Cruising Christine turns 40 on the Fascination: a Belated Review

[bakersdozen12]

I could probably post pictures of Coral World all night, because really, there is just so much to see there, but the highlight of my day in St Thomas was Coki Beach. Even when standing outside the Underwater Observatory at Coral World, I could see the beach, and even then it was calling my name.

 

 

As you can see from this picture, it was not very crowded at all, and I was dying to get over there and go for a swim! Coki Beach is a simple walk from Coral World. It's literally right next door. Someone "greeted" us as soon as we got there, with an offer to rent us a chair. In this case, it was welcomed since Mark wouldn't be swimming due to his leg brace. I believe it the guy charged us $5 for a chair. I got him settled with a cold drink and some shade, and then I was off to snorkel in the beautiful blue sea!

 

 

The water was crystal clear, with lots of silver fish right near the shore. It reminded me a lot of my time snorkeling at Half Moon Cay.

 

 

 

After spending some time snorkeling and swimming near the shore, a nice woman came up to me, pointed to the right, and told me that there was much better snorkeling near the rocks. You can see the rocks she is referring to in this picture.

 

 

So, after making sure my husband didn't need anything, I took a walk down the beach, got back in the water, and my oh my, was she right! As soon as getting in, I saw a huge swarm of the most beautiful fish!

 

[bakersdozen12]

Now, being new to snorkeling, my time at Coki Beach made me really fall in love with snorkeling. And it also made me realize that I need to invest in a better underwater camera. I took tons of pictures, but honestly, they don't do any justice to just how colorful and gorgeous the fish were.

 

This is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. I saw lots of beautiful parrotfish, with the most vibrant blue-green colors, but I just couldn't capture the color with my camera. I have a Fujifilm XP80, but will be looking to upgrade before my next Caribbean cruise.

 

 

Then three was this little bugger, with it's lovely purple and yellow coloring. I couldn't get a good picture because he wouldn't stay still long enough. Not sure of what it's called, but I will also need to get more familiar with fish types so that I can identify what I see in future snorkeling adventures.

 

 

I believe this one is a four-eyed butterfly fish.

 

 

Not sure what these are called, but the one in the middle had the most beautiful mosaic-type pattern which again, just doesn't come across as nice in my photos as it did in person.

 

 

Some more unidentified fish:

 

 

Now this I know is called Brain Coral thanks to my visit to Coral World earlier in the day.

 

[bakersdozen12]

Another unidentified little guy:

 

 

These yellow and black striped fish seem to be everywhere in the Caribbean.

 

 

While snorkeling, I encountered some people doing a Snuba excursion. I believe this was probably the Snuba optional activity that Coral World offers. In any case, I remember thinking that these individuals probably spent a lot of money for essentially the same view I was getting for free. Of course, I'm not sure exactly how far out they went, so perhaps there is an added benefit to the activity, but I'll stick with the free snorkeling any day.

 

 

Just a wide shot of the rocky area, where most of the fish hang out.

 

 

After a couple hours in the water, I decided it was time to change into some dry clothes (there are changing areas at the beach) and head back to the ship. This was the very first time we would be traveling back to the ship on our own. At every other port we've been to, we have always had a tour bus taking us back. But this time we would be getting a taxi, and I didn't want to risk not making it back on time. So getting back early was preferable to getting there late. After changing, we looked through the little stores for souvenirs before getting a taxi. Some of the shops can be seen in this picture.

 

 

There's also places that sell food too, so you can really make a day out of this beach easily. And as I mentioned before, the taxi stand it directly on the other side of the shops (right along the road), so easy and convenient. If we are ever in St Thomas again, I'm pretty sure we will just take a taxi to Coki Beach and spend the day there. I highly recommend this beach. It was a lovely day, and one that I won't soon forget.

 

Well, I have to call it a night. I forgot how long it really does take to write these reviews. Hopefully I'll be able to finish my reviews of our excursions in Barbados, St Lucia and St Kitts by the end of this week.

[easyboy]

Very nice photos, especially those cute little birds!

[bakersdozen12]

Very nice photos, especially those cute little birds!

 

Thanks! And yes, Loris are very cute, and quite friendly, the rainbow ones especially. They will jump right on you looking for food. Coral World really is a great place for anyone that has kids, although I think adults who are animal lovers will enjoy it just as much.

