Wanderung 24

Spring Fling

From March to May 2011

Monday, March 28: Catalina Island, Dominican Republic

Bob:

I had a yen just to snorkel around on a tropical beach for a day, so I was quite happy with the prospect of going ashore at Catalina Island and spending the day there. In contrast to some cruise-line-owned islands that have attached docks or piers, there is no dock at Catalina Island so passengers must be "tendered" or ferried ashore using the ship's lifeboats.

When we went out on deck for a morning walkabout, we watched the crew of the Atlantica lowering the lifeboats on both sides of the ship that had elevated wheel houses. They did not, however, use the other lifeboats like the one just outside our stateroom that were flush with the deck. I suppose the lifeboats with the elevated wheel houses give the operator an extra margin of visibility around the lifeboat and are thus safer to operate than the simpler versions. As recommended, we waited until we were done with breakfast, had donned our swimsuits, and had packed water, masks, snorkels, and towels into a backpack before ambling down to the disembarkation deck and getting group number 24 for boarding a tender. That resulted in us cooling our heels for 45 minutes in a nearby lounge before being able to board a lifeboat for the trip ashore. In hindsight, it would have been much quicker to do the process the "wrong" way and get the boarding tickets first and then use the 45 minutes to have breakfast and pack everything. As Ted Gessner used to say, "No good deed goes unpunished!".

The trip ashore was fun although not as exciting as it could have been if the swells were higher, as we have experienced on some other cruises. On the way in we could see excursion boats converging on the dock to take away folks who had signed up for trips around the island, a glass-bottomed boat ride, and so forth. Since we were just going to enjoy the beach for the day, we walked over to the beach and then along it to find a couple of beach chairs that were shaded by a nearby palm tree.

Monika:

Today was a beach day. We anchored outside of Catalina Island, a protected island of the Dominican Republic. There was a private beach similar to Princess Cay in the Bahamas. We watched as we anchored off the island and then got ready for a day of snorkeling and sun bathing. We both put on our swimsuits, slathered ourselves liberally with sunblock, and put towels, snorkels and masks, and some books into our backpack and went to get our tender number.

This was one of those odd moments, where I was again reminded that we were on a European ship with lots of Germans on board. Whereas on our last tender port during our anniversary cruise we could walk onto the next tender since we were one of the early risers, here in contrast we had to wait for four other tenders before our number was called. Of course, most of the people with us or already ashore were Germans....

The tender ride was quick and smooth. We had a particularly nice spot high up in the life boat and I enjoyed the ride. The beach itself was everything you think of, when you think Caribbean beach: white sand, blue water, and palm trees. All beach chairs with umbrellas were taken, but we did find two beach chairs shaded by a palm tree. Of course, we had to move the chairs every now and then, since the sun insisted on moving and so the shade moved.


 


 

Bob:

Donning our mask and snorkels, we went for the first of three dives that morning along the main beach area. The area was marked off by white buoys and even had a lifeguard in attendance, so we certainly did feel safe. It was, however, a beach intended for swimming and thus basically a gently sloping sandy bottom that finally changed into sea grass as the water became deeper. Not much to look at, but the water was just cold enough to cool us down from the hot tropical sun beating down on the beach, but not so cold as to be hard to get into. Perfect!

After a half hour or so of snorkeling along the outer edge of the swimming area we came ashore to read our books for a while and warm up. We had seen a second roped-off area to the right of the landing jetty, however, and since that went out along a rocky cliff we decided to try our luck there to see if the snorkeling would be more interesting, and boy was it!

Monika:

But we decided to try the water and it was truly wonderful, not too cold, not too hot, just right! We had brought our masks and snorkels but not our fins. Since I like to do the breast stroke, I did not miss the fins very much, but Bob did.

The main beach was mostly sandy with some seaweed at the very edge of the swimming area. So although I did bring my underwater camera, there really was not all that much underwater stuff to take pictures off. After about an hour in the water, we decided to come out and read a bit.

Bob:

As we swam out toward a floating diving platform that marked the seaside end of the swimming area, we did see quite a few coral heads and examples of fan coral, etc. We also saw fish, but they were for the most part tiny and rather drab species rather than the glorious, exotic tropical fish that one often sees in aquariums. Still, it was more interesting than a plain sandy bottom. Unfortunately, I was so busy trying to take pictures that I didn't realize that a slow but noticeable current was sweeping us relentlessly out to sea.

