Sunday 24th April, Bridgetown - Barbados

We had asked the Shorex team not to book us for escorting duties at Barbados. It was a close shave, but we ended up with a free day. Actually, it was a free afternoon, because we didn't arrive at Bridgetown until 13.30. After a quick lunch, we set off to find something we'd promised ourselves - a beach and a swim, so we set off through the gauntlet of taxi drivers at the entrance to the port.

As usual it was hot, and as we walked on, we met passengers coming back with the message, "It's Sunday, everywhere is closed". Fortunately, we weren't shopping.

We walked for a good half hour before we got to "The Boatyard", a beach bar with control of a small stretch of glorious white sand. For $15 dollars each we could enjoy the facilities, get a free drink, and a taxi ride back to the ship. The only drawback was that the last shuttle taxi was at 4pm. We took advantage anyway and enjoyed a very pleasant hour and a half. The water was warm and I was able to snorkel, although there weren't many fish about, except around pier legs. We'll remember this place for future Barbados visits.

We caught the last shuttle taxi back to the ship which we shared with a few Americans on a Royal Caribbean cruise (their ship was berthed next to ours). They were mouthy, rude and completely disrespectful. Surely not all Americans are like that. Are they?

Back on board, it was a quick cup of tea, a shower and then time to start on the packing. Packing for going home is so much easier than when you start a journey or a holiday. It's just a case of throwing everything in - except although we've used stuff up and thrown stuff out - we still struggled to get our suitcases within the 23Kg weight limit.  Explain that then?

We had a farewell drink invitation with the Entertainments Manager and the other lecturers/crafters/dancers at 7pm, which ended up a bit of a giggle as everyone swapped stories. I'm sure we will bump into them again. Finally it was dinner in the Veranda Restaurant, then a couple of episodes of Star Trek in the cabin. (We know how to live don't we?) 

Tomorrow is disembarkation day when everyone just hangs around. We've decided to stay on the ship and in the cool, not wanting to get hot and bothered before we even start our journey. England is 6 hours ahead. Our plane is due to take off at 5.10pm Barbados time, and after 7 hours(ish), we arrive at London Gatwick at 6.20am. (I think). Then after the drive home, it will be our shower, our bed, our favourite takeaway, and a cup of tea made in our kitchen. Awesome!

I'm not looking forward to going back to work though. 

So that's it until next time. Peter will be going onto CMV's Magellan in October, but I can't make that one. My next cruise will be back on the Voyager in November, when we head for Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Indonesia. As you can imagine, I will be very excited to start on that one. (I just need a couple of weeks at home first).

Saturday 23 April - Fort-de-France, Martinique

Our tour today is billed as a superb botanical garden set in an old sugar plantation, which now accommodates a zoo. An hour's bus ride across Martinique got us to the site of Capitaine Latouche where we were told by our guide, that this place is not a Botanical Garden - it is a zoo. Many people were confused, as this is not what they thought they'd signed up for.

One of the birds in the tropical aviary of the zoo.  So colourful

Anyway, I can say that the grounds are full of the ruined buildings and workings of the old sugar plantation, which were interesting. It did use to be a botanical garden and there were loads of plants and cacti about that would have been part of that. It is also the Zoo de Martinique. It's not a very big zoo, but it is a zoo nonetheless. The combination of all three made for an appealing hour's walk around. Our guide was knowledgeable about the plants and plantation history, which also helped.

The waterwheel providing some of the the power to process sugar cane.  I love these old pieces of history.

For me, the highlight was this bird. I didn't catch it's name, but our guide told us it was rare in this part of Martinique, and I only managed to get one photo. Something I have to look up when we get home.  (Apparently it's a village weaver bird and an immigrant from Africa.  So there you go).

Our return trip took us on a twisting road through the mountains and the rain forest and past the active volcano, Mount Pelee. The scenery was quite awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures through the bus window, but I did get a picture of this hawk moth caterpillar. Apparently the Martiniquians (?) call them the Rasta caterpillars, because of their colours and they like Frangipan leaves I'm told. Apparently they turn into the Frangipan Hawk Moth.   I've seen them in Brazil, (I think).

