IntrepidFromDC

Iguana stop.

Driving up the east coast, we see St. Barth's in the distance, the Caribbean island for the rich and famous.

St. Martin today.

MDR menu tonight

Tandoori Chicken with mint chutney on Lido deck was great! They actually cook the chickens whole and cut them to order. Better grade of chicken too. YUMMMMM...

In total the excursion was about 4.5 hours driving, 1.5 hours at stops. Glad I did it but I wouldn't do it a second time. This was my only Carnival excursion. The ride back seemed soooo long.

Piton Mountains and Soufreire ("sulfur" in French according to tourguide). The volcano is active with sulfur springs, fissures steaming.

Lots of roadside stands perched on the mountainsides. Many sell local rum infused with... bananas

Tourguide bought yummy bananas for all 12 of us, sweeter but smaller than back home. They produce more bananas than they can export so they make a lot of things with bananas like banana ketchup. Bananas are the #1 export.

Cute fishing village called Anse La Raye.

St. Lucia today. 730am 6hr excursion to Pitons with stops along the way.

No mention that I heard

Morning of second fun day at sea.

Shrimp tempura was a bargain for dinner, 5 large shrimp for $8. I hit a straight flush last night and am now up for the cruise!

Got the $5 taxi back to the port, took a couple pics of the sign, bought 2 tshirts and went to the room to shower all the sand and sweat off, to find my favorite towel critter of this cruise...

Grand Anse Beach reminds me of Grand Turk because of lots of friendly dogs, but it is not crescent shaped. There is a dropoff but nothing sharp underfoot and the water is beautiful. Also, at least 7 beachfront bars. It's a long beach.

I arrived alive at Grand Anse Beach which was very nice. I spoke to 8 Americans and a Canadian and none were from the cruise ships, all were staying in Grenada for 1 to 3 weeks.

20240107_084524.mp4 I just realized I'm at the halfway point of this 12-day cruise. I offer halftime entertainment, 5 of Faith's 11 ferrets devouring Dietz and Watson ham in organic low-sodium chicken broth. Turn up volume to hear their "pleasure squeaks".

I forgot to mention, you want audio up on that video.

Prince Charming wanted to show me the way to the beach but I already knew it. Getting away from him was a challenge, but I prevailed. I later learned these white minivans ARE the local bus system but no regulations or oversight. A lot of Carnival cruisers prefer the "safety" of Carnival excursions, etc. but this experience was immersive and I would definitely do it again. 20240217_124139.mp4

I stumbled upon a stand with older model minivans for local transportation, kind of a bus terminal. I found a sign for Grand Anse and asked the driver how much. He said $1 and shoved me in the van which had locals sitting on laps and reggae blasting. No AC and it got pretty ripe quickly, probably most of the aroma from my seatmate. 20240217_124420.mp4