[bakersdozen12]

Barbados

 

Our next port of call, after our one sea day on this cruise, was Barbados. And, it was also my 40th birthday, in addition to it being the morning after the election. I don't want to get into a political discussion with anyone because this is a touchy subject for me, but I will say this: the cruise sure enlightened me as to how closely even other countries follow our elections. I thought being on a cruise that week was a good way to escape it, but everyone on the islands we visited were talking about it. It was crazy.

 

But, on to better topics!

 

 

When researching possible excursions for Barbados, I would have loved to have swam with the turtles. But, given that my husband still had his leg brace, I had to try to opt for excursions that would keep us dry. So I decided Harrison's Caves was something I would love to see.

 

Rather than book an excursion through Carnival that would take us just to the caves, I decided to book with Glory Tours so that we could see other sights in Barbados. They offer half day and full day tours. Since they are a bit on the pricey side, I went with one of their half day ones. Originally I had chosen their "Touch of Splendor" tour that would take us to Harrison's (tram tour), Bathsheba, and Welchman Hall Gully. But I ended up switching it to "Treasures of Barbados" which replaced Welchman with St Nicholas Abbey. I figured seeing the plantation house would be much more interesting that the Gully, whose main attraction is the wild monkeys that you may or may not get to see, depending on what time you visit.

 

Glory Tours had directed us to get off the ship, walk through the mall, and come out the other side to meet them. We had no problems at all meeting a very lovely girl whose job, it seemed, was to greet people and show them where to wait for their tour bus. Here's a not-so-good picture of the area where we waited for our bus to pick us up:

 

 

While waiting, we met a very lovely couple, also booked with Glory Tours, that I will refer to as the "Cruise Critic" couple. In talking with them, I learned that the husband found Glory Tours through his research on these boards. We got to talking about cruises, and it was nice talking with someone who seemed to like cruising as much as I do. My husband doesn't share my obsession. He's sort of just along for the ride with our cruises. :-)

 

As it turned out, we were not on the same Glory tour as the Cruise Critic couple. And actually, we were not on a tour with anyone! We had the bus and the tour guide all to ourselves. I'm actually surprised that they didn't end up cancelling our tour. I know a lot of companies have a minimum number of people they need to operate a single tour. Another plus for Glory Tours!

 

Our first stop was St Nicolas Abbey. A little history about the abbey: it's a plantation house and rum distillery, and while the family that owns it still lives there, they open it as a museum to the public. It's absolutely gorgeous. Not sure why I didn't get a picture of the front, but I did take lots of pictures of the grounds around the back of the house.

 

 

 

 

[bakersdozen12]

The inside of the house was gorgeous, and we were given a tour which was included with admission.

 

 

 

The tour guide informed us that the man in the picture behind her is a distant relative of Benedict Cumberbatch. We had just seen Dr Strange before the cruise, so I thought that was pretty cool.

 

 

A chandler made out of shells. This thing was huge and absolutely gorgeous in person.

 

 

 

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind having a chair like this for when I work from home. Or for when I'm working on writing cruise reviews. Looks pretty comfortable!

 

[bakersdozen12]

The antiques in this house seem to center very much on what can be found on this island, as you can see in the gorgeous shell collections on display. Very much a beach-lovers paradise.

 

 

 

And of course, what a lot of people come for: the rum! St Nicolas Abbey has been making rum for 350 years, and they have won lots of awards. Their 18-year-old rum is ridiculously expensive! We were given samples of rum punch, and I do have to say, they do have good rum. If you are looking to get some good rum while in Barbados, this is definitely the place to get it.

 

 

 

 

And of course, leave it to me to find parrots at any place. They had these Indian Ringnecks in an outdoor cage. They also have a cockatoo or two, but we didn't have time to make our away to that cage before we had to leave.

 

[bakersdozen12]

Our next stop was Bathsheba. We had spent a tad more time at Nicolas Abbey that we should have, so our tour guide hinted that we would have to make Bathsheba a quick stop. I told him that was fine, as I just wanted to take a few pictures there anyway. Unfortunately it was pretty overcast, so I didn't get the best pictures in the world, but it was really pretty in person. The beach looked like it would be nice on a day with better weather.

 

pretty to see in person.

