This is the third post about our Adventure Days experiences during our kids’ visit in February 2023. (Can’t believe it’s been so long since posting the first part of this – sorry to keep you hanging!) If you need to catch up on the first day and morning of the second day, you can read the posts here:
Our Adventure Day tour day was Sunday, and in the morning we had done horse back riding, tubing, and then had lunch. With lunch over, we headed back across the street to the Adventure Center, where we were told to go to the Souvenir Shop next door for the Zip Lining.
There we were outfitted with helmets (third helmet of the day), harnesses, and leather gloves with a stiff band in the palm area. My glove had a hole between the band and the finger area, where the two segments had come apart. I asked if that was going to be a problem, and the guy answered, no.
After we were outfitted, we had a photo opportunity, that I wanted to take advantage of, since we still didn’t have phones/cameras with us.
We then stood in line again on our way to the zip line course, that started just up the hill. Each of us was double-checked for appropriate harness fitting. The worker secured my harness more tightly around my legs. It felt really snug, but I appreciated their attention.
We received brief instructions from a guide, who started with, “This is my first day on the job…” These guys always start with that same joke. When John and I first ziplined on the Caribbean side, it was the same. Still, it never fails to produce nervous laughter from their audience. Most of the instructions were about how to make it easy to get ourselves attached and unattached from the zip line, like we may have to do a small jump, etc., and what to do to prevent us from getting hit with a block that will be sent to stop us before we come to the next platform.
The first zip line was a long one over trees and was a very enjoyable start. My body mostly just spun backwards as I descended on the line to the next platform.
After the first platform it was a whirlwind. The objective was to get you to the next line as quickly as possible. The workers at the different platforms were very talented. They would almost simultaneously be stopping the descent of an incoming person and getting another person ready for their next zip line. After our start, most of the platforms were small and attached to the side of the canyon.
To make it interesting, on one platform we had to sit down on a short slide to launch ourselves to the next platform. There was also a “Tarzan” swing where we swung over the end platform and then back to it before we were stopped.
We had been told that there would be an optional opportunity to rappel and rock climb. Near the end of the course, I came to a platform where the guide asked me if I wanted to rappel and then rock climb back up. I looked over the platform, straight down the side of the canyon. I could see how you could get down, but I didn’t see any possible way to get back up. Nope – hard pass on that! (Not that I was considering it anyway!) Already today I couldn’t be trusted to roll an inner tube up a hill – how did they think I would be able to rock climb up a vertical cliff?
All too soon it was over. It was a short walk back to the Adventure Center where we turned in our gear. And, we got to see the pictures and videos that the tour photographers had taken throughout the day! The video of John turning upside down on the rapids was playing on a loop. I’m a sucker for these anyway, and since we had taken no pictures ourselves, I was all for it! The price was only $60 for our family, which I thought was reasonable. In addition to the starting photos at the horseback riding and zip lining, the photographers had positioned themselves in the river while we were tubing, and on the platforms when we were zip lining, so shooting the pictures wasn’t particularly easy for them.
Our next stop was the thermal springs. We stopped at the Adventure Center to ask how we would get there. That same woman helped us. (Note, every time we went, there were other people there at the desk who could have helped us. It’s just that we always got her.) She said that since we were guests at the hotel and had our own car, it would be easier for us to just drive ourselves. She pulled out the ubiquitous map and magic marker and showed us how to drive to the hot springs. We collected our bags from the lockers, returned the keys, relieved we did not have to consult with her again.
We didn’t want to miss out on the pictures, but didn’t have any money with us, so we went back to the rooms, and then only John and I returned to the Souvenir shop to pay for them. Afterward, we noticed that the guy with the oxen was stationed just outside the shop. John just couldn’t resist this photo op! The guy showed us the small stepladder for us to use to climb up on the oxen. John went up first and sat on the closest oxen to the stepladder. The guy told him he had to move to the next one so I could get up. (It would have been easier for everyone if the guy had just moved the small ladder to the other oxen, but that wasn’t how this worked. We were the ones that had to move, not him.) John managed to clamber to the next oxen and then I climbed up. The guy took a lot of pictures with my phone camera. After he was finished, we climbed down, tipped him, and went back to the room.
We packed up our swimsuits and towels in our plastic bags and drove about 10 km to the hot springs. The map did come in handy! We found a place to park along the side of the road, parked and walked to a small building that had lockers and changing rooms. From the building we walked down a trail to the hot springs. There were 13 or so pools, and a map posted with the temperatures of each. We crossed a ladder bridge to get to the first small pools.
The big attraction here is not only the thermal springs, but covering oneself with mud, letting it dry, then rinsing it off, either in the river, or under one of two showers, and then getting into one of the thermal pools. A guy who we think was on our tour earlier was already there and told us that we should try the mud – it felt great! Yes, we could see people doing it, but we weren’t convinced. We just decided to slide into the first thermal pool and see how it felt.
We did observe people slathering themselves with mud, then attempting to rinse it off. We could see that getting all of the mud off wasn’t easy. And, there was a worker there whose sole job was mud monitor. If he saw someone who wasn’t fully rinsed trying to get into a thermal pool, he quickly ran over and stopped them, telling them to do a better rinsing job! We decided we were content to try out a couple of thermal pools without the added stress of mud rinsing.
It was starting to get dark, so we headed back up the trail, changed into our dry clothes, and drove back to our hotel room to get ready for dinner. That night we opted for the more formal restaurant. John and I made the mistake of trying the ribeye. We never learn! It is really hard to find good steak in this country, despite there being cows everywhere! At least we happened upon a good wine that we have since been able to purchase from our local grocery store.
After dinner we wandered over to the fire pits, and again, were still not able to warm up. It was somewhat early, so we ended up in the small bar situated just below the restaurants. We ordered desserts and contentedly played cards, until we decided it was time to get back to our rooms.
The walk back to our rooms turned out to be surprising. John and Allison were walking in front, and all of a sudden, John jumped and Allison gave a small shriek. There, crossing the sidewalk in front of them, was a large snake – a boa constrictor, to be exact! A boa isn’t going to hurt you – maybe if it’s hungry and you lay down in front of it and let it wrap itself around you – but we weren’t going to do that!
We let it pass and went back to our rooms – it had been a day full of adventures!
Remember, it's an adventure. 