Mexican Rivera

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Monday, March 16, 2015

Todd was up bright and early, 5:15 am to work on his blog. This is our first morning at the Hyatt Ziva. I headed to the lobby (open air) to find a location where I could sit with my computer and also find a plug. Bingo, I found one in the lobby. While I was sitting in the lobby, you could hear the Pacific Ocean waves crashing against the shore and the heavy rain hitting the hotel roof and dripping below. The lobby sound system was playing Broadway classics. I don’t ever recall having such a setting while in a hotel lobby. Absolutely incredible. Next to where I set up there was a 24 hour coffee shop. I grabbed a coffee.



Everyone else was up by 7:15 am. We opened the blinds in our hotel room and witnessed the beautiful ocean, however it was quite rainy. By 8:00 am, we were all dressed and headed to the restaurant for breakfast. When walking to the restaurant we passed over a small bridge. We noticed yesterday that the area below is designed for mountain water runoff; however we joked that it would probably not fill up with water. Well guess what the very heavy rain that hit the area, was full of water from the mountain water runoff. The result of all of this drain off, it washed out part of the beach. Incredibly powerful, the force of flood water.



We ate a buffet breakfast in one of the restaurants. The food was great and a wide selection of items. Even though the fresh food was probably ok to eat, we decided to stick with the cooked food and fruits that we would peel on our own.



Following breakfast we heading back to our room to gather our items, including rain gear, to head out to our zip lining tour. We went to the lobby and got a taxi to take us to the meeting location. Cindy’s dad stayed at the hotel. Prior to leaving the hotel, I had to visit the ATM machine in the lobby to purchase Peso’s for the tax and tips.



We arrived at the meeting location, Canopy River tours, headquarters office. The weather was drizzly, stopped heavy rain. We waited in the waiting area for about 10 minutes and our transportation came to pick up us up. The transportation was an open air bus where we had to climb up. Cindy sat in the cab of the bus. The kids sat in the inside to stay dry, I sat at the end and took the light rain and drizzle for the team. I also find out that the jacket I was wearing is not a rain jacket, rather a wind breaker. My right side got soaked. Our ride from the headquarters was about 15 minutes. We drove some business areas, however mostly residential. The roads were either cobblestone or dirt. To add to the excitement of driving on the dirt roads, some had minor wash out from the heavy rains last evening and this morning. We drove along a river that was raging from the heavy rains and coming from the mountains. I was surprised that some of the bridges along the way were not washed out. It was quite muddy. Our bus there were two ladies from Scotland. Super nice ladies. They were doing another tour at the same location.



We arrived the Canopy River zip lining adventure area (http://canopyriver.com/en/). Come to find out, there were 22 other people scheduled to be on our tour, however with all the rain last night and this morning, everyone cancelled except for us. We are having our own private zip lining adventure. How awesome is this. This is perfect and all the attention is on us. The tour guide told us that many of the cables, since it rained, will be superfast and it is very likely that the grease from the lines will get our clothing. They highly recommended that we wear clothing we don’t mind getting dirty and possibly permanently damages from the grease. We ended buying a t-shirt for Cindy.



Once Cindy changed into her shirt and put our carry bag into a locker, we went to meet our tour guides and were suited up with the zip lining gear. Within 10 minutes we were ready to go. We hiked for about 10 minutes and stopped at our first ramp and line for our safety instructions. The kids have not zip lined so this part was super fun to watch they hear the explanation of how to properly grip, brake, lean back, and hold our legs straight out with them crossed. The first two lines were practice runs and short in distance. Michael was the first to go. It was so much fun watching Michael do his first line. Jenny was up next. Poor Jenny was super nervous and really wanted to understand the entire experience and do it correctly. The crew sent her off. You can really tell Jenny really was relieved that the first run was complete and she really enjoyed it. Cindy went next, she really likes zip lining. Todd was last, and of course proceeds with caution but has a great time. Throughout our 10 rides/lines we got seriously greasy from the wet lines and the lines were seriously fast, as we were told.



Jenny and Michael both were able to ride the line upside down and superman styles. The area we zip lined was over the raging rapids below and seriously deep canyons and or cliffs below. The experience going over such rugged terrain was an incredible experience, something I am not sure we will experience again. We had to cut our runs short because of the raging waters below and these lines would dump us into the water and it would not be safe. We ended up taking the emergency line. After we all took the last line, we were met with mules that would take us back to the base. The mules were seriously strong not only to carry us, but the trails we were on were very rugged and washed out some due to the heavy rain from the storms.



Throughout the experience, there is a dedicated photographer taking action and still photos of us on the zip line. What was more incredible is that we were the only ones on the lines so all the photos were just of us. Some incredible shots were taken and post on this blog.



Once we returned to the base, we removed our gear and then tried to wash up as much as we could. The grease is hard to remove.



After cleaning up, we took a short tour of how they make tequila and a tasting demonstration. The tasting part was fantastic. We tried everything from a coffee favor to 7 year old tequila. The portions were small, but the taste was fantastic. Jenny ended up purchasing chocolate favored tequila.



Before leaving the zip line tourist area, we had the chance to view our photos. We purchased the entire disk. It was expensive, but totally worth it.



We boarded a similar open air bus we rode in earlier; however this time there was no rain. It was dry. The ladies from Scotland rode back with us, they did another tour. The best part of the return trip is the bus dropped us off at the entrance of our hotel. We saved on cab fare. It was actually nice to walk to the hotel because we were able to experience the tropical rainforest area before arriving at the hotel lobby and the Pacific Ocean.



After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we walked back to the lobby and met Cindy’s dad who was waiting for us in the lobby. We all went to the lunch buffet; it was a late lunch, 2:00pm. The girls ate pizza from the Italian restaurant, however they delivered to them. Lunch was great.



Following lunch, we headed to the pools and beach at our hotel. Amazing, after the crazy flooding rain last evening and this morning, the sun came out and it was partly to mostly sunny. The temperatures were in the high 70’s, great sun goddess weather. The ocean water was too cold (typical Pacific Ocean water), however the pool water was fantastic. We did set up our hotel lounge chairs on the beach though. We ordered and the drinks were served at the beach. This is good stuff.



Around 5:00 pm, we headed to the pool bar to relax for a happy hour cocktail. In the process, we meet a couple with their two grown college boys from Wisconsin. They were super nice and easy to talk with. We all drank tropical drinks, something we are normally accustomed too. This was a great relaxing moments.



Prior to returning our room, the tequila bar was open and so was the pool table. Each of us played another round of pool. Still, a competitive game. Todd did do much better today.



We returned to the room and cleaned up and got dressed for dinner. We returned to our room just in time for the sunset. The sunset this evening was partially blocked with the clouds low in the horizon, however visible enough to enjoy this awesome site. The setting was perfect, crashing waves on the beach with the sun setting in the background. Romantic.



Tonight we are eating at the Spanish restaurant. The restaurant was designed with a Spanish influence with the accompanying music. The restaurant was open, loud, and full of energy. The food and service was great. I think some of us thought the food would be similar to the Mexican food back in the states, however it is authentic Mexican food, much different from home.



Before calling it an evening, we stopped by the bar again, just off the lobby, close to the coffee shop, to have after dinner drinks. This time was a good to relax at the end of the day.



Today was an awesome and adventurous day. This was the best experience you could ask for considering we missed the first full day on the cruise.





We really look forward to tomorrow, we are meeting our cruise.

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