Taking Stitch to Hawaii and NOT Leaving Him There

[RachelTori]

Brandi - yes, we know you are "a little crazy"!!!!






Great pictures!

 

[Pinkocto]

Pam.....

The guide told me I was safe.....

I'm glad, but still, that was scary!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 11

Today we had a slightly earlier start. I had set our wake up call for 6:30 as we had to be at our meeting point for 8:05. Our instructions also stated to have breakfast on the ship. For those doing the excursion that are staying in hotels on Maui, breakfast is included. However, as they were picking us up a bit later, there would not have been time for us to do this. We got up and got dressed. When we had everything that we needed for the day, we headed up to Beach Blanket Buffet for some breakfast. As we left our cabin, an announcement was made that the ship had been cleared by the authority and people were free to go ashore.

Beach Blanket Buffet was not half as busy as I had expected and we had no problem finding a table. We both had some orange juice. Graham also had some coffee and I had some chocolate milk. We both had some fresh fruit. Graham had scrambled egg, bacon, sausage and toast. I had a cheese and ham omelette, sausage, hash brown and a bagel. After breakfast, we headed straight down to deck 1 to get off the ship. Again the photographers were by the port entrance and we had a couple of photos taken.

The tour company had provided detailed directions to the meeting point together with photos and this was very easy to find. It took us only a couple of minutes to get to the meeting point. As we were there way too early, we headed into the opposite direction to watch the ocean for a bit. A little while later, I saw a mini bus pull up near the meeting spot so we headed in that general direction. It was not actually our mini bus, but that arrived shortly afterwards. It turned out that everybody in our group was from the ship. Nearly everybody was there early and we were just waiting for one group. Once everybody was there, we set off on our adventure.

Our driver guide introduced herself and told us a bit about the company. They are only offering the Road to Hana excursion. This kind of surprised me. She then told us a bit about the island. Maui essentially was formed by two shield volcanoes that overlapped and formed an isthmus between them. Maui roughly resembles a head, neck and torso when seen from the air. Maui is technically the only island apart from the Big Island and although Haleakala has been dormant since the late 18th century, there is still a chance that it could erupt again. Maui is also the only Hawaiian island that still produces sugar cane and pineapple.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Once we left the port, we drove through a couple of small pretty towns and then we were on the Hana highway. The Hana highway is on the windward side of the island, which is the wettest part of the island. Even though it statistically does not rain as much there as in Hilo, everything looked a lot greener. This was a proper tropical rainforest. There is unfortunately not much native Hawaiian plant life left. A number of foreign species were introduced for a variety of reasons and they have proven to be very invasive. Our guide explained to us that essentially anything will grow in Hawaii. The most common off those plants are the Rainbow Eucalyptus, which is native to the Philippines and its trunk shows all the colours of the rainbow; the African Tulip Tree, which is native to Kenya and Uganda and the Golden Bamboo, which is native to China. They are all very pretty and we saw plenty of them during the day. We made a quick photo stop pretty soon after we joined the Hana Highway and there was a very pretty example of a Rainbow Eucalyptus as well as some feral chickens that can be found all over Hawaii.

After this brief photo stop, we were on our way again. We drove through more tropical rainforest and over a lot of single lane bridges, that go over river valleys. Virtually every one of those river valleys has a waterfall associated with it. I have never seen so many waterfalls in one place. Some of the curves were also quite hairy. Despite having the Acupuncture, I had still planned to pick up some sea sickness tablets just in case, but I had totally forgotten. I did not need them. I did not even have to apply pressure to the little seeds. I honestly did not feel in the slightest bit sick all day. I was absolutely amazed by this.

We made another stop near a viewing spot, but that was not as spectacular as some of the other views that we saw that day. There were also some restrooms at that stop. So I had a quick look at the viewing point, went to the restroom and then headed back to the mini bus. Our driver had introduced the ice chest at the beginning of the day. Essentially she had a huge box next to her containing water and soft drinks. I opted to dry the local orange and guava drink, which was very nice. Once everybody was back on the bus, we set off again.

