We are on our way to our first trip during my
retirement. Yup, I know I have said this
before. For newer visitors to our blog,
Pat and I decided to take time off (retirement attempt #1 in 2010) and travel. We went to all corners of the earth, rode
elephants, fed alligators and discovered a few other places off the beaten
track. It was very rewarding but I was fooling myself with the notion of full
retirement. Probably the same scenario
here. I approach this time with five
more years under my belt, however, and many great experiences and accomplishments to
consider as we travel and decide what to do next.
So, our first trip is to a few places we have been before
and a few we haven’t. Objective.... to
disconnect and recapture a different pace of life than we have had during the
last 5 years.
Grand Cayman:The
dolphin swim was amazing. Pat and I took
a short ride from the port to the Dolphin facility. There, we were given brief instructions on
how to do a couple of activities with the dolphins. The first is where you hold on two fins and
the Dolphins will tow you around (at high speed) while on their back. The
second is where you ride a boogie board and the Dolphin pushes you (at very
high speed) towards the Dolphin trainer.
Yes, the activities were run by skilled trainers. It is amazing how powerful these animals
are. When you see what they can do in
the water up close you can see they love what they do and you can’t come away
without being impressed with their intelligence.
This was a great experience……no pictures were allowed so
none are shown here but well worth the visit if you are ever here.
Cartagena was
just beautiful. I had always pictured
Cartagena as more mountainous based on the emerald mines that are all over the
country. This is true as you get farther
south but Cartagena is flat as a pancake and settled around two bays, the inner
and outer bay. Settled in the 1500’s
Columbia was a Spanish colony until they declared their independence on
November 11th 1811.
Pat and I took a tour starting with a boat ride through the
inner Cartagena bay to the historical city center (Walled City). Most of the city seen in the attached photos
are of the colonial architecture period.
The City was not fortified when Sir Francis Drake took the city. The walls came later.
Costa Rica: On the schedule is one of our favorite activities....ziplining. Pat and I have been several times to different parts of the world and really enjoy the trees, view and the thrill of gliding along the cable. We took our canopy tour in Eastern Costa Rica at a local rainforest preserve. The guides were very friendly, well trained and all spoke English fluently. Here is a video of Pat taking off on her run.
Belize: Our activity today was snorkeling off the barrier reef. Belize is home to the worlds second largest barrier reef (After Australia) with hundreds of small islands off shore. We took a boat ride from the ship about 10 miles off shore to a private island where we had a two hour tour and a bit of beach time. The guides were, again, great and English is spoken fluently by all. In fact, Belize is the only central american country where English is the native language.
Cozumel: We have been here before during our last Caribbean Cruise in 2011 and it continues to be one of our favorites. Cozumel is an island off shore of Playa Del Carmen. Mayan Mexico is our favorite area. It's safe, the people are wonderful and the weather terrific. We spent a short time visiting a Mayan site on the island. Not many exist on the island with the most famous like Coba, Tulum and Chitzen Itza on the main land but it was worth the trip. We then took a ride around the eastern side of the island which is deliberately undeveloped and spent some time at the beach.
Overall, we had a great trip. We relaxed and I unwound from a challenging career at AutoNation. More trips coming soon, we haven't decided which trips we want to take exactly but Cozumel, New Zealand and China are definitely on the list.
So long for now!
So long for now!
