before.  I wanted to get a few other things too that I assumed would reasonably priced, like they are at IGA or Safeway, however, this was not the case here!  Foodland, and therefore all stores in Hawaii, we assumed, is very expensive compared to prices in Canada, which is even more so odd because food prices in the States in general are usually quite cheaper than in Canada!  For example, the same 4L container of Silk soymilk that I had bought the day before (on sale) for $3.99 cost $5.69 at this store, and in Vancouver it's about a dollar cheaper at its most expensive price.  Ben got the (small) box of Rice Krispies that he really wanted, for the same expensive price that we could have gotten a same-sized box of healthy, organic cereal from Down To Earth (about $5).   I was able to buy a bunch of Luna bars for $1.69 each, which is a decent price for Luna bars, so as least that will give me some sustenance when I need it, since our food sources on this trip seem like they are going to be very sporadic and "unguaranteed" for lack of a better word.  We didn't buy much else except for drinks, which were expensive. We went back to the hotel for several hours and then had plans to see the "free" Hawaiian show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (not very far away), followed by fireworks after.  They do this show and fireworks every Friday night, as I had read, BUT, it turned out that this one hour Hawaiian music/dance show was not free at all but cost $20 per person!  I didn't think that was worth it, just to get entry into the seated area in front of the stage, so we actually sat outside on a restaurant patio right beside the stage and were able to hear and see the show from there.  After that the fireworks show above the beach there immediately followed, which was quite spectacular.  And I really liked the beach there - the sand was really smooth and soft, and even though it was night time by then, it was still warm and calm weather outside - very pleasant. Tomorrow and for the rest of our stay here, the weather is supposed to be the same as it was today, so this means that I might actually get a tan since the beginnings of one (along with some subtle burning) were manufactured today.
]]> Arrival and a bit of exploration of the island — Honolulu, Hawaii, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208490060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208490060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/3/1208490060/tpod.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:45:59 -0400 Hawaii vacation 2008

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Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Well, we actually made it to Hawaii, due to months of planning on my part to make Ben's dream come true of spending some time away from home on the island of paradise known as Oahu, which means The Gathering Place.  This trip to Hawaii is Ben's birthday present from me for his 39th year and was a total surprise to him when I presented him with it last week on his special day.  The week went by quickly and before we knew it, we were driving to Seattle yesterday to catch the plane from there to Honolulu.  Because of the drive prior, I didn't want to leave too early on the flight, so I booked the 5:20pm flight, which would get us to our destination at 8:20pm (a 5 hour flight).  At our arrival we very quickly made our way to the Alamo car rental place at the airport where we picked up the convertible car that I had reserved.  Despite me being told on the phone that they had "all kinds" of convertibles for me to choose from, they only had one for us: a silver Chrysler Sebring, which was fine by me since I don't really know any better when it comes to cars.  And Sebrings turned out to be a very popular car on the Island (we imagined the day that they shipped all of the 2008 Sebrings to Oahu, like on a big barge in the sea just covered with shiny metal.) It was a very warm evening, about 24 degrees, so we put the hard top down right away on our trip into Honolulu, which was only about a 15 minute drive. Wow!  We are finally here!  Here in a place where we can temporarily leave all of our stresses and other serious issues at home and take a one week "time-out" just to enjoy and bask in the revelry of sunlight, warmth, sandy beaches and crystal clear waters that we so rarely get a chance to experience.  Not only that, but just getting away, a vacation, is something I was really needing.  And for Ben, going to Hawaii is his dream, and I want him to live out his dreams! We checked into our hotel, the Waikiki Sand Villa, which is along the canal on Ala Wai Blvd., and just a few blocks from the Waikiki beach.  It's a really nice budget hotel, and after much time spent researching on the internet, I believe it's the best 2 star hotel accommodation in Waikiki that money can buy!  