 

 

 

 

Before we left, I snapped a couple pictures of the houses across from the beach. My husband doesn't know this, but whenever we are on an island in the Caribbean, I am secretly scoping out real estate, for when we move to an island someday. I like to imagine that I'm on one of those shows on HGTV. Caribbean Life maybe? You know, the ones where a couple decides to move to an island and they are on the search for a house to buy. Yup, that's going to be me someday! Well, me and my husband. If he wants to join me. I just can't take the snow in NH for much longer. Plus, my doctor says I have a vitamin D deficiency. Which is a legitimate, medical reason as to why I need to move to someplace sunny, right? :-)

 

 

[bakersdozen12]

Our next and last stop on this tour would be Harrison's Caves. The main entrance:

 

 

Now, when visiting Harrison's, you have two options to see the caves: 1) you can ride on a tram down man-made tunnels that will take you to certain areas in the caves, or 2) you can crawl through them with a tour guide. Obviously due to my husband's injury we had to go with option 1, but I did see some people who chose option 2, and let me tell you, they looked quite tired and very muddy when they were done.

 

Before you enter the caves, you watch an informative video which explains the history of the caves. Then, you proceed to exit the back of the main building to go down elevators that will take you to the entrance of the caves.

 

A shot of the elevators from the bottom:

 

 

And looking down from in the elevator:

 

 

The caves, of course, were incredible to see:

 

 

 

[bakersdozen12]

The tram would stop in many places so that you could take pictures, and in some places, you could even get out and walk around.

 

 

A shot of one of the tunnels that the tram follows through the caves:

 

 

If you are someone that suffers from claustrophobia, you don't have to worry about the tram option. You never feel like you are in any tight space. The only tight spaces I saw where some of the entrances to the caves that they people on foot crawled through. Now I would NOT recommend that option if you are claustrophobic.

 

Once our tour was over, we had some time outside of the caves to visit the local vendors' shops, before taking the elevator back up to meet our tour guide for the ride back to the ship. You can see them in this photo. Harrison's also has a gift shop in the main building, but the vendors had better, more unique, items available.

 

 

Our driver/tour guide was extremely nice the whole time, and pointed out many landmarks as we drove from place to place, and taught us a lot about the island. Barbados is made of up 11 parishes, and apparently it's not terribly big for an island. If I remember correctly, our tour guide told us that we drove through all but one of the parishes that day.

 

When we got back to the dock, we shopped for a bit in the little mall, and then headed back on board. Here's a shot of the Fascination at the dock:

 

[bakersdozen12]

Since I can actually identify my dinner pictures from that night, I will post some food porn pics for you foodies.

 

For my appetizer, I had some sort of spinach cannelloni. I have to say, I didn't care for this. It's not that it was bad, it's just that it had peas in it, and I do not like peas at all.

 

 

For my entree, I had the mahi mahi. On my last cruise, I had a mahi mahi dish off the Port of Call menu that was just delicious, with coconut rice and a pineapple red pepper sauce. This, however, was not quite as good. It was pretty darn plain, but hey, I love fish, so it was fine with me. Just not anything to rave about.

 

 

Being someone that reads these boards all the time (I read more than I post), I knew ahead of time that I would be getting a cake for my birthday at dinner. It's a good thing I knew, because the day before the waiters came out singing with a cake. I don't know why, but they got my birthday wrong and were one day early! They felt bad, and asked if I wanted it that day, but I told them I would prefer it on my birthday. Whoops! Oh well, it's not like they ruined the surprise or anything.

 

So here it was, take two: my actual birthday, and I got my little cake.

 

 

And because it was my birthday, I got to have two deserts, right?! You betcha. I had been dying to try the S'mores Parfait that everyone always writes about, and it was finally a choice on the menu that night, so I ordered that as well. It did not disappoint.

 

 

Actually, two deserts proved to be too much, so I ended up taking the birthday cake back to our room and ate it later that night. I have read some reviews from people saying they didn't care for it, but I found it yummy. Lots of frosting in the middle, though, so I suppose if you are not someone that likes sweet things, you probably won't like it. But with my sweet tooth, that was not ever going to be a problem.

 

 

I had received a gift card for a free Pixels photo from our steward, so later that night, we decided to have our pictures done. The only other time we've had our pictures taken on a cruise was for Halloween, because I had people back home that were begging to see a picture of Mark as a big blue parrot (we dressed up as the parrots from Rio). But, since I had the coupon, I figured why not. Of course I would later find out that I could only use it for one of their "fun" pictures. Those candid photos that they take of you while you are walking around the ship. I really liked the way one of the photos came out, so I bought it anyway. It's so rare that I get a picture of my husband looking naturally happy and not just plain goofy.