I finally noticed the current when we caught on to the diving platform for a rest and I felt my legs being tugged underneath the platform in the seaward direction. I thought, "Oh, oh. Now we have to swim back against the current!", and that did indeed turn out to be a real problem for me on the way back. Since I only snorkel on the occasional cruise, I am way out of shape and on this trip we had not packed our fins to save weight and bulk. The unfortunate result of that decision plus having already snorkeled for an hour on the other side of the beach was that I was worn out when we were barely halfway back to shore.

What to do? I decided to swim over to the rope marking off the edge of the swimming area and kind of drag myself through the water by pulling hand over hand on the rope. That really did work as I was using different muscle groups than with my normal swimming stroke and they still had some energy in them. I was glad it worked as I didn't have a "Plan C" worked out at the time, although I suppose we could have drifted back out to the diving platform, climbed up on it, and yelled for help until someone rescued us. That would have been really embarrassing, of course, and I'm glad we didn't have to resort to such extremes.

Just as I was congratulating myself on making slow but steady progress back to shore, I looked over and saw a jellyfish about 8 inches long and 3 inches in diameter floating just beside me. It was beautiful, really, and for a split second before my emotions engaged I was entranced enough to consider whipping out our underwater camera and taking a picture. But then a storm of emotion erupted. I won't say I panicked, exactly, but I would admit that ever since I was stung by a Portuguese Man Of War on a trip to Florida I have been highly motivated to avoid jellyfish, and this was no exception. I was suddenly re-energized for the task of swimming back to shore and charged ahead, leaving poor Monika to catch up as best she could. We were both totally exhausted when we finally dragged ourselves back onto shore.

Monika:

But after a while, we got hot and decided to go back in. There was a smaller swimming area off the pier on the other side from the main beach. This area was a rather long strip between the pier and a rocky outcropping. Here, I hoped, might be some coral reef and hopefully some fish. When we first started swimming, there was indeed a school of small little minnows. But after that the fish again became scarce. At the end of the swimming area was a small little diving platform with a ladder. We decided to swim towards it and indeed there were some coral formations way out there. Since Bob had the camera, I just kept swimming, since I wanted to get to the platform and ladder to rest a little. Bob, however, did take some pictures, and so I swam back to where he was.

We then went both out to the platform. When I just anchored my arms around a rung of the ladder, my feet were swept out to sea. This probably should have given me a clue, that swimming back may be a little more exhausting than swimming out. And indeed, it did seem to be an awful long way back to shore. I was surprised, when Bob suddenly went into an overhand crawl and I really could not keep up with him with my slow and steady breast stroke. Later he told me, that he had seen a jelly fish, who did not come by to disturb me. We finally did make it back to shore and I was glad, when I finally could put my feet on the ground and take my mask off.

Bob:

Having successfully escaped the "man-eating" jellyfish, I was upbeat and in a mood for lunch, so we dropped the snorkeling gear at our chairs and headed off to the outdoor grill area to have a hamburger for lunch. We ate it there as our beach chairs were by now in the full sun and a full tropical sun beating down on my head seems to take my appetite away. After lunch we wandered over to a kind of flea-market section of the beach where tourist trinkets as well as nice arts and crafts were available. I was particularly impressed with the number of artists represented (at least 10-15) and the total wall space devoted to showcasing their works as each artist had a large, 3-walled area open to the sky to hang his or her work. The paintings were all hung chock-a-block, but I could still wander through and slowly enjoy the nuances of each artist and piece of work.

I really enjoyed looking at it all although it was "much of a sameness" in that the majority of the works were vividly-colored acrylic paintings of Caribbean landscapes, seascapes, or people. Still, some artists occasionally produced variations on those themes such as Abstract, Cubist, or Impressionist-styled works that were quite attractive. If they had just posted prices on each piece rather than engaging in the pushy, high-pressure bargaining razzmatazz with the repeated cries of "Cheapie! Cheapie! Cheapie!", I might well have bought something. In fact, we found one beach scene we both liked, but I just didn't have the energy to go into haggling about the price with the vendor. For those of us not raised in a haggling culture, those negotiations take a lot of conscious effort rather than being an enjoyable form of social interaction as it would be to a native.