We had started to get glimpses of the ocean in the distance for a while, but suddenly the ocean was right next to us. As Maui is essentially a big volcano, all the cliffs are dark volcanic rock. The contrast of this against the deep blue ocean is stunning. We stopped by the road side above a particularly beautiful bay so that we could take some photos. I could have stayed there for ages just admiring the scenery, but we needed to move on.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Soon after this stop we started to descent. We had been relatively high up since we joined the Hana highway. Now we were heading for one of the valleys. There is a small village in this valley and the villagers grow watercress. When we came down towards the valley, we saw some Nene Geese by the river right next to the watercress. I am sure the farmer was not overly happy about this. Unfortunately I did not have the camera ready. I had planned to be ready when we came back as this valley was a dead end and we had to return the same way we came, but by then the Nenes had moved on. I mentioned what we had seen to our guide. She explained that the Nenes did not cause much of a problem on Maui and the Big Island, but in Kauai they have turned into a pest bird and there are some considerations about a possible cull. I was really surprised by this as I had always heard that they are very rare and an endangered species. Our guide confirmed that they are still considered to be threatened, but that in Kauai they pose a real problem to agriculture. So they have to balance the need to protect agriculture and the need to protect the geese. I have the feeling that this is a conflict that the Nene Geese will not win.

This area is called the Ke'anae Peninsula. The Ke'anae Peninsula was created from lava flow from the Haleakala Crater. The village only consisted of a handful of houses and a beautiful church. The old stone church was the only thing left standing after a tsunami in 1947 came across the Pacific ocean, slamming into the north coast of the Island of Maui. There is also another beautiful bay. Our guide explained that it is not safe to swim in this bay as the currents are too strong. I have to say, I was not surprised. We walked towards the beach and the waves were crashing against the rocks and cliffs. There is no way that I would consider going for a swim there. When we headed back towards the Hana highway, our guide pointed out the local water hole that the kids use for swimming. The river widens at that point and almost creates a little lake. She did advise though not to be fooled by how peaceful this looks. When the water levels are high, this also can have a dangerous current.

We drove on and our next stop was Wai'anapanapa State park. This essentially consists of a woodland area with a camping site and a famous black sand beach. The beach is down a very steep hill, but it is very pretty. Graham could not resist the temptation and went paddling in the sea. It was only afterwards that he spotted the dire warnings about all kind of creatures of the sea and strong currents. Well, he was only in knee deep water and did not come to any harm. We headed back towards the mini bus in plenty of time and most other people arrived around the same time as we did. Our driver arrived shortly after us and let us in the bus. When she did a head count, we were two people short. They turned up about 10 minutes later. They were the same people that had been late in the morning and at least one of them managed to get back late after every major stop. This grew old very quickly.

Our next stop was Hana itself. This is one of the most isolated communities in the USA. Having seen the two ways in and out, I am not surprised. Hana is a pretty little town. It has only 1235 inhabitants, but it has a school, a couple of churches, a hotel, a sports field and a general store. When we got to Hana, our driver drove to the town and pointed out the various landmarks. Then we stopped at the general store. She had the daily papers for the general store that she needed to deliver. She gave us the option to get out and have a look around the store, but we decided to stay put. Some other people got out though. Once everybody was back, we set off again and headed to the place where we would have our lunch.

We headed to a nursery beyond Hana. Apart from growing all kinds of pretty tropical flowers, they make beautiful tropical bouquets that they ship to all of the USA. They also had a selection of jewellery for sale, but there was nothing that caught my imagination. Our driver had asked us to head up to the porch and that she would get us once she had set up our lunch. When we entered the porch, every woman in the group was given a simple Ginger bouquet. This type of Ginger comes either in red or pink. I got a pink one. The flowers did not have any scent at all if you smelled them. We were advised to put the flower in our hand and give it a gentle squeeze. This released the scent. It did not smell spicy as I had expected, but it had a very delicate citrus smell.

 

[dolphingirl47]

We wandered around for a bit and soon out driver called us for lunch. Lunch consisted of baked marinated chicken breast, a mixed salad, macaroni salad and fresh bread rolls. It was very simple, but very tasty. Our driver had also got the ice chest with the drinks from the mini bus. The tables had been set up in the garden behind the house and there were some gorgeous will flowers there and plenty of birds came to check us out. After we had finished our lunch, we headed out into the working part of the garden. There were large areas of the ginger plants, bamboo, ti plants and some other undefined greenery that they use for their bouquets. After a while, we headed for the bathroom and then we got back on the mini bus.

Once everybody was back, we got going again. We had passed waterfalls all morning, but they were relatively small. After lunch, we passed some very impressive waterfalls and we stopped at one of them. The waterfall had actually formed a pool and there were people swimming in this pool. I so wished that I could have joined them. Even though the waterfall and it's pool was very close to the road, it felt so peaceful and there were a bunch of beautiful wild flowers in that area.