It has a nice open-air lobby entrance, valet parking (I got the parking at a half price special ($7.50/day - very cheap for Honolulu) because I booked through Travelocity), a bar and restaurant, and a very nice outdoor pool with a hot tub, plus a complimentary continental breakfast every morning.  Apart from that, our room is nothing special.  As promised on the online reviews, the carpet on the floor is worn and pretty gross, and our balcony (nice that we have one at least!) faces another hotel - although there is a side view of the canal from the balcony.  I had tried to get Ben to get us a free upgrade like he had in L.A. last year (which was awesome), as they have studio apartments with kitchenettes in this hotel, but when he called ahead they said that we had to ask in person when we were there.  So I asked when we checked in and the front desk person told me I had to ask in the morning to see if there were any available studios, since they were all currently completely booked.  (In the morning, Ben went to ask and they said they said they could upgrade us for $60 more a night - not exactly what we were looking for....  And they said that we had already been upgraded to a Deluxe Room!  Ben asked what was so deluxe about it and they said the carpeting and the view!)  Anyways, after checking into our room, we wanted to get out and take a walk.  It was after 10:30pm by now, but there were still lots of people in the streets with lots of activity going on.  We walked through the dense Waikiki area past lots of shops and hotels towards the beach.  We went out onto the beach and I dipped my toe into the ocean (cold!).  There were stone walls along the beach, that one could rest or sit on, and Ben said that the last time he was here, the walls were covered in cockroaches at night, and he had to see if that was still the case.  He went up to one of the walls and peered closely in the dark, and sure enough, covered with cockroaches!  Yum!  I can only imagine the many unsuspecting tourists who lean against those walls at night, say, to pose for a photograph, only to experience the horror of the little creatures getting all over them!    There is a Baskin Robbins near the beach and we went in and inquired if they had any non-dairy frozen treats for me to eat, and they did!  So I had their strawberry sorbet, while Ben had a raspberry one.  Heading back to the hotel, after a long day of travelling, we called it a night and rested up for our first full day in Hawaii. This morning I first wanted to go grocery shopping to stock our mini fridge with some food to last us for the week.  I had read about the vegetarian grocery store Down To Earth on Happy Cow and it seemed like the most logical place for me to find food to eat on what I suspect will be a very unveggie friendly island.  Lucky for us, Down To Earth is not too far away at all - just about a 7 minute drive across the canal.  Once we were there, I was dismayed to see how expensive the food was.  Some of their veg products were about twice the price as what I've bought them for in other American States.  This must be because we're on this isolated island, so I guess they can charge whatever they want for food, since food is a necessity and all.  Despite the gross expense of the food there, what I did find to be affordable were the very tasty-looking items in their deli, which were too hard to resist trying anyways.  I bought a container each of mock chicken salad, potato salad and macaroni salad, which I just had to because 1) they were all vegan, and 2) I'm on vacation and deserve a treat!  Also for these 2 preceding reasons, I purchased a piece of chocolate cream pie and a piece of banana cake, which both looked very decadent and delicious - can't wait to try them out!  They also had a salad bar and a hot food buffet near the deli, so I got some food there for lunch and to eat later on. I didn't go for the salad bar, fearing it would be as exorbitantly priced as the salad bar at Capers (the Down to Earth equivalent in Vancouver), so I just got some rice, vegetables and yummy cooked tofu from the buffet, which was quite good.  Ben didn't want to eat anything, so I just ate quickly myself, and then we left and took our groceries back to the hotel. After that, we decided to go for a drive of exploration along the Island's coast.  Thanks to our handy GPS, we don't have to worry at all about getting Lost on this island (though, ironically, this is the very island that the survivors from the tv show "Lost" are lost on - pun intended!!).  Seriously, though, the island is not that big and I believe you can drive from, say, the south end to the north end in just about 2 hours.  I hope we can do lots of island exploring while we are here, which we did a bit of today. It still feels very surreal that we are in this place of paradise that is like another world unlike ours back in Canada.  Driving along the shoreline today, we made several sight seeing stops (as depicted by my photos).  