Saturday, March 22, 2008

Day 6 Nov 26 - ATV Ride & Snorkeling at the Beach

Since Sunil, Sneha and Esha took off that morning to the airport to fly to Oahu, Chandan had booked ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) tour for the four of us. We had to report at an activity store at Kaanapali where we would be picked up for the ATV tour. We also rented and changed into camouflage cargos and khaki t-shirt to be prepared for the muddy tracks as we weren't prepared to ruin our clothes.
TIP: An alternate to renting the gear-wear one of your old throw away t-shirts and some rugged pair of cargos or nylon tracks you may have.

We took a ride in a van to a ranch by the foothill where the tour would commence. We were instructed of YA-YA s and NO-NO s of the ride and were given bandannas eye glasses and helmets for safety. After we were geared up, we were escorted to our ATVs and asked to board them. Overall we were 5 couples on the tour and every couple got to share a ride. There were 2 very enthusiastic Canadian couples who seemed to be enjoying their trip. They expressed how much they enjoyed the best November sunshine and warm weather of Maui as for them usually in Canada it would already be freezing this time of the year. The guided tour had 2 tour guides one who led the tour, whom we followed and the other who followed us to make sure no one strayed.
Shashi took charge behind the wheel and I took the passenger seat. I had to grab on to the rails as the vehicle bounced up and down and sprinted through the crazed beaten path. The ride was very thrilling even though it was a guided tour and was not meant to be a race. We stopped at the ranch gazebo to stop of refreshments. The ranch overlooked the beautiful rain forest and valleys. Shashi & Chandan demonstrated the effects of echo in the valley. It was fun to hear their voices bounce over the mountain walls and back.
We were thrilled to discover guava trees and ventured into trying some ripe ones. One of the guide's gave us a demo of dicing a pineapple on the fly merely by grabbing it by its hood and he didn't use a cutting board and did all the chopping midair. He skillfully diced and served on the fly and it was spectacular to watch his skillful hands carve away so wishfully. After mouth watering pineapple slices, guava, and water we headed back on the tour. We sprinted though the muddy path with dry red mud flying as we drove with a spectacular view of the ocean on one side and hills with vegetation on the other. After being on the ride for about half an hour, it started to get a little boring and monotonous as we were circling around similar sceneries. The ride soon ended and we were dropped off at the activity store
.We changed back to our clothes and headed to Whalers Village Shopping complex for lunch. We ate at the food court and decided to go to KiHei for some evening beach fun. En-route we stopped to have "Ganne Ka Rus" (Sugarcane Juice)at the Fruit stall, there were plenty of tropical fruits in display. But the juice wasn't close to what I had expected. The guy seemed to have added sugar to the juice, it was a disappointment, who would have known.

To KiHei beach
We got back on the road. Arriving at Kihei, we spotted a snorkeling gear rental store. We rented 2 sets of gears (snorkel, floatation belt, boogie board, flippers) and headed to the beach.

Chandan & I decided to go in the water while Shashi and Payal sat back on the shore to watch. Chandan couldn't seem to get the snorkel working and he drank sea water several times. He decided to go into the water snorkel-free and just have fun. I too seemed to have some trouble with the snorkel in the beginning but later established a proper nose seal. However I couldn't walk with the flippers on and struggled with the boogie board in one hand, it was so difficult to maneuver. My every attempt to break through the waves was in vain. When I thought I was gaining depth, I was actually being pushed back to the shore.
Snorkeling fun continue...

Everybody at the shore had a hearty laugh watching my funny attempts. A lady who had just finished snorkeling advised me to get into the water first gain some depth and then wear my flippers.

I tried it and it seemed to work. I swam around making sure to stay close to the shore and spotted several fishes. Some people suggested to head to the rocks were a big sea turtle had been spotted earlier. With Shashi's assistance I went to the rocks and took a plunge into slightly deep waters. Easier to swim due to the depth, I went around for a while but couldn't spot any turtles. I did get to see few more fishes swim by. After a while my calves were tired and I got back to the shore, cleaned myself at the beach showers. Later we did some shopping and then headed straight back home. It was one great day full of thrills and fun.
Back home we decided to cook our last dinner at the Hale Hiluhilu house. Sneha, Sunil and Esha arrived before dinner. Our vacation was coming to an end and it was our last night in Maui. We played lot of card games and gambled with virtual money.

Chandan and Payal were the great virtual gamblers of the night. The night ended soon and we were all off to bed.

Sunil, Sneha and Esha at Oahu: Places visited- Arizona memorial, Pali Lookout, the infamous Waikiki beach. Fabulous day of sunny fun.


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