Back at the ship, we took a leisurely lunch and decided it was time to take a look at Fort-de-France. As we went ashore, people coming back from the town were complaining that everywhere was closed. The further we walked, the more people we spoke to with the same grumble. We had decided to look for a beach and with map in hand, headed for Plage de la Francaise. There were loads of the local children swimming there, but it wasn't really much of a beach and didn't make us want to dive in.

So we to have a look at the ferry prices to get across the bay where apparently the beaches are much better. For €7 each we could get a return trip, but sadly, at was 15.30 and the last ferry from most of the beaches was at 16.30. In other words, we'd have to come back as soon as we got there. Something to remember if we ever visit this way again.

Instead, we kept on walking. Sticking mainly to the coastline we followed all sorts of paths and run down roads. We didn't really find anything worth mentioning except a "plague of crabs" (as Peter described them), in a sewage outflow. As we approached, they obviously heard us and all headed back to the sea - quite a sight.  It turns out that they are young Sally Lightfoot Crabs.  They start out black or olive in colour, and get really colourful as they get older.  So the big red one is older. 

The other thing we came across was this egret. The colouring is not something I've come across before, Something else to look up when we get home.  (I've since found out it's a Cattle Egret).

After a certain amount of exploring we turned to go back. Approaching the town centre, it was obvious the town was still closed - something we were surprised about for a Saturday afternoon - so we headed back to the ship.

The ship wasn't due to leave until 10pm - so we took advantage of the free port wifi in the evening. I managed to Skype my son in South Korea (it was morning for him). Good eh? Tomorrow afternoon we'll arrive in Barbados - our last stop before going home. No tours this time, and we are gonna make another attempt to find a beach.

Friday 22nd April - Pointe-a-Pitre - Guadeloupe

This morning we woke up in Pointe-a-Pitre, (which I want to keep calling Paint a Peter) and we are not on a tour. I repeat, no tour escorting duties today. Yippee.

Not that we mind going on the tours really, because we do get to see parts of the islands that we wouldn't otherwise. But we do like being able to spend time in with just ourselves too, and today we would be able to do just that.

Goudeloupe is a French Caribbean Island. I didn't know that. It means they use the euro, and they are part of Europe, sort of. Bizarre eh? It also means that Point-a-Pitre is very much like all the Caribbean towns we've visited, except everyone speaks French. In a way it's sort of comforting and not so strange. Anyway, we set of for a good ole wander around town.

Stunning art on these old walls.  You can't call it graffitti, it's far too good. 

A lot of the buildings were almost colonial in style, built of wood.  If you look at the one middle right, with all the balconies, you'll notice it has corrugated iron sides?

Really colourful markets, and this spice market smelt divine.

The vegetable market

I can't resist the birds, and this big brown pelican was hanging around outside the fish market.  Extraordinary bird. 

To be honest, apart from the markets and the street stalls, there was not much for us to see - but we enjoyed the stroll and an ice-cream in the local park.

We've seen most of the shows of an evening, and choose most nights not to watch them again. Instead, we often settle down in the cabin to watch a couple of episodes of Star Trek - broken up with a cup of tea on the back veranda looking out into the night sky. Very relaxing.

Tomorrow we are in Fort-de-France, Martinique. It's another French Caribbean Island, and yes, we are on tour in the morning, but the ship is in port until 10 at night, so we have all afternoon and evening to explore. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Thursday 21st April - Sea day

Today was a sea day and the Queen's 90th Birthday apparently. Peter had his art class - numbers were down to a much easier to handle 30+, and afternoon tea was a bit special and included birthday cake. It was formal night,

<< Peter doing his James Bond impression "Bond, James Bond".

And me trying to look glamorous. >>

Because Peter (was forced) put on his penguin suit, he insisted we watch the classical evening show, called Highly Strung in the Darwin Lounge. We enjoyed it, although occasionally I would have preferred less of the dancers, since the violinist was entertaining enough, and the dancers were just a distraction.

Tomorrow will be the French Caribbean - a new experience for us.

