Hello!
Sorry for the late blog post. It has been awhile since I have had decent
internet access. I have done a lot since
I wrote last time in Panama so I will get right down to it. This post is about my cruise through the Panama Canal BEFORE my Mom came (don't worry I will write about all of those adventures as soon as I get home!) Pictures won't have captions and I will re-organize it later, but I don't have much time so please forgive any typos!
After Panama, we stopped in Guatemala and I finally got to
do a tour that I have tried to sign up for three times already. It was a volcano hike and I was very excited
to get outside and do some real hiking.
I had the best time and enjoyed some stunning viewpoints of the
countryside. It started off with a bus
ride out there that was about 45 min. long, but it went by fast as our guide,
Eric, told us LOTS and LOTS of information about the city of Puerto Quetzal and
the country of Guatemala in general.
When we started the hike, it was quite cold. The higher we went, the colder it got. I was glad I brought a pair of pants that I
could wear over my shorts as well as a pullover. I started off the hike wearing it all. Being Calgarian, I always know to dress in
layers.
At the beginning of the hike, there were kids selling walking
sticks that, of course, I was too cheap to rent. Also, I have never found a walking stick
useful. However, nearly all of the
guests rented them for $1 a piece (yes, I am THAT cheap). Some even grabbed 2! I’m sorry, but how would
that be more helpful? Anyway, I noticed
that most people ended up just carrying most of the way rather than actually
using them.
It wasn’t long before I went into camp counselor mode. Eric told me there was a woman with asthma so
I was keeping an eye on her while also making sure that people were taking
breaks and drinking enough water (I don’t know how many times I shouted
“Hydrate Early and Often!”). I also took
on the role that Debra Odegard usually takes on. It wasn’t long until I was telling people to
get in line at viewpoints and shouting “I’m the official photographer”. I think people appreciated having someone
there to take their picture (not everyone is as skilled at selfies as I am).
I should also mention that there were about 15 horses
following us up the hill. The riders
(some as young as 9) would keep shouting “taxi, taxi!” hoping that one of the
guests would give up and ride a horse the rest of the way (for the price of
$30). I am pleased to report that every
single tourist managed to do the hike on their own (of course there were still
verbal complaints the whole time, but I’ve learned to expect that from at least
40% of all cruisers. Weaklings.)
Eric would stop the group every once in awhile and give us
more information about the vegetation around us, animals that lived in the
area, history of the volcano etc. which was great and again, the views were
stunning. Eventually we made it to the
halfway point and took a little break.
At this point I had taken off my pullover because I was sweating while
walking, but it got REALLY cold once I stopped and the wind was blowing really
hard. We were going to be going up even
further so I was LITERALLY about to put it on when I heard this girl (a little
older than me) complaining about how cold she was. She just kept going ON and ON about how they
should’ve told her to bring something warmer (which, I must mention, it DID say
on the shore excursion ticket) and I just couldn’t take it anymore so I offered
her my sweater just to shut her up. What
I hated most was that she is there saying “No, it’s ok...” when I know that she
is freezing and just wants me to INSIST that she takes it. I kept saying “No really I have pants on, I
will be fine” and it wasn’t until her mother said “Take the sweater!” that she
finally gave in.
The rest of the hike was great-it was more difficult coming
down because of all the shale, falling rocks, and steep hills. A woman slipped and declared that she had
broken her wrist (lie) and didn’t know if she could walk anymore (lie). Again, camp counselor Annika came out. We cleaned up her cut on her ankle and I told
her she would be fine, but if she really felt she had hurt herself she should
go to the medical centre on the ship once we got back. OH NO, that wasn’t enough. She was CONVINCED she broke her wrist so she
insisted we make a splint using a water bottle (I’m sorry, what?) and would NOT
stop talking about it for the rest of the journey. Honestly, I don’t know how many times I just
wanted to tell her to suck it up.
One of the coolest parts of the hike was when we were in the
crater of the volcano and roasted marshmallows using one of the natural heat
vents (called a chimney). It was very
cool and I enjoyed a few of the marshmallows before we finished the hike. My feet hurt at the end, and I was covered in
dust/dirt but it was a wonderful, exhausting day and I enjoyed it a lot. Here are a few shots from my adventure!
In Cabo, I went kayaking and snorkeling. It was great!
I was partnered with a guy named Bill from Atlanta. He was supposed to be in a kayak with his
wife, but she was a little nervous so she went with the guide, and Bill became
my partner! He was quite the
conversationalist, and we talked A LOT.
We went to “Lover’s Beach” (not just me and Bill, but the
whole group. Obviously) and I took some
GREAT selfies. I was happy there were
lots of rocks/boulders to set my camera on.
Everyone was looking at me with strange faces, yet nobody volunteered to
just TAKE my picture for me. Go
figure.
I also went snorkeling, even though I hate fish (and I hate
fish because I am scared of them.
NBD). I saw lots of interesting
fish and enjoyed myself, other than when someone’s flipper would touch my body
and I immediately thought it was a school of fish attacking me with their
scaly, slippery bodies. This happened
multiple times. It’s fine.
Our guide, Luis, was great. My favourite thing about him was that he was constantly asking me to take pictures of him. I would be taking pictures of the scenery and then, I would notice that Luis was posing thinking that I was actually taking a picture of him
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| Bill and I loving life! |
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| Luis and I |
.
Anyway, it was a wonderful day filled with sand, sunshine,
and the sea!
My next blog post will be about my time spent with Mumsie
and Gwen. We are having a great time,
but I don’t think I will have any decent internet access before I return home
so you may have to wait awhile to hear about our adventures! Better late than never, though, I suppose!
Hope you are all doing well!
Love,
A
In Colombia, Alex and I met Gwen at the hard rock cafe and
enjoyed some nachos (and free wifi) and then did some shopping. I exchanged the dress that I had already
exchanged for ANOTHER dress and settled on a white blouse. I am no longer experiencing buyer’s remorse
(though I guess I can’t really experience that because there is no possible way
that I can ever return it being that I am no longer in South America or going
back any time soon). Mum went to the
Crocs store (would NOT give up on that) so she was happy. It was a great way to spend our last day in
port!