Then we drove inland a bit and towards Haunama Bay (the famous snorkelling spot in Ohahu) that Ben wanted to show me, where we will definitely be going this week.  We stopped in at the bay for a little bit but couldn't do much as getting any decent view of the bay required entering the parking lot, which required $.  We did see a little stray orange and black kitty, though, which Ben tried to catch, but he ran away.   We then proceeded on the roadway and then made another stop at a 'rest area', which overlooked the crazy ocean waves slamming onto the shoreline.  It was a spectacular view, and then, if you turned around, you were facing a volcano!  How cool is that?!  We could actually see the deep ridges alongside this mountain next to us that apparently avalanches of hot, teeming lava once rushed down many years ago.  At this area, Ben could hear the tempting sweet sounds of... gunfire o'er yonder, and wanted to investigate what that was all about.  We turned around and headed towards the gunfire sounds and came upon nothing other than a shooting range.  Ben wanted to practise his gun firing there, but we found out that you had to have your own gun to fire with, which he did not.  Next to the range was a wide, open field (on the non-shooting side of the range) with some wild chickens living on it!  Cool!  On the other side of the field was another shooting range, where Honolulu police officers were practising their skills.  While Ben went to go check that out, I took the more interesting activity option and pursued the chickens for some petting and photographs - although they wouldn't let me get anywhere near them to touch them! After that we stopped once more and explored a beach shoreline covered in slippery black lava rock, and then headed back into town so we could rent our snorkelling gear for the week before the rental place (Snorkel Bob's) closed for the day.  After that, we went back to the hotel.  We took a nap, sun stroked out from our overexposure all day in the car, and when I woke up, Ben had taken the liberty of ordering just about every vegetarian item on the hotel restaurant's menu, and brought it to our room!  What I had specifically been craving was a big green salad, and a big, green salad is what I got!  There were also onion rings, and nacho chips with copious amounts of sour cream, guacamole and salsa for Ben, as well as a quesadilla he got to eat.  It may turn out, that due to any better options, this is the type of (very un nutritious) food that we will live on for the rest of the week.
]]> The last day in tropical paradise — Sosua, Dominican Republic http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199770200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199770200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199770200/tpod.html Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:04:51 -0500 Dominican Republic vacation with family, January 2008

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Sosua, Dominican Republic

Today was our last day here in this rainy/sunny tropical paradise.  I wasn't looking forward to going back to our rainy, snowy, cold Canada and wanted to make the most of the day, with the hope of some co-operation from the weather.  Today it seemed like the storm was finally over.  It only rained once in the morning, and then after that started to get dry and a bit sunny again!  I got up early-ish, around 9am, and was well-rested from the early night the day before.  My dad had already gone out for his morning coffee and then breakfast and then was going out with Lynette again to the land of "Beyond", while Leanna and I remained at the resort.  Leanna and I went for breakfast and then headed to the beach where we lied down for a bit and read our VegNews magazines.  It was warm (as usual) and the sun was starting to peep out.  I could tell that it was just going to get better and better (and a later look at the week's forecast showed nothing but sun every day! not that that helped us!)  Check out time was supposed to be 1pm, but Ray had gotten us a later check-out of 3pm, so we had extra time before we had to go back to the room to clean up.  Our plane didn't leave until 8pm and the bus was going to arrive at the hotel at 5:25 to get us.So we had some time to frolick in the waves, and yes, although it was starting to clear up, the water was still very wavy/choppy, as it had been most of this time this past week.  The only day it wasn't was our first day in the water where it was so calm and flat!  The surf was still there, but I noted that during the day they changed the red flag to a yellow flag, so it wasn't just my imagination that the winds were calming down.  Still, though, the waves were really rough on us.  Tony, my dad and I had a good time testing our luck with them.  