Wednesday 20th April - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Another day in paradise. We've had hot, hot weather and glorious sunshine since we boarded this ship back in March and today has been no different. So, at 8.45 this morning, under a hot sun, Peter and I duly climbed onto our respective coaches and counted heads on the "Ecological Encounter" tour.

Actually, the content of the tour was very good. First we had the visit to Three Eyes Park, an open air limestone cave housing three small lakes (pools really). Very pretty, and an amazing place. It might have been more amazing with less people.

One of the lakes had a tunnel at the far end.  These people are using a raft on a pulley system to get there. 

 Then we went to Santo Domingo's botanical garden. A lovely place and worthy of a couple of hours to wander.

Terrapins in the pond came to the edge, because they thought we were going to feed them. 

The spread of the branches on this tree is amazing!

But when you see the roots, you can understand how it manages it.
Quite splendid. 

And finally we finished at the Meson de la Cava, a restaurant inside a cave. The food was good, and cave was very cave like. Peter and I never got to eat inside, being the last to sit down, they had run out of space, so we sat outside. We were happier with that, inside seemed quite gloomy.

So as I said. Nice tour. Shame about the organisation or lack of it. At the first stop, no one explained what we were doing, stood outside the gates waiting. It turned out we were queuing, but I had to get to the front to find out why.   Then, we got to the gardens - complete chaos The guide didn't tell us we were on free time, so people were waiting for a non-existent guided tour, there was a disagreement about prices for the tickets for the land train, the park was big but there were no maps. Confusion reigned and the whole thing was a complete mess.

The restaurant managed us very well - but we were now an hour behind schedule and people were getting grumpy, wanting free time back at port. Our Shorex staff were not looking forward to the feedback. We were lucky though. The bus that went to the Cave of Wonders got rammed by a truck! (Nobody was hurt fortunately).

At the end of it all, we sat again on the veranda at the back of the ship, sharing mishap stories with the others in the "lecturer" category. Some of them were hysterically funny and cheered us up no end.

After dinner, show time in the Darwin Lounge was taken up by "Call My Bluff". They entertainment team don't tell the passengers who the contestants are, but I can say that the whole show is excellent entertainment and very funny. We'd seen it on the previous two week cruise, and although it was sort of repeated, the show is different each time. We could easily watch it again and again, as the jokes and ad libs are new in each show.

So that was the end of another day (finished up in truth with a cup of tea and an episode of Star Trek). Tomorrow is will be our last sea day and therefore it will be formal night. Posh togs again then.

Tuesday 19th April - Sea Day.

Today was a sea day, so we did sea day things. That is, we had a lie in, did some work on the blogs, had lunch and then Peter had his art class. It looks like he did scare them off - there were only 40 today, which at least meant that those who were in the room had a bit more space.

After the class, we spent time on the veranda gossiping until about 6, then back to the cabin to for a nap before dinner. After dinner, we couldn't be bothered with the show, so it was a couple of episodes of Star Trek, another cup or tea on the veranda, and then bed. Tomorrow we are escorting on another tour to another botanical garden. We have been promised a visit to an open air limestone cave occupied by three lakes. I think I'm looking forward to that.

Monday 18th April - Ocho Rios - Jamaica

Another port, another country, another tour and another botanical garden - the Coyaba River Gardens to be exact. But, to be honest, they were rather idyllic.

The gardens only occupy a small area, but the layout makes you feel that you are somewhere much larger - the plant life is luxurious, the only problem for us westerners were the caged animals. Funnily enough, the Jamaicans had only recently installed the cages thinking they were a good idea.  The lizard on the left is not caged though, but he was cute.  

One of the highlights of the gardens were the Mahoe Falls, which apparently you can climb. Unfortunately none of the guides within the gardens explained this to us, or indicated the route down to the bottom of the falls where you could paddle or swim. A shame, and something to remember if we ever come this way again.

It was lovely there though. 

In the afternoon, we decided to go for a perambulate around the town. To be honest, the port seems to be intent on keeping the tourists close by. There is a tourist "village" right alongside with bars, a beach, walkways and souvenir shops, but that isn't really our thing.

We managed to eventually find our way out and get to streets. We'd already visited the craft fair earlier, where the market vendors harangued us into not buying anything. In a way it smacked of desperation, and we didn't want to go through that again, so we avoided it.

