Wednesday, February 22 Barbados
We docked in Bridgetown, the capital. The island is 14 miles wida and 27 miles long. It was uninhabited when the English settled in 1627. Now, more than 90% of the people are of African descent and their dialect, known as Bajan, makes their official language, English, very unique. Tourism is the main economy and exports are sugar, molasses and rum.

A bus took us to a "Beach Carnival" where the people helped us get settled on the beach and pampered us all afternoon. Included in the price were hot dogs and hamburgers, live entertainment and all kinds of rum drinks!

Ron (middle of photo) was amazed at how easily he floated in the salt water.

One of the guys told Ron "You're gonna burn, mon." and brought him a chunk of aloe vera plant that was about 6 inches thick and 2 feet long! When I took this photo, he already had a number of rum drinks under his belt. I had only two pina coladas.

"Spirit Dancers" performed to ward off evil and, above the beach, the Caribbean music played on.

When we got back to the ship, Ron went straight to bed. He said that's the first time he ever experienced a spinning room. So I went for supper alone and lost the rest of my winnings at the casino that night.

Day Three, Tuesday, February 21 Dominica
Dominica, 29 miles long (49km) and 16 miles (25km) at its widest, rises to almost 5,000 feet. Formerly both English and French colonies, it is a mix of English, French, African, and Carib peoples. Its lush rainforests receive over 300 inches of rain per year.

Our ship docked in the capital, Roseau. There were hundreds of little sidewalk vendors selling all kinds of crafts and souvenirs. Ron was more interested in the musicians.

A small, open tour bus took us on a terrifying hour-long journey up the mountain along a narrow road. On one side we could almost touch the side of the mountain and the other dropped hundreds of feet into the valley. When we met a vehicle coming down, both slowed down to a crawl and there were just inches between the two vehicles!

Then an aerial tram took us even higher into the rain forest. During the 90-minute trip, there were frequent showers. The sky would suddenly break and dump torrents of rain for a few minutes and then, just as suddenly, the sun would reappear.

Unfortunately, it was called "winter" (at 85F?) when we were there and wildlife was scarce. We saw a few parrots flying in the distance some hummingbirds. While Ron went for a short hike with the others at the top, a young tram operator showed me some agouti which are large, shy rodents native to only Dominica. Of course, Ron had the camera with him.

Have you ever tried to grow Birds of Paradise at home? They're plentiful here. The huge plants on the right (bromelaids?) grow off the sides of tall trees, high above the ground. They always hold rainwater. The tree frogs lay their eggs in them and the tadpoles develop there too.

Can you see the dark nuts on this tree? (I've forgotten the name of it.) Researchers in France think they've found a cure for AIDS, made from these nuts, found only in Dominica.

Then we had to brave the bus trip back down to Roseau.

....And that evening at the ship's casino, I lost half of my winnings from the nights before.

Today I'll be posting our next day in the Caribbean, Dominica (pronounced DOM-in-EEK-a). I'd love to hear some of your comments: just click on "0 Comments" and it will tell you how to do it.

I have to tell you about a "believe-it-or-not" that has nothing to do with the Caribbean. I have a '92 Dodge Caravan that I bought new. The kids and I went camping with it and both learned to drive with this vehicle. Ron and I took good care of it and two days ago, it was in excellent condition, the body like new, with very low mileage.
Last week, we took it to Kal Tire to get an oil leak repaired. The oil leak was fixed but it came home leaking transmission fluid so we took it back. The mechanic who caused the leak was rude and resentful about having to correct his error. Apparently after doing the job, he took it for a test drive AND ROLLED MY CARAVAN!
Kal Tire's insurance will pay for it but we still don't know if it's repairable.

Correction! It was nearly nine years ago that the kids went snorkling in Megan's Bay and Deb and I tanned on that beach.

Day Two, Monday, February 20 -St. Thomas
My second time here but the beauty of St. Thomas was still as captivating. We docked in Havensight on the Caribbean side and shared a small tour bus (open-sided) with one other couple.

That's our ship, Carnival Destiny.


The tour took us over the mountains to the Atlantic side of the island.

Near this beach (can you find Ron?) we saw iguanas cooling themselves in the foliage of the trees but they wouldn't show up in our photos.




Megan's Bay is where Becca and Phil went snorkling six years ago. I'ts rated among the best beaches in the world.

Behind my back in the photo of the bay was "Ponce de Leon's Seat." He kept his ships in the bay and, from this viewpoint above, he could watch for enemy ships approaching from afar.

Back in Havensight. That's our ship behind me.

By the way, when Ron woke up that morning, he was as red as a lobster and willingly used my Watkins Aloe Vera sunblock while in St. Thomas.

I won another $350 at the casino that evening.

Day One, February 18 San Juan
We arrived the night before and stayed at a charming bed & breakfast.
Just down the street was a sidewalk pub/restaurant where we ate baby octopus (cooked, of course) and marveled at the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the narrow streets. As Caribbean music blasted from the open windows, the drivers were so courteous to each other and nobody lost their cool! We could definitely take some lessons from them.

We spent most of the day exploring the neighborhood on foot and soaking up the sun on the beach (on the Atlantic) just around the corner from our hotel. Ron insisted that he was going to tan with his oil and ignored my pleas to use a sunscrean. Needless to say, he would come to regret this!

That evening, we boarded our ship. That evening, I won over $400 at the casino and we explored all the night clubs on board.