Are you guys sick of my vacation pictures yet? We’re almost done. (or can be if you just give the word!)

Bahamas was the last port of call. It was changed at the last minute from Cozumel. Apparently the swine flu outbreak in Mexico caused a little panic. Really?  It’s too bad that the media didn’t give it any more attention!  :)  Needless to say, we were OK with the change of port.  Mike and I have been to Cozumel before and have had the opportunity to dive there, so we were all for going someplace new.

We were going to dive again in Bahamas, but at the last minute decided against it.  It was a beach dive which is just not my favorite.  So, we decided to continue our trend of trying new and crazy things, and check out parasailing!  Let me just back up for a minute.  Has anyone ever traveled abroad and had the thought, “there is no way that you would be able to do something like this in the US?”  For example… hiking the Mayan Ruins in Cancun… those super steep steps with hundreds of people all over them and no support rail.  Never mind the amount of waivers you would need to sign, you really think the general public would be allowed to climb all over ANCIENT RUINS here in the US?  I digress… My point being, I am often surprised and grateful that it is a little easier to enjoy activities and sightseeing abroad.

So here we are, boarding the parasailing boat with a few other people for the OPPORTUNITY to fly 300 feet above the surface of the water for 5-6 minutes with nothing holding us but a ROPE.  A rope that we soon discover that is starting to FRAY.  Oh, yeah… you heard me.  There is no instruction given, emergency procedures, or hey, what to do in case the rope does break and you go flying up to 500+ with the strong wind gusts we were experiencing!  Did we even sign our life away?  Um, no.  Guess they figured if something went wrong, we would be dead and we couldn’t sue then.  We were given a life jacket.  (Thank you, but I’m thinking crashing into the ocean from 400+ feet in the air, drowning is not going to be my main concern.)

Anyway,we are on the islands… no worries… just be happy, mon; go with it.  So, we did.  I actually was quite excited.  It was such a rush and amazingly calm up there!  We “sailed” by our cruise ship and were quite a bit taller than that monster.  We were WAY up there.  Just sitting on a “swing” as the guy told us.  Mike and I went up together which made it fun.  I’m not sure if I will do it again.  It’s expensive, but it was definitely worth the one time experience.  I highly recommend it.  Just don’t forget the life jacket and go FIRST so you can’t see the frayed rope when the other guys go before you!

Oh, and did I mention that you should go with someone who knows how to drive a boat?  Yeah, the captain asked Mike to drive for a bit because he needed to work on the parasail.  Ha!

Here we go… on our way up up and away!

Coming back in.

Do you see the red, white and blue belt (swing) that Mike is sitting on?  Well, on his left side, you see it looped through his life jacket belt. Yeah, that is what attaches us to the swing.  You are literally just sitting on a swing holding on.  That is not a harness… it is a bar creating a swing.

We also decided to explore some of the Bahamas from sea level.  This was fun, but a LOT more work. We joined a kayaking group and paddled through some pretty choppy waters and wind to get to a sand bar and deserted island.  We say a few sting ray on our way out there, and lots of sand crab once we got there.  The water is crystal clear!  A little choppy due to the storm that was approaching, but it was enjoyable.

Here’s just a few shots from the island…

I have a few more pictures from the cruise ship and our time in Miami… if you are sick of these, I don’t need to post them!