Have you ventured out on excursions? Did they turn out to be like what you read in the brochure? Mine sure didn’t! I learned that excursions can be hazardous to your health.
You would think that after my experience in Cancun, Mexico, I would be cautious of what promotions say about excursions. But, that was in 2004, so by 2019 I sort of forgot. However, after what I experienced in Hawaii, I think the reality that excursions can be hazardous to your health will stick.
The Cancun Horseride
What happened in Cancun? It has been a life long dream – an item on my bucket list if you will – to ride horses along the shore of a tropical ocean. You know – you’ve seen the slow-motion beautiful galloping horses splashing through the retreating waves of a magnificent sea.
Yea, right
I almost turned back when I saw the condition of the horses. Especially when one experienced rider said, “I’m not riding these horses, they are too tired and cranky.” But, adventure got the best of me, and I climbed up on the horse. I’d say there were probably 20 of us – I was about in the middle. Circe was last. Circe and I had horses that sensed we didn’t know a damn thing about them. So what did they do? Stop and munch on the grass while everyone else marched on. If that weren’t so bad, the leader would come by and whip the butt of the horse, causing it to leap forward, my butt rising about 12 inches above the saddle, my camera flying up and slamming against my chest.
We were not close to the water. But close enough. Yes, that was pretty. But I was more preoccupied with surviving the horse ride than enjoying the beauty of the Cancun beaches. After what seemed hours we arrived at a lagoon. I figured it was the end of the trail – that we would take a swim and then go just a little way back on the horses to where we started.
Nope
We were going to ride all the way BACK on the same damn path. I freaked out. I told the guides they were going to have to find some way to get me back to base camp, as I refused to ride the horse any longer. Circe, rattled from her horse ride too, agreed with me. So two ATV four-wheel bikes roared in a short while later. Circe and I had an exhilarating, somewhat unnerving, ride down a bumpy dirt path between the “jungle” and back to where we began.
I haven’t had much luck with horses before so I can assure you, it will be a cold night in, well, you know, before I get on a horse again.
Hawaii 2019
Three excursions that were supposed to be sort of easy, a bit adventurous, I’ll admit, but held the promise of wonder. Surprise! They were not what the brochures led us to believe they would be. I guess you could blame mother nature. But, still…
The Rain Forest
One excursion was a walk in the rain forest. Fine and dandy. But we didn’t put on bug spray until we KNEW mosquitoes were biting us. Which was too late. I had so many bites on my legs ( I wore capri pants as it was hot and humid) that, thankfully, didn’t itch. But each bite became a dime-sized red circle. I looked diseased! Our cruise room attendant assured me it wasn’t anything to worry about. His wife gets the same thing from bug bites – but hers are black.
Wonderful.
So later in the elevator on the way to dinner, I turned to a lady and said: “Look what the mosquitoes had for lunch.” OMG. She looked at my leg and was HORRIFIED. And I mean HORRIFIED. You’d think I told her I had ebola. That’s when I decided not to flaunt my mosquitoes bites any longer. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to cover up my legs completely.
But, yes, the rain forest was beautiful.
Sea Turtle Snorkeling Adventure
Then there was the snorkeling to see those mystical sea turtles excursion. I suppose if the water were still, it would have been great. But the water was rough enough that it was murky, making viewing the turtles underwater almost impossible. The shore was lined with that sharp rocks (or were they coral?) I call them seaside brillo pads. The tide was so intense I could not stand up without it knocking me down, dragging me into the rocks, then pulling me back out to do it over again. Fortunately, there was a huge sumo wrestler kind of guy pulling folks out of the water. I suffered minor bruising and a couple of jagged cuts in the leg that bled a bit.
Did we see turtles? Yes. But from the shore, not in the water. Was it fun? Yes, I’d say it was fun. A lot more fun than the SHARK DIVE!
The Shark Dive
Yes, Circe and I realized we are getting too old for things like shark dives. But we realized that after being churned around in an underwater cage by super rough waters. We felt like we were in the heavy cycle of a washing machine. Did we see sharks? Yes, indeed, we did. That was cool. I’ll admit. But what was NOT cool was that nearly every passenger on the boat except me and Circe were hanging over the back of the ship seasick.
In Conclusion
Yes, we enjoyed excursions that were tame and lovely. I’ll repeat those. But the days of the “adventurous” excursions are over for me.
Take away here? Don’t believe what you read in the promotional materials. Excursions can be hazardous to your health!