 

 

Well, that concludes my review of Barbados and Glory Tours (whom I highly recommend). Next up will be St Lucia and our excursion with Spencer Ambrose, which I will write tomorrow night.

Edited February 14, 2017 by bakersdozen12

[AnnieB925]

Wonderful review. I am enjoying all your beautiful pictures and am taking notes on your helpful suggestions. We leave in 2 days!

[pghsteelerfan]

Our next stop was Bathsheba. We had spent a tad more time at Nicolas Abbey that we should have, so our tour guide hinted that we would have to make Bathsheba a quick stop. I told him that was fine, as I just wanted to take a few pictures there anyway. Unfortunately it was pretty overcast, so I didn't get the best pictures in the world, but it was really pretty in person. The beach looked like it would be nice on a day with better weather.

 

Before we left, I snapped a couple pictures of the houses across from the beach. My husband doesn't know this, but whenever we are on an island in the Caribbean, I am secretly scoping out real estate, for when we move to an island someday. I like to imagine that I'm on one of those shows on HGTV. Caribbean Life maybe? You know, the ones where a couple decides to move to an island and they are on the search for a house to buy. Yup, that's going to be me someday! Well, me and my husband. If he wants to join me. I just can't take the snow in NH for much longer. Plus, my doctor says I have a vitamin D deficiency. Which is a legitimate, medical reason as to why I need to move to someplace sunny, right? :-)

 

 

Bathsheba and cloudy day...we had the same experience and I was thinking how pretty my pictures would have come out if it was sunny. I've seen pictures others have gotten when the sun was out. I may need a "do over". LOL!!!

 

Caribbean Life...we watch and really enjoy that show! I'm glad we're not the only ones watching it. :)

 

I'm still following along and enjoying your review. Your pictures are beautiful...even Bathsheba with it being cloudy.

[cruisemom67]

Love your review! Thanks for the room pictures. I will be in same room in June! My kids are next door, and my parents on the other side.

[bakersdozen12]

Wonderful review. I am enjoying all your beautiful pictures and am taking notes on your helpful suggestions. We leave in 2 days!

 

I wish I had time to get a little bit more of the review done before your cruise. But unfortunately work has been a little hectic, and it got in the way. I should have time tonight to continue on with it, though. I hope you have a great time. This itinerary is amazing, so I don't see how you couldn't. :)

 

Bathsheba and cloudy day...we had the same experience and I was thinking how pretty my pictures would have come out if it was sunny. I've seen pictures others have gotten when the sun was out. I may need a "do over". LOL!!!

 

Lol, wait until you see my pictures of St Lucia then! I reread part of Mitsugirly's Fascination review the other day, and her pictures from St Lucia were from the exact same beach we were at, but hers were all nice and sunny and beautiful. When we were there, it poured buckets! But, the day was still great. It just makes me think the same, that we'll have to go back there again someday.

 

Love your review! Thanks for the room pictures. I will be in same room in June! My kids are next door, and my parents on the other side.

 

What a coincidence! The best part about the room is that the laundry is only like 10 ft or so away, right at the front of this ship. I've never done laundry during a cruise before, but one of our excursions got rained out, and our clothes were soaked and sort of stinky from the ocean water (there was a speed boat involved). So it was really nice having it right there so I could wash and dry them. Beat trying to dry them in the room or having to lug damp clothes home. Anyway, enjoy your cruise! I think you guys will love it. There's just so much to do at these ports.

[bakersdozen12]

St Lucia

 

For this port, I booked an excursion with Spencer Ambrose Tours, thanks to the overwhelming number of good reviews that I found on this board. The specific tour I chose is called "Spencer's Land, Sea & Beach Adventure." This was a full-day tour which was supposed to include (I'll get to why the use of "supposed to" later):

 

 

1. a speedboat ride along the coastline to Soufriere
   
2. a tour by land to the Sulphur Springs for a volcano tour or a mud batch
   
3. stops at overlooks of the Pitons
   
4. a brief stop to learn about banana trees
   
5. a stop at Toraille Waterfall & Gardens
   
6. a 2-hour beach break
   
7. lunch and drinks, including beer and rum punch
   
8. and on the speedboat back, sightseeing of the Bat Cave, the "fish on the rock" celebrity homes at Marigot Bay and Natural Bridge (supposedly featured in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean).
   

