February 5, 2021 
āļø #32 The Blind Sightseers “Escape The Lockdown” With Distant Memories: “Costa Maya, Mexico”š²š½(2016)Ā
Hi friends and welcome to this monumental, inconceivable and definitely memorable blind sightseers tour….!
Ā Sarah welcomes you to Costa Maya…
Our Kayak excursion didnāt start for a couple of hours, so we had time for a look around yet another nice dock. As youāll remember from a couple of days ago Sarah said:
“Why donāt you get them to braid your hair as the wind’s been annoying you all day, and you wonāt have to touch it for the rest of the holiday?!
Ā Sarahās hair has been blowing around all over the place since we arrived in Jamaicaā¦And now it was her turn for the braides, no more worrying about āWHSā (windy hair syndrome). Ā š¤£Ā
Right, now is the time for the kayaking excursion. Wow what a bumpy coach rideā¦”Oohhh a lighthouse, quick Steve pass me your phoneā. We were being thrown around all over the place but Sarah just managed (no idea how) to get a glimpse of the lighthouse! š² Ā
The Kayaking beach…
This is what greeted us as we got off the coachā¦š² Ā Ā
Ā After putting all of our things in our backpacks and securing them in the lockers back in the bar type place just out of shot (above) we made our way back onto the beach to get our life jackets and meet our kayak.
We all gathered around the instructor as he demonstrated how to enter properly, how to paddle and of course the safety drills. I said to Sarah āI think this is a step too far, i canāt see him or anything heās pointing at or showing us, but i am listening to what heās sayingā she said āOnce we get you in the kayak youāll be fine as i know you have done canoeing as a kid and itāll all come back to you as itās very similarā.Ā
Now it was our turn to enter the two seater glass bottomed kayak (well i almost fell in as it was a lot lower than i thought) and as i fell i head butted Sarah on the way down. Sarah said she was fine but after i regained consciousness she passed me the paddle. āOh yes, itās just like the ones i used as a kid when canoeing with my dad. Itās going to be okā¦Oh wait, i canāt see where iām going, lol!) š¤£Ā
Sarah took her position in the back seat as the navigator. We thought she could hit my left shoulder to go left and right shoulder for right, that makes sense, i just hope i donāt get her paddle around my head (accidentally of course, lol!) š¤£ Ā
As the instructor pushed us away we heard lots and lots of wow, cheering and nervous laughter. It was an amazing feeling to be floating out on the still waters and with a glass bottomed kayak Sarah could see the ocean floor. After while everyone got into the swing of things and we managed to form an orderly queue behind the instructor. šŖš¼ Ā
We followed him out to sea until we stopped over the barrier reef. Everyone was Ooohh and woowwwoooing so it must have been beautiful. It felt amazing being in crystal clear waters with no land in sight, we just sat there stunned. š² Ā
We paddled a little further and we seemed to overtake most of our group as they had sunk and were trying to get back into the kayak (wow they are sighted too so we must be doing something right, lol. Steve donāt get too cocky too soon).
The instructor stopped a lttle further on and we all bunched together. He was trying to pass something round for people to hold but the people were not impressed. Then he came to meā¦Before Sarah had time to say āHeās blind and canāt see it and he doesnāt like creepy crawliesā he had put it on the top of my handā¦šØĀ
It felt soft and obviously wet and if i could see i probably wouldnāt have let him put this black death starfish onto my hand. It looked like a massive tarantula to me as i could just make out the black against my skin. I was just waiting for the huge teeth to sink into my flesh and tear it from my bonesā¦When he took it back and placed it into the sea. Phew!
Wow i wish i had a GoPro video camera, itās simply stunning…
āHey Sarah watch this!ā i said as we were gathering speed. āWow a handbrake turnā. I remember as a kid and learning canoeing, that if you jam the end of the paddle straight down and grip firmlyā¦Then the canoe spins round about 180 degrees (similar to a handbrake turn in a car) and i thought iād see if it happened the same way in a kayakā¦It did and as i was really impressed with myself for pulling it off Sarah was quietly impressed (i think, lol). šŖš¼ Ā
More Barrier Reef…
We stayed out over the barrier reef for another hour or so just paddling slowly, then stopping and taking in the vast ocean and the feeling of fresh air with the gentle rocking of the kayak, it was so peacefulā¦A little too peaceful!Ā
āWhere is everyone?ā i said as i could see no other kayaks or the shoreline. āI donāt know i think they have headed back to get the sun loungers for the next hour of the excursionā We were quite far out and couldnāt figure out which way to head back to shore. I started thinking of the Jaws film and the zoomed in shots of the faces crumpled in fear as the shark fin circles in closer and closer. šØ Ā
āI think itās that wayā Sarah said as she hit my right shoulder. āOk, letās goā. We started heading slightly towards the shore when…
A really loud whistle and a shout came from our 2 oā clock. It was the instructor from what seemed like miles away but we could hearr him as though he was sanding right next to us. That was the sound i needed and swiftly pointed the kayak in his direction and floored it! š¤£ Ā
Back on shore…Ā
Ā I love palm trees, especially this shape (above) and this one is just fantastic!Ā
Ā Yay we made it!! Our first kayaking adventure and it was simply breathtaking. The Blind Sightseers have managed another challengeā¦Now lets go and relax for a while. šŖš¼ Ā