Soon it was time to move on. Our next stop was the Haleakala National Park and the Oheo Gulch Pools. The Oheo Gulch Pools are also know as the Seven Sacred Pools. The National Park Service is not too keen on this name and we were cautioned in the morning not to refer to them as the Seven Sacred Pools. Apparently if the park rangers overhear somebody calling them this, they will check which driver brought them there and they can get into trouble for it. The Seven Sacred Pools name was coined by an entrepreneur from Calfornia, who owns the hotel in Hana and this was a marketing ploy to attract tourists to this remote area of Maui. I can most certainly understand that the National Park Service does not wish to be associated with this. Quite apart from this, it is also a misnomer as there are dozens of pool in this area and not just seven.

As we entered the National Park, there was a sign stating that access to the pools is closed. They had some heavy rains a few days earlier and the water level was too high making swimming in the pools dangerous. Our track record with volcanic pools is not great. We were hoping to swim in volcanic pools on Madeira on our Transatlantic cruise in 2010 and they were closed,too, as the waves were too big. Our driver suggested that we could do a circular hiking trail to Kuloa Point instead. I had not really come equipped for hiking as this had not been on the "menu". Going hiking in flip flops is an experience! However, although it was not the most comfortable experience, the hike was very easy and it was perfectly safe even without proper footwear. At least we did get to see the Oheo Gulch Pools and the water looked decidedly wild. Near the entrance of the hiking trail, there was a big notice board with copies of newspaper articles that had died in the Oheo Gulch Pools. The area is prone to sudden flash floods and people have been swept out of the pools and into the open sea. Once we had finished our short hike, our driver had arrived back with our mini bus. Mini buses are not allowed to park near the ranger station. So once she had dropped us off, she had to drive to a car park that was further away. She encouraged everybody to use the bathroom as there would be no opportunity for a bathroom stop for the next two hours.

We had one last stop to make before we would leave the last remnants of civilisation behind and this was a part of the excursion that I had been really looking forward to. We turned off the main road and followed a tiny road to the Palapala Ho'omau Church. The limestone coral church was built in 1857. The church was locked, but it was very pretty from the outside. Still, it was not the church we had come for, but the graveyard. The graveyard itself is very small and I don't think there are more than 20 graves there. Our driver pointed out some tiny graves as we entered the graveyard. I had assumed that they were the graves of young children, but actually they were the graves of gibbons, the beloved family pets of a prominent local family. The grave that we had come for was pretty much at the centre of the cemetery underneath a plum tree. Charles Lindbergh is buried there. For me as an airliner and general aviation nerd, this was almost like a pilgrimage. The grave itself was very plain. We were told that this had not always been the case. The grave had been subject to some vandalism. Indeed, I have seen pictures of the grave framed with wrought iron pillars and chains and this is all gone. Apparently they have been stolen. The view from the grave site is decoration enough. It is looking straight out to the Pacific and another beautiful bay. Our driver had mentioned earlier in the day that cruise ship passengers in the past had trouble when trying to bring the flowers they had been given back on the ship and she suggested that we could leave them on Lindbergh's grave. I opted to do so as did a couple of others.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Once we had paid our respects, we headed out again and I have to admit that I was rather dubious about this part of the trip. The map that we were given in the morning and our driver referred to this part of the tour as a jeep road. Rental cars are not allowed to go this far and the last time I had looked, we were in a mini bus and not a jeep. The road, if you can even call it this, was very rough. However, the Acupuncture had definitely done its job and again I was fine. Initially not much apart from the road surface changed. Our view was a mixture of tropical rainforest and stunning ocean views. Admittedly some of those ocean views were a little close for comfort. Sometimes the only thing between us and the edge of the cliff was a simple guardrail. It did not help either that on some stretches, it looked like the road is slowly, but surely crumbling into the sea.

