Hawai – Confessions of a Lady Sindbad

Come On Baby Light My Fire

Rincon de la Vieja -1,916m. It has 9 craters and a large number of fumaroles and hot springs on its slopes. The name means “The Old Woman’s Corner”, a reference to a local legend about a girl whose lover was thrown into the crater by her father. She became a recluse living on the mountain, and was credited with powers of healing Costa Rica – 18 March 2018,
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Arenal -1,670m. This conic volcano has a crater 140 m in diameter. We made it in time for the sunset Costa Rica – 15 March 2018

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Kilauea–1,247m.We were lucky it was active. The hotel concierge advised us to take our chances and head there instead of calling the monitoring center to inquire about the volcano’s activity because that may be misleading as by the time we reach there the eruption might be over. Later on, we followed some other tourists’ recommendation and biked, then hiked in a pitch-black night to observe the incandescent lava flowing into the ocean *Hawaï, Big Island – 24 April 2017*

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*Haleakala* crater- 3045m. This massive shield volcano forms more than 75% of the island. Another volcano forms the western 25%., Maui, *Hawaï – 20 April 2017*

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*Lake Atitlan*’s famous trio *San Pedro’s-3,020m-,* *Atitlan-3,535m-, & Toliman -3,158m.* *Guatemala* – *31 October 2015*

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*Mount Fuji*– 3,776m. This iconic conic snow-topped volcano is the highest mountain in Japan, and a World Heritage site since 2013. Majestic, despite the works beneath *Honshu,* *Japan – 28 March 2015*

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2010, Indonesia, Bali, Mount Batur – 1,717m- is an active Volcano. We left the hotel at 3:00 am; after around a 2 hours hike we reached the caldera and along with another friend, I resumed the last leg up to the peak- another half hour. From our promontory we watched silently the sunrise bringing life to the still life around us.

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*Mount Eden-*196m. This dormant volcanic cone overlooks Auckland and offers one of the best views of the city *Auckland*, *New Zealand – 8 April 2008,*

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*Mount Teide* – 3,718m. According to hubby, the honeymoon turned out to be more like a boot camp…day tours and night shows: barely few hours’ sleep *Tenerife*, *Canary Islands – 16 July 1985*

Tattoos and Macademias

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// Part 6 of 7 //

Last year, I had such a great time in Hawaï that I considered getting a tattoo; not exactly, a Hawaiian design (too macho), just a tiny one on my inner arm to commemorate this extraordinary trip on my skin…

My wish astonished my husband:

-I have a needle phobia… I dread the medical test I undergo every other year before the renewal of my UAE residency.

– I was against my son getting one when he was a teenager (his wife is happy about that now)

I didn’t leave Hawaï with a body imprint, but I left Mexico with one : it seems the famished mosquitoes broke their fast on my poor body and had a feast on my skin….The significant amount of bites in a certain area made it look like cellulite…. red, painful and itching cellulite

PS: I left Hawaï with an ephemeral “ piece of Hawaï”: I brought as many macadamia nuts as the expiry dates on the packaging allowed, and whenever I felt nostalgic I helped myself to some… their distinctive flavor – the way they’re roasted – was enough to make me feel I was back there…eventually they ran out after a few months… I knew I had a temporary souvenir and enjoyed it while it lasted.

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My Secret Lover

This is for all the good times I enjoyed with my secret lover. Yes, I’m admitting it now, I’ve had one for many many years.

This relationship only brought me extreme happiness and fond memories. I still remember how I used to check furtively the time while helping the children out with their homework. I’d steal a glance at my watch longing for our daily dates then I’d rush quickly – literally running outside – in anticipation of the strong emotions I’d feel whenever I feast my eyes on my lover…and because being one minute late meant I’d be stood up!!

I didn’t mind this zero tolerance stance because of the flexibility I was allowed: my love never missed a date, followed me everywhere even to Lebanon and didn’t mind if I was too busy to show up!

The other thing I enjoyed about my lover: I could be myself; I didn’t have to dress up for our daily date…casual outfit, no salon visit.

How convenient is that!

How did I manage to keep this relationship going on for so long? Honestly it wasn’t arduous despite my lover ‘s dynamic schedule (a fluctuation range of one and a half hour plus or minus ) for I was fortunate we lived conveniently near the Corniche so I cleverly timed my routine jog according to our daily dates.

Our relationship came to an abrupt halt when we relocated to a new house, quite distant from the Corniche…just like that.

For all those waiting for me to reveal the identity of my secret lover, sorry to disappoint, no juicy info: it’s the Sun right before it sets…

Well it must be something really out of this world to be able to compete with my hombre

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