Thursday, March 31, 2011

Dominica (Day 3)

We woke up early and had breakfast on our balcony. I have to admit when I pulled the curtains that morning I was taken aback by the view. I had know idea Dominica would be so lush and green. Much of the island is a rainforest and the beaches are so picturesque they taped much of Pirates of Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest (2) here. We signed up for an "adventure course" excursion here. So we got of the ship and onto a little bus that took us about 45 min into the rainforest.

The course was up in the trees and a lot of fun. We would balance ourselves on logs, tight ropes, nets and other fun things. There was this one part where you could chose to do the hard or easy course. Mike was in front of me and he chose hard. So naturally, not to be out done by husband, I opted for the same. They said you needed to have good upper-body strength. I was a little nervous. Although I really had been lifting weights at the gym most of my strength is in my "thunder thighs." The hard part was called that "Tarzan jump" You swing on a rope and head for a giant net. You have to catch hold of the net your first or second try or else you won't have enough momentum to catch hold of it. The only bad thing is that your second time around you catch hold of the net much lower and have to pull/clim yourself up. Keep in mind this rope is not hard and secure like a ladder. It is wobbly and lose. Only a little easier than climbing that rope in gym class. Anyways I watched Mike go and he caught hold on his first turn making it look easy. Then I go telling myself I could do it. Then they strap this rope to me.... it seriously weighed 20 lbs. So now I have to catch my body weight plus this rope! I was freaking out... I was scared to take this "leap of faith" and go swinging into the trees. The things we do for love. (I swear I felt like I was on the Bachelor the whole time.) Mike recorded the whole thing.... for prosperity's sake. I basically get pushed off swing to the net... grab on... but it all happened to fast my hands slipped and i didn't catch it. So I swing back yelling in frustration and disappointment. As I start swinging back to the net I brace myself for impact and know this time I much hold on for dear life. Thankfully love was on my side. I caught hold of the net and began my climb to the top. It was actually very difficult. My arms were shaking I was so tired. The guy stationed there told me that my eyes were changing colors. My determination set of the dark blue pigment... he was a local with dark eyes so naturally he loved my pretty blues. lol. When I finally reached the top I was happy to zip line away from the net of doom, but felt very accomplished. The good news was Mike was proud of me for not taking the easy way out and I got the rose on that date ;-) After we finished the course (over an hour later) we were given fresh fruits from the island. I got to try fresh coconut and some other things we don't have in the states.

Once the bus took us back to the dock we started to scout out what else we could do on the island for cheap. The taxis all said they could take us anywhere but for $20 a person... LAME! So we went back to the ship for lunch and to think about what we wanted to do next. We decided to get off the ship and look at the stands the locals had set up. We found a magnet (we collect them) for the island we like and also new rings. Mine is dark pink, thin and made out of glass. I wore it the rest of the trip as my wedding ring so my real one wouldn't get lost or damaged. Mikes however replaced the ring he's been wearing for a while and hating. (I really miss the ring we lost on our great adventure down the Timpanogos glacier.) His is made out of volcanic rock. It is actually pretty nice a shinny, metallic, black that doesn't scratch and is light weight. He loves it and we paid... $3 for it! SCORE!

We also learned that Mike can't look at people who are trying to get money from him. He gives in. He gave some money to a man with only one arm simply because the guy asked for it. He really does have a soft heart and I love that about him!

After shopping we were headed back to the ship when we got stopped by the taxi drivers. They really wanted up to go on an island tour with them. I told them we would love to but we had already spend a lot of money and we only have $20 left with us. Luckily I know how to work it. So, two for the price of one, we got to tour the island. It was a lot of fun to see the heart of the island and the people that lived there. Our driver told us that he was the father to something like 12 kids and his father had over 40 children (with a ton of "wives".) I guess they really like to sleep around there. He took us to the Botanical Gardens which is like a park and told us how the kids go there to "make love." That no one says anything about it because that is just what they expect. We were in shock. Luckily the couples we saw we only making out... We got to see some beautiful waterfalls and hot springs. It was just cool riding through the island and seeing it like a local vs a tourist. We had a lot of fun.

Than night we had dinner with the Naylors then went to go see this Hypnotist show. It was pretty cool. I'd never seen one before but it was totally legit. There was a brother and sister (18 and 19 I'm guessing) that volunteered and were up on the stage together. They were both very relaxes and receptive to the process. At one point he told them all that when they woke up they would realize they were naked in front of this whole room of people... when they woke up almost everyone was embarrassed but the sister. She leaned back in her chair, put her hands behind her head and spread out for all to see (luckily she was fully clothed.) Later on he had the brother thinking he was delivering a child and took him through the labor/delivery process of a child and his sister was the nurse. Holy cow was it funny to watch. He was screaming and yelling and really thought he was having a 10 lb. baby. Anyways it was a great show. After the show we changed into our PJ's and watched the movie "Red" for the movies under the stars. I was so tired that I feel asleep halfway through it. It is a lot of work being on vacation in a beautiful place.

Mike woke me up and took me to bed. But he didn't stay home. He and Ryan went to the casino to play black jack. (NOTE: He does not do this but while on vacation and he gets very little money to start out with and if he loses this money he is done. It is not an addiction, nothing to call the 1st presidency for.) Anyways he comes in at 2:30 in the morning and it kind of scared me because I feel asleep with the lights on and wasn't sure it it was morning and we missed something. Anyways he just starts laying down $100 bills in front of me. He made a little over $400 in one night. Crazy!


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