Ocho Rios was is so full of character. Women sported hairstyles that were a work of art, braiding and colours included. A man with one leg, dressed in bright yellow, including striped socks - climbed out of a car and immediately joined a shouting match with two other guys in a garage. The shops spilled colours and patterns out into the streets and car horns pipped away constantly as drivers tried to race each other along the high street.

We eventually found a little bar where we could listen to a guy playing Reggae on the steel drums. Finally we felt like we were in the Jamaica that we've read and heard about.

Tomorrow it's another sea day and Peter will have another art class. Will there still be 50? Or did he frighten them off with that last session? Hmmmmmmm.............

Sunday 17th April - Santiago de Cuba - Cuba

So we are on tour again. We've already paid £15 each for our visas to visit Cuban, we did that at Havana - so these were what we've used for Santiago. Peter and I duly met up with the buses just outside the port and counted our passengers on. We were heading for La Gran Piedra, a large rock perched 1200 metres up on the top of a mountain. On the way we were to visit a botanical garden, and on the way back, a (very small) museum, a restaurant, and have a quick tour of Santiago city.

Although my bus was the first of four, we weren't able to set off until the others were ready. This is so we could be given a police escort! A Cuban policeman on a motorcycle drove in front, mostly it seems to make sure we weren't held up by traffic. My guide told me that this was because we were VIPs - which I instantly dismissed. It certainly got a few brain cells working wondering why. 

The tour held some interesting highlights, not least athe views as the bus drove up the mountain were quite breathtaking. I tried to get pictures, but as usual, a bumpy windy road doesn't help.

We stopped for a panoramic view and some photo's at a place called Olympus.  Trinkets and souvenirs were being sold and there was a single house. Apparently it used to be a school for 5 children but was now occupied by a family, washing in the yard, etc. Two of my passengers wanted to use the loo, and ended up asking the lady of the house if they could use hers. Personally I was quite shocked. If a bus load of tourists stopped outside my home and asked for a bathroom break, I'm not sure how I would react.

The Cuban lady was very helpful and showed the passengers to her loo. Now it was their turn to be shocked. The loo turned out to be a box with a hole cut into it perched over a hole in the ground. I knew how basic it was going to be and ran at them with the sanitizer as they came out of the house.

The little house that used to be a school at Olympus. You can see the loo I mentioned. 

Our next stop was 10 minutes up the road. The buses all parked on the road and we walked about 500m along a dirt track to the a botanical garden where the bathroom was a little more acceptable. Apparently, slaves had worked in this area in years gone by, and the remains of the buildings that they'd lived and worked in had become part of the garden.

This part of the garden used to be the sleeping blocks for the slaves. 

And then to the stop that Peter and I had been waiting for. The buses took us to a bar and restaurant at the bottom of the climb to Gran Piedra. (We still had our police escort at this point by the way). Apparently there are 434 steps up to the top from this point and although some stayed to enjoy the view from this, most of us elected make the climb and enjoy the awesome views from the top.

All too soon it was time to come down. Our escort had gone now, but uur next stop was a museum farmhouse Granjita Siboney - apparently a load of rebels had used the farmhouse as a base before attacking government forces on Uprising Day in 1953. Bullet holes in the walls were interesting.

Back in Santiago, we got to see Revolution Square. I was amazed at the buses used by the Cubans, they looked more like cattle trucks.

Central monument of Revolution Square 

Buses in Cuba

The restaurant we were taken to was lovely. It had obviously been set up for just us tourists and a man stood guard at the door, not letting anyone else in. The food was goo - a traditional Cuban meal of rice and beans, fish and pork- and once again we were entertained by a live Cuban band. Actually, make that a LOUD Cuban band, conversation was destroyed as the group sang. Very cultural though.

A quick walk around the town centre with our guide who explained a few of the buildings - and then back to the ship.

Fidel Castro used to give speeches from the central balcony of this building, so it is known as Castro's Balcony.

Directly opposite is the Cathedral.  The balcony around it was built for Pope Francis when he visited a few years ago, so it is know as Francis's Balcony. 