The landscape soon changed. The tropical rainforest receded and was replaced with farmland. There was also another beautiful church in the middle of nowhere. There was no sign of houses so it was rather strange to see a church there. Soon afterwards the landscape changed even more dramatically. The lush green grass and farmland made way to what could almost be described as dessert. Essentially all we saw was tufts of dry yellow grass and lava rocks. It was amazing how diverse a relatively small island like Maui can be. At some stage the jeep road moved closer to the ocean again. There was a gorgeous sea arch, but unfortunately I could not get the correct angle on it to take a photo. It was beautiful though. There was also supposed to be a blowhole in this area, but this did not feel very energetic that day. Suddenly without any warning, the jeep road turned back into a nice smooth and very straight road. We stopped near a bridge so that we could take some photos of the landscape and our driver pointed out a number of cars and even a boat that were at the bottom of the valley. We had just come off the worst road imaginable and there was not as much as a dent to be seen in any of the guardrails. Yet on this wide and straight road with a great surface, cars regularly lose control and fall into the valley below. It really beggared belief.

We had one more stop, the Tedeschi Winery. The Tedeschi Winery is Maui's oldest winery. The founder came over from California. This is another place that you probably would not find unless you knew it is there. Quite apart from anything else, there is a distinctive absence of grapes in the area. I think our driver probably gets a lot of questions about this as she volunteered straightaway that the grapes are actually grown higher up on the slopes of Haleakala. She told us where we needed to go and that she would be waiting for us at the general store on the other side of the car park. We walked through a pretty garden on the way to the building where the wine tasting was offered. We got 3 tastings per person. The first two were the same, but we had a choice for the last one. The first one was their signature wine Maui Blanc, which is made from pineapple. It smelled quite sweet, but was actually surprisingly dry. It was very tasty though. When the owner came to Maui, it took a while for the grapes to be ready for their first harvest. To get going until this was the case, he decided to make wine out of local fruit. They were so popular that they still make those fruit wines today. The second wine was a pineapple and passion fruit spritz. This was a lot sweeter, but as it was also quite light, it was really refreshing. For the last wine, we had a choice between a red wine made from grapes or a raspberry dessert wine. Graham went with the red wine and I had the raspberry wine. The raspberry wine was absolutely gorgeous. I had a little sip of it and then passed it to Graham so that he could have a taste, too. Unfortunately he misunderstood this and finished it off.

Once we had finished our wine, we had a look around the shop. I was quite tempted to buy a bottle or two of wine, but the wine was very expensive for what it was. the wines ranged between $25 to $30. I was not willing to pay that much, especially as we still had our wine package on the ship. Another thing that caught my eye and nose was a lovely Plumeria body lotion. There was no price anywhere to be found and having seen the other prices around the shop, I figured if you had to ask how much it is, you probably cannot afford it. We still had two more days on the islands, so I thought I would get another chance. We headed over to the general store and had a look around. This definitely came under the heading "tourist trap". Outside the store they had rocking chairs and benches, some of which had "locals" already sitting on them. Graham sat down on one of those benches and I could not resist taking a photo of him with his new friends.

Once everybody was back, be got on the bus and made our way back to the port. We followed one of the mountain roads and had some fantastic views. It was not long until we saw tiny Mouse funnels in the distance. Even though we were quite high up, we still could not see the summit of Haleakala. Our driver told us that it would take all day to get up to the summit and down again. Nearer to the port, we saw Maui's last remaining sugar mill. There used to be a number of sugar mills on Maui, but the others all have closed. Soon afterwards we arrived back at the port where we said goodbye to our driver. Again, security was handled by the port. It did not take long before we were on the ship. We took our stuff back to our cabin. We grabbed our swim stuff and headed up to the Rainforest Room to relax for a bit.

Dinner that night was in Parrot Cay and the menu was Ho'olaule'a, which is Hawaiian for Festival or Celebration. When I had a look at the menu, I had to laugh. This was actually an old friend that is normally known as the Round The World menu. The dining room felt positively deserted that night. All aboard was not until 22:30, Disney was offering a shore excursion to a luau and some people had made their own arrangements to attend a luau. A rather large group from our cruise meet thread got together for an alternative excursion to a luau. So I suppose I should not have been surprised. Everybody on our table was at dinner, but we were a lot quieter than usual. I suppose we were all exhausted. I still enjoyed dinner though. Graham had Green Pea Soup wit Knockwurst and Potato followed by Thyme Marinated Cod Fillet with Smashed Onion and Cheddar Cheese Potatoes, Batons of Leak and Chive-Cream Sauce with a Hint of Whisky. I had Spicy Beef Turnovers with a Zesty Herb Sauce, Cheddar Cheese Soup with Bacon Bits and Chives and Pork Tenderloin Medallions, Golden Brown Spaetzle with Caramelized Onions and a Red Wine Reduction. We both passed on dessert. I think if we had stayed any longer, I would have fallen asleep at the table. There were no photo opportunities that night. So we headed straight to our cabin. I took some photos of our towel animal and then fell into bed.