 

 

Well, we had some hiccups along the way, and I can only blame one on the tour company, which involved the volcano tour. For the rest, it was entirely Mother Natures fault.

 

But, to get on with the review. We got off the ship as soon as we could, an made our way to the predetermined meeting location. As with our last tour, it was easy to find thanks to the directions given to us. We quickly realized that there were some familiar faces at the meeting location: the Cruise Critic couple! Wouldn't you know it, they were booked with the same tour company (probably due to research on these boards as well), and this time, we would be on the same tour.

 

Spencer himself met us, along with his daughter and some other workers (the boat drivers). He informed us that he would be taking it easy on this day and letting his daughter do most of the work, because this was his first day back to work after being off 6 weeks following surgery. He and his daughter seemed very nice. They collected the money (you pay with cash at the beginning), and he led us a short way to the speedboat.

 

Now, getting on and off the speedboats would prove to be a little tricky for Mark and his leg brace, but Spencer's employees were very patient and were always there to help him. The one thing that we wished we had known before was this: Spencer has you take off your shoes before getting on the boats. I had sandals on, so no problem slipping them on an off. My husband, however, wore socks and sneakers. And since he couldn't really manage with them himself, I had to take them off and put them back on again during. Which made things kind of awkward.

 

Once we were all loaded on the speedboat, we were off, and I snapped a picture of the Fascination as we pulled away from the dock (you can see how close the dock where Spencer has his boats is from the ship's dock):

 

 

 

 

It seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day, and I was excited for our adventure! I started taking in the scenery, and snapped more photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hadn't gotten very far at all, when we were suddenly slowing down. I remember thinking, "Gee, we can't possibly be there already." Well, as it turns out, the first little hiccup of the day had already occurred: apparently the speedboat was broken! I can't remember exactly what was wrong with it, but I think that it had something to do with the battery. Fortunately we were not stuck dead in the water. Spencer told us that it was no problem at all, that he simply needed to charge it or something (I can't recall exactly). Before I knew it, we were pulling up to another dock.

 

 

 

 

Whatever he tried to do to fix that boat didn't work, so he ended up having to call for another boat, and we had to switch from that one directly onto the other one. All in all, we didn't have to wait long, but my husband had an even harder time having to manage going from one boat to another, than from the dock to the boat. I don't really believe that this was representative of Spencer and his boats. I do think he takes very good car of them (you can tell he takes pride in them). I think this was just one of those things that sometimes happens.

 

Once we were all settled again, we were off to our first destination: the Sulphur Springs and the volcano tour!

[bakersdozen12]

The speedboat ride was a first for my husband and I. Neither one of us get sea sick, but, my husband can't swim, so I think he was a little freaked out. One of the tour guys had to ask him if he was ok at one point. Meanwhile, I was having a grand 'ole time, enjoying the sunshine and fresh ocean air.

 

He survived the ride like a champ, and we got off the boat and were loaded onto a comfortable tour bus. We arrived at Sulphur Springs, and as soon as you stepped off the bus, you could immediately smell the sulpher emanating from the volcano.

 

 

The view from the top was breathtaking.

 

 

 

 

Because we chose the volcano tour rather than the mud batch (I think everyone on the tour this day did), we were met by a park worker that explained a lot about the volcano, including how they no longer allow you to walk too close to the springs after one of their park workers, Gabriel, fell into a pit and received second degree burns when the crust around the pit collapsed.

 

 

These pits were amazing to see in person. The way the mud bubbled, and seeing the steam rise out from the springs.

 

 

 

These mud pits should not be confused with the mud baths. It's not like you can just climb into the mud. As Gabriel learned the hard way, it's way too hot for humans. If you choose the mud batch, my understanding is you climb into water that is very hot, but the mud portion of it is brought to you in buckets, and you just rub it on your skin.

 

The reason I didn't choose the mud bath option is that I simply didn't want to get wet and dirty so early in the day. We would be at the beach later, and I want to be able to change back into dry clothes after swimming. This would be a moot point later, but I had no way of knowing that.