So that was Cuba, which I have decided I really like, especially Havanna. The people were friendly and keen to please and talking to the guide at the end of the tour, I found out that Cuba doesn't regularly receive cruise ships at the moment, so maybe we were being treated as VIPs after all.

Our next port is Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Now for something completely different.

Friday 15th - Sat 16th April - Sea Days

So over the last couple of days we've had lie ins, spent time on deck catching a bit of sun and watched Royal Terns conduct aerial acrobats as they dive for the flying fish scared out of the water by the ship. And we've sat in on a couple of lectures.

It was formal night on Friday, so we duly dressed up, I even made Peter wear his penguin suit. But then, after dinner, we didn't really want to hang around in the lounges until the show, so we went downstairs to the cabin to watch an episode of Star Trek on Peter's laptop. Needless to say, we ended up watching a couple of episodes, and didn't surface from the cabin again until the next morning. So we've had a couple of really chilled out days - except for Peter's classes. They have been what can only be described as Bedlam.

The Explorer Room where the classes are held is an off shoot of the Discovery Restaurant, which is only used for dinner. It's a good sized room with plenty of light and, easily holds 60+ when used as a restaurant. We were expecting around 20-30 people and I set the room up to accommodate that number.

At about 1.30, the first passenger arrived to bag a seat, and then disappeared. Nobody else showed up for some time, and we thought we may up with a small class.

Then eventually, they started come in. First a few, then a few more, then a constant stream. They just kept coming. Peter and I were searching around the room to see where there were spaces left as, at last the final few drifted in. There were 47 people taking part, and a few watching on that first day. Getting them started took a while, but eventually, they were off. Phew!

At least on the 2nd day we were expecting them. This time there were 50 but we got them settled quickly.  Peter had them painting a Havana scene, which they seemed to enjoy........ Let's see how many come back for the next session eh?

Tomorrow we visit our second Cuban port - Santiago de Cuba. Peter and I are on tour - the same one this time - we are going to visit a big rock. Should be fun.

Thursday 14th April, Havana, Cuba

Today Peter and I have been split up! I'm on the tour to Vinales Valley and Peter will be doing a Panoramic tour of Havana. We've never been in this situation before, and it feels a bit odd. But I'm looking forward to my tour, and Peter wants to look around the town, so it's worked out quite well.

The highlight of my tour was to be a boat trip through some caves in Vinales Valley and a buffet lunch because the caves were some 3 hours away from the port by bus. Our guide was a young man called Johnny, and I'm told there were 27 passengers, but every time I counted them, I got a different number. I give up in the end and asked Johnny to do the counting from now on. (I blame the bus and little people hiding behind tall seats).

So off we went - I tried to get some photo's of how people lived outside Havana. Most of them are farmers I understand.

Then we got to Vinales Valley, where the scenery was quite stunning. All of us wished the bus would stop and we could take a few photographs of the amazing hills that we saw around us.

Eventually we got to the caves, and we all bailed out of the bus and trooped across to the entrance only to be brought to an abrupt halt. The queue to get in was over an hour so we decided that we should go for lunch. Lunch took a while to arrive but we were entertained by a very loud group playing traditional music with the bonus of some interesting dance moves. I really enjoyed it.

One of the reasons our lunch took so long was that a couple of hundred students had arrived and were being served before us. Later, as we'd just finished the main course and were waiting for dessert and coffee, we realised that the students were heading to the cave after lunch too. Our group decided to miss our pudding and get in before the young 'uns, but too late, they all got up and left before we were organised. And that was it, it was going to take far too long for us to get in after them. With well over an hour's queue likely, we went to plan B.

Plan B involved 30 minutes downtown in the village.

And a visit to a tobacco farm drying house. That was a bit of a highlight as far as I was concerned.

A view of the hills from the Tobacco Farm - they were quite fantastic. 

Then we got to see a painting on a cliff. For some reason the Cubans are quite proud of it - it's not my thing at all.

And finally, at last, we got a panoramic stop.

Then it was another long sleepy drive of 2 and 1/2 hours back. A good day in the end. Now we have a couple of sea days before our next port. That means lie ins, because Peter's classes aren't until the afternoon. Class!