If you were at the breakwater - where the waves hit the beach - that was the worst place to be, because you'd get totally creamed by some of the bigger waves, which totally crashed into you and made you topple over in somersaults into the sand and then get totally disoriented as to which way you were facing while you tried to get the salt water out of your face and hopefuly not be hit by another menacing wave in the process!  This happened to me many times!  It would have made for some great video footage (would have been funny to laugh at myself afterwards), but unfortunately, my documentarian, Leanna, had left early as she absolutely needed 3 hours to go back to the room to pack!  Plus, she had decided that she didn't want to get sand in her clogs, so there was to be no more beach activity for her.  I, on the other hand, wanted to leave and pack as late as possible.  When my dad came out, he encouraged me to go out past the breakwater so that we would be safe from (most of) the crashing waves.  I had tried that previously, but had gotten creamed, but this time I tried again (you have to strategically run in before getting smashed with a big wave) and succeeded.  So we were "way out there", but really, my feet were still touching the bottom.  It was better in this area because we could actually float around in the water, and most of the time when the waves came, you'd be part of them so you'd just float on top of them.  However, sometimes the waves would still come crashing on you and then you'd be toast.  Jonathan took a good video of his dad, which humouristically illustrated this!  I stayed in the water for a long time, then sat on the sand and got a sunburn, and then went back into the ocean again, teasing the waves with my presence until finally one really big one that I couldn't escape totally creamed me, and there I was, totally disoriented and blinded by the salt in my eyes, with my bathing suit top flipped up to expose my boob, and I finally conceded and gave in to the sea.  I decided then that this was God's way of telling me that my time in the Dominican ocean was over, and that, yes, it was sadly time to call it to an end. <sigh>I went back to the room and showered and packed in a jiffy.  Then Leanna and I went to check out and there was still time to spare, so we walked around the resort and took photos for one last time.  We met up with our dad at one point and sat down with him and had a drink.  Then it was time to go. We got to the airport with plenty of waiting time.  I was only still wearing my shorts, tank top and flip flops, and was determined to stay that way on the plane because it was HOT(!), but then at the gate waiting area it was suddenly freezing cold (I think the idea was to climatise us for Canada) so I put on the only other clothes that I had with me (and discovered that wearing socks with flip flops doesn't exactly work well). I was happy to be actually awake for this time on the plane and there were actually some half decent movies that they were showing: Ratatouille (which turned out to be really, really good!), and Rush Hour 3 (which was okay, but kind of stupid).  I want to talk a bit about Ratatouille, which has now become one of my new favourite films.  I can't stop thinking about it - it was THAT good!  Ratatouille is the story of the lives of rats in Paris, and one rat, in particular, named Remy, who is immersed into the world of humans.  I identified particularly with this little guy, because we happen to share the same passion: of food and cooking!  Yes, Remy has a passion for food and is endowed with the gift of fine cooking - something not commonly known among the rodent variety, and this makes for an endearing and heartwarming story, as we see the "little chef" living among humans in his quest to fulfill his love for creating delicious food.  We root for the little guy during the course of his travails and cheer for him at the end of the story, which we hope - and want to believe - could really, actually happen in real life. He is such a lovable and dear creature - he reminded me of Anthony - and his example shows that even a rat must not be regarded lightly, because you never know... the next rat you see might be a talented individual, just like Remy.  And even if he's not, he still has a place in the world and must be appreciated as such.  I encourage children and adults alike to watch this film, if even for the entertainment value alone, but hopefully also to open their eyes to a world less known to us humans so that we may place a respect and value for all creatures, great and small.The flight back home was very long (9 hours) and seemed to go forever, but finally we did get back to rainy Vancouver.  Upon hitting the ground, no one cheered this time as everyone on the plane had when we had reached the ground of the DR.  I guess there was no cheering to be had as we thought of getting back to our activities in Canada that seem so dreary and mundane compared to, say, having fun at the beach, or swimming with the dolphins, or working on your tan as you sip on a strawberry slushie.
