3 Rs: Rum Cake, Rum Punch, and Rhianna - Part 3

Day 7 Grenada:

For Gre-nayd-uh, we swapped our jet ski excursion for a waterfall hike. We got lucky with our guides. They were both very knowledgeable about all the plants (native/non-native) on the island. Our main tour guide made sure that we got to stop and take lots of pictures on our way to the waterfall and on our way back to the boat. He was uber patient with my lack of good footing on our trip. I'm a bit of klutz. I tend to trip over even tiny bumps in the sidewalk. 

The ticket said to beware that it would be very muddy. How muddy was it? Well, our tour guides switched out of their tennies to wellies. It was slippery muddy, which made it a challenging hike for a klutz like me. Before we began our hike, we saw what fresh nutmeg looks like just plucked from a tree and got to sample fresh cinnamon and cacao seeds. Yum! Once we got to the waterfall, I was hesitant to go swimming but after some convincing from the guide I hopped into the chilly pool. I'm happy I went swimming with the hubster. 

Day 9 Curacao:

I had been so looking forward to the photographing the colorful buildings along the waterfront. There are many legends to why the buildings are different colors. One of my favorites is that a mayor couldn't deal with the blinding white buildings in the sun because they gave him migraines. He required the buildings be painted. On the ship, I read about the floating market. The travel guide said that it was the perfect setting for a photographer. 

Again, we took a break from our adventures and just wanted to roam around the town. It was a bit of a walk from our dock. I must admit that the kitsch in Curacao was a lot prettier than the kitsch we had seen on the other islands. I'm still thinking about an adorable beaded necklace. 

Once we made it across the moving bridge and into town, we went looking for the floating market. To my disappointment, it's nothing like the floating markets in Asia. We snapped a few photos. The locals were very patient with us. We wandered around, weaving through the streets. We found the oldest Jewish temple in the western hemisphere, but it cost $10 for each of us to go in. I'm not big on having to pay to go into places of worship. I love donating money, but I don't like paying the admission. For our local treat of the day, my hubster found a cheese filled puff pastry for me. He know me too well.

After wandering around, we headed back to the ship to enjoy its amenities.

Day 9 Aruba:

 Originally, we had planned to not doing on Aruba. Then, I realized that we hadn't gone snorkeling. Scandalous! My hubster thought we would just save snorkeling for our next Hawaii trip. That wasn't about to happen. We asked our waitress which beach she would recommend. The beach would have cost $40 with everything included for each of us. Then, it would cost about $20 for a taxi ride. 

The cruise ship had a special to go to De Palm Island. On the island, there's snorkeling, banana boat riding, swimming in the mini beaches, playing in the water park, eating at the buffet, and drinking at the open bar. All of this cost $70, which also included transportation. It was a little hokey. We did love snorkeling. Our favorite fish was the blue parrot fish and the trumpet fish. They would swim under us and snack on the coral around us. We could hear the blue parrot fish munching. The buffet was delicious. We got to try a yummy local hot sauce. All in all, it was worth the visit because it was totally hassle free.