 

[LindaBabe]

Oh, Corinna! That was the best one of all - so far. You had the rare priveledge to lay a flower at Lindberg's grave!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Yes, and I definitely feel privileged. Without his pioneering flight, I don't think we would have aviation as we know it. I have to say though, if I visit somebody else's grave on our next vacation, Graham may just disown me. In October we went to Walt Disney's final resting place and now this.

Corinna

 

[tiggrbaby]

Thank you so much for sharing this day! Your pics are amazing! I hope to go to Maui and drive that road some day...

 

[RachelTori]

Corinna,

Gorgeous photos, and captivating reading! Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[Chilly]

Sounds like a long day. Were the trips expensive?

I don't think I finished your last TR as I don't remember you going to Walt's grave, where is it? I must go back and revisit that TR.

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Wow what a lovely day Corinna - some gorgeous photographs.

Not sure how I would have coped on the roads, but the views and scenery you saw certainly look worth it

Tammy

 

[dgbg100106]

Everything looks beautiful and the pictures are amazing. the changes in the country side are breathtaking.... So glad you have a great time and it showed in your update...

Thanks again.

 

[Shell54]

Great update&lovely photos. I never knew Lindbergh was buried in Hawaii..although his wife Ann wrote those best selling books from Hawaii in her later years so I should have put 2 and 2 together.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm so glad the acupuncture worked! What an amazing day I had no idea there were so many changes in the scenery. Thanks for the beautiful photos

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thank you so much for sharing this day! Your pics are amazing! I hope to go to Maui and drive that road some day...

Although I would classify the Road to Hana as a must do, I would not recommend driving it yourself. The drive is tricky and you would not get to appreciate the beauty of it. The locals refer to the Road to Hana as "Divorce Highway" as so many people driving it come to blows with each other. I would definitely advise you to let the experts do the work and I can highly recommend Valley Isle Excursions.

Sounds like a long day. Were the trips expensive?

I don't think I finished your last TR as I don't remember you going to Walt's grave, where is it? I must go back and revisit that TR.

It was definitely a long day. All in all it lasted about 11 hours. It was the most expensive excursion we did and cost $127.

The second most expensive excursion was on Oahu, which was something a bit special and was $120 per person, which included transportation from the port and lunch.

The Disney excursions that I did were quite good value. The Volcanoes National Park Tour was $66 per person, our tour in Kauai was $58 per person and my excursion in Ensenada was an absolute bargain at $35.

Walt Disney's grave is at Forest Lawn Glendale.

Wow what a lovely day Corinna - some gorgeous photographs.

Not sure how I would have coped on the roads, but the views and scenery you saw certainly look worth it

Tammy

I know I would not have coped without the Acupuncture.

Great update&lovely photos. I never knew Lindbergh was buried in Hawaii..although his wife Ann wrote those best selling books from Hawaii in her later years so I should have put 2 and 2 together.

I had not know this either until I started to research possible excursions.

Corinna

 

[LindaBabe]

Corinna? you're not done, are you? Haven't seen you around in a couple days. Your audience is stirring impatiently

 

[dolphingirl47]

No, I am not done. I am working on the Oahu installment every free minute I get at the moment, but there are not many of those. Things are going crazy at work at the moment. With a bit of luck I am ready to post the next installment on Sunday.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 12

Today it was back to our usual routine as we had a slightly later start. Mickey woke us up at 7:00 AM. We got up and packed all the things that we needed for the day. We had brought our wetsuits and as we were going snorkelling that day, we decided to take them. Once we had everything we needed, we headed up to deck 9 to have some breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. The view that we had morning was decidedly different from the view that we had enjoyed the previous two days. Instead of volcanoes and greenery, we were welcomed by skyscrapers. Actually Honolulu reminded me of Dubai and the temperature was comparable, too. Beach Blanket Buffet was much busier that day, but we were lucky enough to get a table. We both had a cooked breakfast. Shortly after we sat down, I spotted somebody from our cruise meet thread looking for a table. I invited her to join us as we had ended up with one of the circular booth and there was plenty of space. It was nice to have some company and talking about our plans for the day. She had a Disney excursion and had to leave a bit earlier than us.