After a nice slice of pizza (with salad as iām being good) we took our towels and inclusive bottle of local lager and found two sun loungers between two palm trees. The white sand and the crystal clear sea framed our afternoon perfectly! āļø š“Ā
Ā Iām not sure if this was a private resort but the beach was emptyā¦Yay! š
Sarah then says “Oh, we forgot to take any photos of the kayaksā¦Steve stand here and iāll take some photosā āBut i think there is another group starting their kayaking?!ā ājust stand still and smile, lolā š¤£ Ā
āNow go and stand in the sea so our WordPress family actually know that youāre on this trip, and donāt forget to smileā š¤£ Ā
Ā My lovely wife Sarah absolutely love swimming, splashing sitting in the sea, love the hot sun and the powdery white sand and she has got all 3 today. I love taking her photos when sheās so happy and has that lovely beaming smile that lights (and warms) her whole being. š Ā
Ā It was now (sadly) time to leave this beautiful place, jump on the coach and return back to the ship. We were tired but couldnāt stop ourselves having a beeming grin all the way back as we had just conquered kayaking and had a lovely time in paradise! šĀ
But Sarah didnāt stop there… She just had enough time to capture this stunning view.Ā
Ā Back on the dock…
As we had a little time on the dock, we thought weād take some more photos of this lovely place. Ā
Ā Yayā¦We came, we saw and we conquered!Ā šŖš¼Ā š¤£ Ā Ā Ā
Back in the coffee portā¦ā Ā
Ā After such an exciting day filled with an omnifarious amount of emotions, there is no better way to chill than the coffee port. Wow what a view! āĀ
Thanks for joining us on this wonderful excursion, we couldnāt have done it without you! āļøĀ
Wait until you hear about tomorrows adventureā¦Itās a long post but youāll understand why very soon! šØ
Hope youāve enjoyed the adventure todayā¦Let me know your favourite part?! š¤ Weāll meet tomorrowā¦Same timeā¦Same place for another adventure!Ā šĀ
ā¬ Ā Previous DayĀ š“Ā Next DayĀ ā”
šĀ Join us:
- Tuscany Tour
- Transatlantic Sunset Cruise
- Matlock Bath
- Mayan Treasures Cruise
- Classical Greece Cruise
- Treasures of the Mediterranean Cruise
- Seven Isles Cruise
- Barbados – Southern Palms #1
- Tough Mudder 5K
- Tropical Delights Cruise
- Barbados – Southern Palms #2
- Aegean Shores Cruise
- Ancient Kingdoms Cruise
- Ultra Step Challenge
Oh yes, you did answered what I asked. Definitely a plus with being able to just delete unwanted photos. I’m old enough to be in the era where you had to turn in rolls of film and hope it wasn’t a waste of money with them being crappy photos – lol. I also thought maybe your camera had an audio feature on it that helps with picture taking. Not sure how that would work, but they do all sorts of things with technology these days.
Hi, yeah i also remember the old film days and either developing them ourselves, or sending them into the shop and waiting to see if any (or all) of the photos were wasted, lol. I wouldn’t be able to do any photos if i didn’t have digital.
As i use the ‘Voiceover’ screenreader feature on my iPhone, the camera app has been slowly getting better (and more accessible) over the years. Now it shouts out if a person is in the viewfinder, the position of the person i.e centre, bottom left etc. It also shouts out ‘window, TV, sofa’ etc and best of all it tells you to tilt the phone left or right to level it up! All these little features help and it keeps improving with new phones or software updates. Also as i get the biggest phone i can, it makes the view finder massive and much bigger than the tiny viewfinders on my old DSLR’s. š
Do you still take lots of photos?
Well, it seems it wasn’t going too far. You posted this after doing it. lol I know here in the US someone can be considered legally blind even if they have some vision. Like someone with no peripheral vision. Do you have any sight at all? Are you able to see at least a little bit in the distance? With your picture taking (they are so centered) and the the remark about not seeing any kayaks or the shoreline, I have to ask.
Hey there! Wow…I didn’t think anyone reads my posts, never mind reads them all the way through, lol! š¤£ I love the questions!
I have no central vision at all so everything in front of me simply vanishes. Also the central part is where we focus and rely on reading…I have none of them. I can’t see to rea anything as i have my screenreader on my iMac and iPhone to speak everything out loud for me. I have some peripheral vision which is light sensitive but super blurry! I can sometimes make out lines if they have high contrast…Like if i’m looking around a beach, i can sometimes make out when the beach hits the sea or the sea hits the rocks etc.
When i’m walking around with Sarah i suddenly stop as some lines of landscape have caught my attention as they have lined up right in my eyes…Then i take a photo (often not knowing what it is) but with digital photography these days i can just delete if it’s no good, lol.
I spend hours on my photos (i know you wouldn’t believe it, lol) cropping to a grid with fulll zoom on my computer. This is not easy for me and it often burns my eyes out doing it, but i like my photos to be centred…Even if it kills me! š¤£
About 4%-5% of all who are registered (legally) blind have no sight at all…Then the rest hae all kinds of variations of levels of vision. I’ve had 20 years of adapting to anything that can make the slightest improvement to my sight and life…It’s never been this good though as technology has transformed my life in a big way! š
Not sure if i’ve just babbled on…Or if i’ve actually answered what you’ve asked me?! Please ask away if anything else comes to mind! š