Vacation Day Five: Maui day 2.

Today I went on a rainforest/waterfall shore excursion.   I had signed up for it yesterday and also upgraded our Luau at the same time.  The Luau is later in the week and the base price was paid for by my parents – but  I wanted an upgrade to get a better chance of being able to film it. 

            Anyway I had no problems getting up and ready.  I needed to be at the meeting point at about 8:45.   I didn’t want to be late so I aimed for 8:30 and got there about 8:35.   It was just me, so I was nervous of making a mistake.   I tried joining with two other ladies that were there by themselves – so we could look out after each other as I tend to lag behind and take pictures.  It didn’t quite work out that way but it still went fine.  It was a very interesting tour.   We were split into two groups.  The guide our group got was named Glori and she was a very nice guide.  Both ways to the site and back she talked about history and general trivia of the area.  Before I forget, I should mention that we were still on Maui at this point.  Maui was a two day stop- but you had to be back on the ship by sometime in the afternoon.   I’m forgetting the exact time it was.  Anyway, Maui has the only working sugar cane processing center in Hawaii.   For the most part, the cane is sent to California to be processed.   In the next few years they will be replacing the sugar cane with another crop, but no one knows what that would be yet.  Glori explained to us that the cane is harvested by burning the fields.  This gets rid of the “chaff”, leaves and other non-cane plant matter as well as the bugs and rats.   The cane sugar also condenses a bit and it makes it easer to harvest.   – Side note – I found out later in the week on another tour that supposedly the benefits of burning the fields were discovered when a disgruntled worker set fire to them out of spite.  Apparently there used to be “ash  days” much like snow days when they burned the fields.   The heavy ash far makes driving very hard and so they cancel school. 

            The area we went to is actually privately owned but the owners allow these tourers.  We each were given a backpack and a lunch for the day.  We wore bathing suits under our clothing and took a towel --- so we could swim in the waterfall ponds.   We hiked over rocks and tree roots.   Most of the trees are shallow rooters and thus there are tree roots everywhere.  I’m used to hiking in the Colorado mountains where rocks can shift so I was being careful with my footing.  Most of the rocks were actually pretty well set.    As we walked the guide would tell us about various plants that were in the park.   Most of what she said, I forgot of course.   My brain just doesn’t like to retain some kinds of info.   I learn best by doing, so facts and stuff tend not to stick in my brain. 

            Some things I recall though are the following:  Most plants were what Glori called “canoe plants” – Meaning they were brought over by the Polynesians (and later peoples) rather then finding their way to the islands themselves.   Hawaii is pretty isolated, and most scientists believe only things like ferns are the original “native” plants.   Though there is some debate on both orchards and coconuts.   Bamboo grows 3-6” a DAY and is mature in a few months time.   Pineapple can grow anywhere – btw is NOT a tree – they grow on the ground.   But if a plant is placed in a tree – it roots there.  It takes 20 months for a pineapple to be ready to harvest.  

            We ate several things along the way, including the bud of a plant (forgot name) that tasted like a mild walnut, and a heavy nut that the guide cracked open on a rock.  Again very mild, not sure what to compare the taste too.   The outer shell is too hard to eat. 

            I did lag behind a bit while taking pictures, but Glori stopped often to explain something.   Also, another photographer also tended to stop and take pictures of the various plants and flowers along the way – so I wasn’t the only one being left behind.   She was one of the women I met at the beginning. 

            Despite my precaution, I did end up falling once.   And this was after the first waterfall, where we had to go down a steep and complex slope with help of a rope (and back up again after).   I didn’t fall there, but later just before a ledge over a river.  I was trying to climb over a large tree root.   Because the terrain was rough, I wasn’t sure of my footing on the other side, so I got down almost on all fours to begin with.   I had put my right foot over and was trying to get my left over when I became unbalanced.   As I was holding my expensive DSLR camera – I couldn’t catch myself exactly.   I had the camera around my neck and cradled in my left hand.  I had my right hand already on the ground but that didn’t help.   I aimed to land on my left forearm, however I still managed to bang and scrape my left elbow in the process, as well as scraping and banging my left knee.   I had bruises in both locations later, but I didn’t break the skin to the point of bleeding.  There were of course a few gasps and “are you alrights”.   Glori (guide) looked back and her comment: “Thank God you were holding on to the camera”  lol!   I’m sure she could see I was ok.   I took a picture of a mini cave created by the river going through a rocky area right after that and a man behind me said “for having bad eyesight you sure do take interesting pictures”.  (paraphrase).  I do have bad depth perception, and my brain doesn’t like it when I try to go down a slope or other area where I can see both the nearest step area, and down to the bottom.   I have a really hard time with boats because when I get on or off I must look down for my footing, but then I also see the drop to the ocean/lake and that makes me dizzy.  