]]> More rain..... — Sosua, Dominican Republic http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199508360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199508360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199508360/tpod.html Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:00:52 -0500 Dominican Republic vacation with family, January 2008

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Sosua, Dominican Republic

This morning I woke up with a bit more of a sore throat and the "sniffles" than I had on the second day we were here.  It's from the air conditioning in the room, which I'm trying to keep to a minimum but it's still getting to me.  Leanna, who I'm sharing a bed with, says she isn't feeling sick at all, so I think it's just because I'm lying right underneath the vent on the wall where the cold air comes out of.  Lynette told me too this morning that she also has the same thing.  Leanna and I were again so tired this morning.  I forced myself to get up at 9:30am, as Lynette and I had our massage appointments at 11am and I wanted to get breakfast before that.  When Leanna and I were getting ready, our dad came back into the room and said he was going to take Tony's family to the land of "Beyond", for a tour.  I wouldn't have minded going with them (I know, I can't believe I'm saying that), but that was because it would have been a large group of people so I'd have less chance of being singled out in the crowd.  However, I had my massage appointment to go to, and in the meantime, Leanna was going to check out the internet facilities here.   As noted before, the massage was for 60 minutes and was only $23 - a steal!  And the woman who did mine did a really, really good job.  I gave her a $5 tip, which still made it to way cheaper than I would ever get in Vancouver (or Canada for that matter).  After that I went back to the room to meet Leanna.  She had gotten online here at the resort - the internet room is actually just near the massage place.  You have to go first to the hotel front desk to get a login ID and password, after paying $3US for a half hour (or you can have an hour as well) and then you go to the internet room, which is unmanned, and wait for a computer.  I will have to go there later in order to get this blog put online.   The day was incredibly dismal and gross today.  It was raining for most of the day and completely clouded over.  The stormy weather that had started last night is still not over!  Yahoo weather said the high today was 23 degrees, which was cold for here, I guess.  I even wore (Capri) pants today, and a cardigan.  We went for lunch at the Mexican restaurant, which is near the ocean, and then went down to the oceanfront to watch the waves.  The huge, stormy waves had made a huge indentation into the sand into the beach so that it had caused about a 3 or 4 foot "wall".  (My dad said they will have to groom it when it gets to be swimming weather again.)  The beach was closed today - a red flag was erected.  It would have been VERY dangerous to go out swimming today!   Leanna and I went back to the room after that and we slept.  There wasn't nothing else much to do, but I wasn't feeling well either so that's what I preferred to do anyways.  My dad came back later and he napped too.  We went to dinner around 7:30pm and met everyone there.  At the buffet they also have some cooks cooking something special at stations - usually (or always) meat, I believe - and as I was passing by it I took a look.  Bad decision!  My eyes met a dead, charred, roasted PIG on the counter that the guy was cutting from!  It was so disgusting; I screamed.  It was just a small pig, complete with his or her head - Leanna saw it too later and said it looked like Babe.  My dad took a picture of it on my camera but I don't even want to look at it again and I don't think I'll be posting it here - I don't want to glamourize this disgusting image in any way.  There was also stewed goat for dinner, at the buffet, among many other daily varieties of dead animals, but when you see a pig's head and body laying on a counter and being cut out of, that really makes it a lot more real.  I can't believe people were actually eating it - barbarians.  Every living being has the right to live - not just people.  As my t-shirt says that I was wearing yesterday: "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men." - quote by Alice Walker After dinner we went to watch the dancing show at 9:45pm.  Tonight's theme was all different traditional music from the Dominican Republic.  Very good!  After that we went to bed - I was tired, still not feeling well.  I hope I feel better tomorrow and I hope that it gets sunny tomorrow (despite the negative weather forecast) because I really want to go swimming again.  On Sunday we are going to Cabarete and Monday Ocean World, so that doesn't give us much time left and today was a waste due to the bad weather.