Monika:

By now it was lunch time and Costa had prepared a nice barbecue luncheon. We both opted for the hamburger which was indeed very tasty, but to my amusement, instead of french fries, we had pasta as our starch. Ah, the Italians! But they offered Coronas, two for the price of one, and that made them almost reasonable. So we munched and drank and felt restored.

After lunch we decided to take a look at the little arts and craft market that the natives had set up. There really was everything there, from jewelry to clothing to paintings. And some of the paintings were really quite nice and there were a large number of them. Bob decided to take a close look at all of them, whereas I decided after the first 50 or so that I was too tired. So I just sat down and watch the people. We did not buy anything, since after all, we still have 5 weeks of traveling ahead of us and our suitcases were already bulging.

When we got back to our chairs, they now were completely in the sun and we were getting hot, so we decided a quick dip would be in order to cool down again. This time we stayed at the main beach and did not bother with the camera just enjoyed the water for a while. It still was the perfect temperature: not too hot, not too cold, just right! Ah life is good.

Bob:

By this time it was after noon and the sun was hammering down from directly overhead. That in turn made the sand so bloody hot that simply walking around was really uncomfortable. Reluctantly giving up on the art displays, I returned to our beach chairs and then joined Monika in one, last, relaxing snorkel in the swimming area along the beach. The water cooled me down so perfectly without chilling, that I was tempted to stay longer, but Monika said she thought she had enough sun exposure so we called it quits for the day and took the next tender back to the ship.

Monika:

But I started to feel the sun on my skin and thought it probably was a good time to head back to the ship. Walking on the sand or the boardwalk in bare feet started to hurt because both had been heated by the sun. We were glad when we found some water at the pier to wash off our feet and put on our shoes. Back on the ship, we both took a shower to wash off the salt and I was surprised to see that my back was a little reddish. But this really was not surprising, considering how much time I had spent snorkeling with my back nicely available for the sun to bake it even with all the gook on it, which probably had been washed off during our first swim. But it did not hurt, so I think it will just turn into a nice brown (OK, I am an optimist at heart).


 

Bob:

When we stripped down to shower and wash the salt off of ourselves, our swimsuits, and the snorkeling gear, I found that Monika did in fact have a sunburn on her upper back despite having applied supposedly waterproof SPF 50 sunblock that morning. As I was the one to apply it, I felt guilty about it and honestly still don't understand if it wore off due to her cover-up, washed off because we were swimming so long, or simply wasn't good enough to protect her unprotected and rather fair skin. Nuts. Disappointing! [Bulletin for Gentle Reader: I later read Consumers Reports' tests of sunscreen that found they all wash off rather rapidly whilst swimming!!]

For the rest of the afternoon we cooled off in the cabin, worked on the computer, and read our books. It was fun to join our table mates for dinner that evening and find out how they had enjoyed the island or the excursions they had participated in. Although we enjoyed the conversation, we left right after dessert to participate in a star-gazing session on the back of Deck 9 outside the Botticelli Buffet area. Unfortunately just as we began it started to rain so the star gazing session was postponed and we returned to our cabin to turn in for the evening

Monika:

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and downloading pictures. Dinner was again a convivial affair and after dinner we decided to attend a star gazing session with our cruise director Andrea. I had admired him after the shows for his amazing ability to rattle everything he has to say in 5 languages with nary a breath in between and switching languages after each sentence rather than saying everything in each language. You had to really pay attention, so as not to miss your language.

The evening star-gazing was supposed to be on deck 9 aft. But when cruise director Andrea started with "Good evening, bona noches, guten Abend,...." (5 languages), it suddenly started to rain and the clouds obscured any stars. He said that was the first time such a thing had happened and he was a bit flummoxed. Ultimately the whole "show" got called because of rain. But he promised to re-schedule it for a clear evening in the future and thus the star gazing was postponed until another day.


 

Copyright 2011 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt
Index
Prolog Map of Transatlantic Cruise Map of Drive in Ireland Epilog

March 2011
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
April 2011
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
May 2011
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31

Return to the Wanderungs Homepage.
Sign the Guestbook or Read the Guestbook.
Comments about this site? Email the Webmaster.
Contact Bob and Monika at bob_monika@hotmail.com.