Scenery on the path to Dominica's Emerald Pool

I celebrated my birthday yesterday – a year after blogging about my great present. It was a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4K,digital camera with a wide angle lens. Now it’s available for under $175.

I’ve put it through quite a workout the past year, hauling it from Chile to California, but I almost lost it last week. I was hiking through the incredible Caribbean island of Dominica, climbing through rainforests and crossing a field where volcanic-heated water bubbles to the surface.  It was the Boiling Lake hike, one of the highlights of the island.

I was crossing a river, picking a path across slippery rocks, when my boots slipped from under me. Next thing I knew I was in the (nicely heated) water and my camera, which was tucked in a pocket, was soaking wet.

I jumped up and pulled it out, but it seemed too late. The camera wouldn’t turn on and the lens was permanently extended. I finished the hike with a heavy heart. But I had a plan. When I had a water mishap with my cell phone, my son told me to put it in a bowl of dry rice. I thought he was nuts, but the rice absorbed the moisture and a few days later the phone was fixed.

Would it work for a camera?

One of the last shots before I took a tumble

I bought some rice, and tried. The first few days nothing happened, but once I got home, the camera powered up, although it wouldn’t take a picture.

Last night, however, it was capturing images again.

What a great birthday present! It was like getting a new camera two years in a row.