Once we had finished our breakfast, we headed downstairs to deck 3 trying to figure out were the gangway was. Normally there are signs in all of the elevator lobbies pointing people in the right direction as deck 1 does not have corridors running all the way through. There was no indication where we needed to go. A crew member realised what we were looking for and advised us that they gangway was actually on deck 3. We headed for the atrium and left the ship. The photographers were just outside the ship again taking photos. Once we entered the terminal, they had staff from Aulani, the new Disney resort on Oahu, there to welcome us and also a children’s choir. Unfortunately the children’s choir was just going on a break. The terminal building was rather nice and actually looked like a proper terminal rather than the warehouse-like structures at the other ports. Honolulu is the home port for the NCL Pride of America and this probably has something to do with this. Again we had been given instructions on how to get to the meeting point. There were no photos this time round, but we had been advised to wait in front of the Hula Girl statue in front of Aloha Tower Marketplace. That seemed straightforward enough. The port in Honolulu is huge and Aloha Tower Marketplace was further away from where we had docked than I had anticipated. Still, we had given ourselves plenty of time, the weather was beautiful and the walk was actually very pleasant. We walked along the waterfront and the water was so clear that we could see all manner of tropical fish just walking past. Soon after we reached Aloha Tower Marketplace, I spotted a Hula Girl statue. The trouble was that Graham had spotted one, too and they were not the same. The one Graham had spotted was right by the road, whereas mine was set back from the street and just inside the shopping centre. So we figured that Graham’s statue was the more likely option. We headed over there and sat down on the base of the statue. There was another couple wearing our group shirts already there. They were heading to Aulani for the day. People on our cruise meet thread had got together to share transport to Aulani. The meeting place for this was also the Hula Girl statue. They were quite relieved when they saw us as nobody else was at the meeting point and they had the same confusion that we had about the multiple statues. In the end is turned out that they were in the wrong place as their pick up point had changed, but it was nice to chat while we waited. Shortly afterwards, a family that I knew were on the same excursion as us turned up and we spent some time talking to them.

Pretty much right on time, our mini bus arrived. The driver had picked up everybody from the hotels before coming to get us. There were not enough seats in the back so I ended up sitting in the front with the driver. Once she had made sure that she had everybody, we were on our way. Honolulu is a big and modern city and we saw something that we had not seen since leaving Los Angeles: a freeway. She pointed out various landmarks along the way. She also asked us to fill out a waiver and to choose our lunch. I had assumed that the tour would leave relatively close from the port, but we actually had to drive for a while. We actually could see Aulani in the distance on our way to the boat dock.

When we arrived at Waianae Boat Harbor, we were asked to go inside the building to check in. As our driver did not have quite enough waiver forms on the bus, I filled out our form at the check in. Once we had taken care of the formalities, we headed back outside where a trailer with all kinds of equipment was parked. We had brought our own snorkeling gear, but we needed a life vest. It took a while for everybody to get sorted out and they had to get some different sized of flippers and life vests for some people. We also had to wait for some people to arrive that had made their own way to Waianae Boat Harbor. Eventually everybody was there and we walked down to the boat dock. I was not thrilled when I saw the boat. I am not good with small boats at the best of times and this looked like an overgrown rubber dinghy!!! The only redeeming feature was its name. The boat is called Nai'a, which is Hawaiian for dolphin. We had to leave our shoes on the dock, but for everything else there was a huge plastic box. I was not sure if we would need to bring the wetsuits, but our driver suggested that we bring them along and put them in the box so that we have them if we would feel more comfortable with them.

Once everybody was on board, our captain introduced himself and his crew. Our driver was also the first mate on the boat, a lifeguard and marine biologist. They also had a professional photographer on board. The captain told us that Spinner Dolphins had been spotted in the bay just outside the harbour that morning. He told us a little about dolphins in general and about Spinner dolphins in particular. He explained that the dolphins hunt at night and that this was actually their resting period and that there was no guarantee that they would show any interest in us. However, he did say that the dolphins are used to the boat and know that it poses no danger so there was a good chance that they would grace us with their presence. It did not take long until we were surrounded by Spinner Dolphins. It was fascinating to watch them and they were fairly active. Some of them even performed for us. They are called Spinner Dolphins after one of their natural behaviours. Most species of dolphins jump out of the water and do flips. Spinner Dolphins are taking this to a new level. When they jump out of the water, they do a few rotations before diving back into the water. I was absolutely in awe of this.