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MORTECH
COMPUTERS
"No matter how much you have, you can always use MOR"
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Day 4:
Roadtown, Tortola BVI:
 Back Row: Wendy, Joe, Pete, Angie, Jim, Rebecca Front Row: Robbie, Livvie, Maddie This is the day we were most excited about... we were going to swim with the dolphins at the local Dolphin Discovery aqua-park that was located on the outskirts of Roadtown. Although our adventure wasn't scheduled until later in the afternoon, I couldn't sleep, so I got up early and watched the ship sail into port. This was quite an achievement since maneuvering such a large vessel in not easy to do. So specialized this operation is, that they have to shuttle the local harbour pilot on board to take care of it. The process takes quite long in fact since the ship is traveling at a very slow speed. Once the ship is within a few feet, crewmembers throw ropes to dock workers on shore. The smaller ropes are pulled ashore and are attached to bigger ropes and bigger ropes until they are attached to huge cables, 15-20 cm in diameter. The cables are so heavy, that it takes two dockworkers to lift them onto the mooring anchors. Once anchored to shore, the winches on board the ship tighten the cables and pull the ship closer to the dock. This process is repeated until the entire length of the ship is properly secured and takes about a full hour to complete. After breakfast we prepared for our day ashore and off we went. It was a beautiful day again today, and sunscreen was again a necessary accessory. Every time you leave the ship and return, you have to show your passport and have your ID card scanned. This is how they regulate who has gone ashore and who is left to come back aboard. This also prevents anyone from getting left behind. As soon as we were ashore there was a makeshift shopping plaza where you could buy some of the local crafts, souvenirs, t-shirts etc... There were also booths where the girls could get their hair braided so Angie had a couple of braids put in Livvie's and Maddie's hair. Did I mention it was hot?! Unfortunately the tents that were set up were not adequate shade making devices to cool us off, so we went on in Roadtown in search of some shops w/ air conditioning. After a morning of leisurely browsing through the shops, we decided to stop at Pusser's, a local pub that is as famous for its BBQ chicken as it is for its specialized Rum drinks... and it was air-conditioned! That was all the convincing we needed, so we stopped in for some lunch and some refreshments. By this time it was time to start thinking about going on our dolphin excursion, so we headed back to the ship to meet up with Mom and Dad who had gone on a tour of the island in the morning. The rendezvous point for the Dolphin Discovery is right at the ship so after we were issued our passes, we hopped aboard a couple open air shuttle buses. The Dolphin Discovery is about a 10-15 minute drive away. Upon arrival, they took us into a classroom where they told us what to expect and how to behave... we were then separated into 3 groups and issued life vests (safety first), for everyone. Then 3 guys with a video cameras started filming all of us in our respective groups. We were then introduced to our "trainer" and were escorted over to a couple of docks, which were separated into a number of fenced off pens under water. Each group had its own pen and we were asked to get in the water and stand on the platforms along the side. We were then introduced to "our" dolphin. Our group's dolphin was named Poseidon and was he ever amazing. Our trainer led him through the usual dolphin tricks you see on TV while telling us all about him, name, age, how long he has been there etc, as well as some physical characteristics etc. He did jumps, summersaults and back flips, swimming along the surface while waving to us etc. and each time he got a tasty fish as a reward. (Gollum would be jealous!) Then came the interactive part: we each took turns kissing Poseidon on the nose and then he "kissed" us back on each cheek while resting his head on our hands. Then we got to "dance" with him which was the dolphin "standing" straight in front of each of us with his fins extended so we could hold them. We were then asked to swim to the other side of the pen and he would swim up beside us so we could take hold of his fins and he would give us a ride back to the platform. All the while I noticed these guys filming us and taking pictures... Near the end of our adventure, the trainer showed us just how fast a dolphin could swim, and he let us "pet" him a couple times as he swam by. For a finale, he did the "walking backwards" trick you see in movies and a number of additional tricks. The whole adventure took about 20-30 minutes and then we had to shower off the salt water and dry off. We then went back into the classrooms where they showed us movies of what we just finished experiencing! This is why those guys were filming us all the time. Dad couldn't resist and decided to buy the DVD, since his children and grandchildren were featured "actors". We then went back into the centre court where there were dozens & dozens of pictures! You guessed it... After spending $150 to experience the adventure, and another $50 on the DVD they still didn't have enough of our money. There were at least 3 pictures of each of us... a small one with us being kissed by Poseidon, a medium of us swimming with him and a large one of the dancing. The cost was $10, $12, & $16 respectively and this is when the problem started... for me anyway. With 3 kids and 3 pictures each, we soon had over $100 in pictures, not even counting ours! I explained to the guy selling the pictures that this was too much money and since I had 3 kids and all three pictures of each turned out perfect, they should have some sort of "family plan". He agreed and said, if I bought all three of each child the small would still be $10, the medium would also be $10 and the large would be ONLY $12, for a total savings of $6 for each package! You can imagine that this didn't exactly thrill me as it was still $96 for the entire package, so the dealmaker and salesmen in me took over and I tried to reason with him... I explained that he already paid the photographer, and used up the photo finishing supplies to print the pictures... so I offered him $75 for the whole lot... still a reasonable offer I thought. He said he wasn't able to make that decision... I went on to say, look, I am not spending more than $75 so I either take 3 of the pics for $36 or all 9 for $75... either way he was making a sale, but it was up to him if he would make an add'l $40 in profit... again, still a good deal for him. He wouldn't budge and neither did I, so we ended up with the 3 mediums and he lost $40 in profit... Pictures of our day at Road Town Tortola B.V.I.:
After our day
at Roadtown, we were all pretty spent, so we headed back to the ship to
get
ready for another great dinner at the Vista
Dining Room. We were
curious to
see how they could top the night before. As we were preparing for
dinner,
the ship set sail for St. Thomas- US Virgin Island. Tonight,
at
dinner, Antonio decided he was comfortable enough, to try out some of
his jokes
on us... and along with this came some magic tricks. He did a great job
as
usual and we all had another great dinning experience. This was
something we
were getting very accustomed to and were quite spoiled as well. |
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