            Later, I did get to “swim” in a waterfall fed pond.   I had bought booties to protect my feet before I left.  They were meant for snorkeling (so you don’t cut yourself on the coral)  but – I thought they were too heavy for that, and as they could be used for other water activities – I used them here to help me traverse the rocks on the bottom of the pond.   I didn’t really swim because I didn’t feel comfortable.  Instead, I edged my way around to the waterfall, slowly walking in the shallow edge of the pond.   I had forgotten my goggles and didn’t want to wash out a contact, so I didn’t stand under the waterfall – but behind it.   I did lean into it a bit and let the water fall on my head, but I didn’t want to go all the way in in case I washed out my contacts.   I asked Glori to video tape me (I had brought my camcorder)  she was great at being willing to take pictures and video of anyone who wanted it.   She constantly was telling people she would take their picture.   Many people also jumped off a small ledge into the deep part of the pond and she was taking video and pictures of them as well. 

            We saw three waterfalls in all, the third one being the one I went into.  We also had lunch there and then headed back.  The path was one large loop so we didn’t go back the same was as we came in.  Of course I took a zillion pictures of plants and flowers – most of which I have no idea what they are.   I will need help in IDing them.  When we got back to the van, Glori passed around some goodies, including fresh pineapple – yum!

            On the way back Glori remarked on how clear and calm it was on the island.  We were on the side that normally gets a lot of wind- but not for the last several days.  It also was so clear we could make out the neighboring island, Moloka’i which is apparently rare.

            After cleaning up I went and attended an Art auction.  I didn’t bid on anything, but I got a free painting of the boats at Catalina Island when I filled out a credit card application.   This also allowed me to buy a Tom Kincaid painting.   The people on the ship said that the prices hadn’t gone up yet.  (He passed away about a month earlier.)  However, it’s not on canvas.  I found out most of the paintings are on paper/are prints.   Canvas paintings are A LOT more money.  (As in thousands).   I paid ~250 for the painting, and then an additional 199 for EACH painting to frame them.   The ship people said that it was less expensive on the ship- I didn’t trust this, but didn’t want to chance it so I decided to go ahead and let them frame the works as well.  The frame includes an acid free backing and a plexi-glass sheet instead of a glass one (and I know those are more expensive).   They are done this way to protect the painting.  So I most likely would have taken that type of precaution if I had it done myself anyway.   Plus- I know myself – if I left them unframed, I may never hang them.  They’d go in a closet rolled up – I might even end up accidently ruining them.   This way – I can display them right away after receiving them. 

            Then I went to dinner at the Sushi bar.  I actually order Sashimi – which is the same thing as Sushi- but without the rice.  I ordered three types of tuna and some salmon.  The two fish I KNOW I like raw.   Most everything doesn’t have much flavor I’ve noticed.  I still prefer the tuna sashimi that I ate at Bonefish grill awhile back.  They put some sort of light sauce  on it.   Apparently Sushi bars/restaurants don’t do this.   So I dipped my pieces in the soy sauce and also ate some with the ginger provided.  I don’t use too much wasabi though – because I can’t stand spicy things.   In the past I’ve accidently ate too much wasabi – (and too much was not even pea size)  and felt like my mouth was on fire.   When I use it I tend to carefully dip my fork in it, getting a barely there amount and then using the fork to eat the sashimi piece.   Oh and I DID try the chopsticks.  I’m not very good and my hand started cramping. 

            Before I went on the tour in the morning, my dad wanted to borrow my netbook in order to use it to get on the internet.  Internet on the boat is really expensive, but I generally buy the 250 minute plan (for 100 bucks).  You can use their computers, but it’s harder to move around.  Anyway, at some point after I got back from my tour, my parents told me that the netbook cord was broken.  In fact, it was sparking!  (eek!)   So I couldn’t use it.   I’m not sure what happened.   I know I noticed that the batteries were not holding a charge and were not charging, but I didn’t realize part of the cord was frayed.   So now I’ll have to replace the AC cord.  :(   This put a bit of a damper on an otherwise nice day.