The swimming pools looked like reflecting ponds, and the kiddie pool even had a real sand beach and water only 1 foot deep. There were gardens surrounding the pools and even in the middle of the pools. And if you're more of a beach person, there were 4 large, spectacular lagoons, all within walking distance. The grounds were even more spectacular than those on Maui and Hawaii, which I wouldn't have thought was even possible. The resort had loads of activities for folks to join in if they chose, including feeding the fish at 7:30 in the morning at one of the lagoons. OK, so Dale fed the buggers and I took photos. No surprise there.
Then we discovered that if we were to take a look at the time-shares, we could get a half-day cabana rental and a 3 hour katamaran ride, which included snorkeling and dolphin watching, for free! Now if I'm going to get a chance to shoot photos of real,wild dolphins, I'm definitely there!
In the late afternoon or early evening, we'd make our way over to the family home for a big family dinner cooked by Elton's wife Maeva. The whole clan would gather each night, which was great fun. And Maeva can make a ton of really excellent food! One night she did Hawaiian food, another she did teriyaki, and another Chinese. All homemade, from scratch. 'The real kind stuff!' And the two of us would sit out in this great little garden area she has fixed up with plants, garden gnomes, and lights, and drink wine and smoke and 'talk story' and laugh and complain and laugh some more! I'm looking forward to doing that a lot more often with Maeva......