]]> Starting to get rainy... — Sosua, Dominican Republic http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199387640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199387640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alisoncole/2/1199387640/tpod.html Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:58:56 -0500 Dominican Republic vacation with family, January 2008

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Sosua, Dominican Republic

Today Leanna and I got a really late start to our day, due to the fact that we were too tired to get out of bed!  Knowing that I was wasting a beautiful sunny day away, I finally forced myself to roll out of bed around 10:15am and get into the shower.  By the time we were ready to start our day, it was about 11:30am, so we had missed breakfast, and lunch didn't start until 12:30.  Everyone was down at the beach though so we decided to walk around the resort a bit first and then go and meet them, but I didn't want to swim yet since I had just had a shower and didn't want to get dirty again right away and then need another shower.  I wanted to see more of the resort though (the 'beach' side of our 2 part resort - we're on the 'reef' side - but they are practically one and the same since it's all in the same general area). We passed by a guy near the pool on the 'beach' side selling the water sports at the hotel and I asked him about the snorkelling (which I wanted to do), but then decided that I might actually want to try scuba diving! (despite my fear of dark, murky waters and dark, shadowy sea creatures brushing up against, which is all kind of negated here due to the crystal clear water and tropical, pretty fish)  He said that the snorkelling trip that they offer is $20 per person, and the scuba trip (which includes a lesson first and then excursion further down the beach to where the fish are) is $70, but it gets a lot cheaper (half price and less) with 4 people or more.  (Later on I asked around if anyone wanted to go scuba diving with me and about 5 of us want to do it so we'll see!)  He'll give you a free 15 minute lesson in the pool as well to see if you want to do the whole scuba lesson + diving, so I'll probably do that just to make sure. I wanted to look into getting a pedicure (which I badly needed), so Leanna and I ventured past the pool and further down to where I saw the "beauty parlour" on the map, which brought us to the edge of the resort and a row of stores.  There were some cars parked there as well, and Leanna's eyes opened wide as she said to me "Are we... "Beyond"??  I think we're "Beyond"!"  But no, we were not in the land of "Beyond" (although we were almost there!).  We went to the pedicure place and I found out that it was only $21US (a good price) and I made an appointment for a half hour later.  Then we went to the beach where everyone was, and I sat there for a bit until it was time to go.  Although it was still very, very warm, it was not a sunny day today by any means.  The sky was overcast, so the sun wasn't beating down.  There were still lots of people on the beach sunbathing though, and in the water.  We were at the larger beach today (yesterday we went to the small beach which is a lot more private and not busy with people). I went for my pedicure awhile after and the woman who did it did a really good job, I thought, so I gave her a good tip.  After that I went back to the beach, and then we had lunch, and then Leanna and Brittany decided they wanted to get manicures, and Lynette and I wanted the $23 one hour massages they also have here, so we went back to the area.  Lynette and I booked our massage for tomorrow morning while the two girls were able to get their manicures right away.  After that we went down to the smaller beach for awhile.  The weather was starting to get worse and it even rained (lightly sprinkled) for a bit.  The water was getting a little rougher and it was getting a bit cold (windy).  Then we went back up to our rooms and Leanna and I rested a bit.  We weren't going for dinner until 9pm (reservations had been made for the Italian restaurant then).  During that time, it got dark and then it started to pour! (I am so glad I thought to bring an umbrella!)  I guess this was the "30% chance of showers" we were supposed to have today, but it lasted for quite awhile - all throughout dinner until the end.  The restaurant overlooked the beach and we had a good view of the boisterous large waves hurtling in onto the shore.  I REALLY hope it doesn't stay like this for the rest of the week, since today was the first day of what it supposed to be until the end of our stay "showers" every day!  It is quite a storm still out there now as I write this at 12:36am.
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