[bakersdozen12]

The springs were not the only part of the volcano tour. We proceeded to follow some paths up the mountain, and the views were just incredible. Definitely some great picture-taking opportunities of the tropical rain forest and its waterfalls and steams. I know that the park's tour guide explained a lot about the landscape, but honestly, I don't remember much. I'm a picture-taking fool, and spent most of the time looking for some good shots.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, this is the only complaint I have about our day in St Lucia, and it involves something that I think could of been handled better by Spencer's daughter. Apparently she had told the park's tour guide not to take us all the way up the volcano because she knew it was steep in the higher parts and my husband would have had a problem with it. When we found this out there were many unhappy people in our group because they felt like they missed out, and I don't blame them at all. Mark and I weren't happy either. My husband is definitely the type of person that wouldn't want to slow down or prevent anyone from enjoying themselves, and would have been more than fine with staying behind. Heck, I would have been more than happy to stay behind. It wouldn't have been a big deal, and I really wished she had asked us. This was my one and only complaint, but I don't blame her as I know she meant well. I can't recall her name, but she really was a sweet girl and did make the rest of our day enjoyable.

[bakersdozen12]

I should back track a bit and mention that when we first arrived at the springs, there was some vendors set up with souvenirs for sale.

 

 

Back on my first cruise, I started collecting wooden parrots from the islands we visited. At that point, I was naive to think that they were really hand carved. But once you start seeing the same parrots over and over again, you start to realize that they most certainly are not hand carved by the vendors. Nonetheless, I still like to collect them anyway, anytime that I can find them.

 

At one of the vendors at the springs, I found some that most definitely was hand carved. You can tell the difference, believe me. Anyway, I asked the vendor how much he wanted for one, and he told me $60. This was way more than I wanted to spend,so I told him thanks anyway. He then told me when we were done with the tour to come back, and he would give me a deal.

 

Well, after that I discreetly counted my money and realized that I hadn't brought much cash with me at all. And since I had to save money for tips, I really couldn't afford it. So I didn't hunt him down when we were done, and was prepared to leave without it. But, he did come find me! One thing about me is that I am NOT a haggler. I just can't do it. My husband can haggle with the best of them, but not me. Anyway, he proceeded to start lowering the amount, and I proceeded to tell him, I'm sorry, but I just can't afford it. Long story short, in the end he ended up asking me how much I could afford, and I told him $20. I didn't think for a million years he would go that low, but much to my surprise, he was like, "Give me the $20" and he handed me the parrot. To this day I still sort of feel guilty, but hey, he didn't have to sell it to me, right?

 

So my little wooden, haggled parrot (the all brown one in the picture below), now sits on my desk at work with his friends.

 

 

I'm going to stray from this review for a bit, because I want to explain the saying on my lampshade in the picture above (since I'm sure someone will see it and try to figure out what it says). The saying is one of my favorites: "Enjoy the little things in life, because one day you will realize they were the big things."

 

I believe this is true, and when I hear people complain about set-backs on cruises (or in any other aspect of life), I can't help but wish they would just slow down, breath, and not stress out about things they think are a huge deal, because they aren't. I guarantee it. In doing so they overlook the little things that really do matter. And I think it's sad. Life is beautiful, and experiences (good or bad) are what you make of them.

 

And, it's a good thing I believe this, because this way of thinking would come in handy later on in the day.

[bakersdozen12]

We piled back on the tour bus, and started heading back down the mountainside. On the way up I had seen some kids running along side the road, and now, there were even more of them running back down.

 

 

 

Apparently they were kids from the local school that were running a marathon. We were told that they frequently train like this in hopes that some will become good enough runners to make it to the Olympics. Imagine that. Here in the US kids complain about having to do anything in gym class, and in places like St Lucia, you run marathons while still in school. Marathons running UP A VOLCANO. :o I don't know about you, but this fat girl would be half dead just walking up it! Don't get me wrong, I used to be in great shape and would go hiking all the time, with no effort at all to get to the top. But a few cruises under my belt and too many melting chocolate cakes, and well, I really need to start hitting the gym again, lol.

 

The whole thing was really cool to see though, and I feel like it was a nice added bonus. I saw this one guy in a truck in front of our van who was filming the kids.

 

 

And we got to see kids from the school (the ones not running) cheering them on.

 

 

But the best part was when we got back to town, we saw everyone lining the streets, all in support of the runners.

 

 

It's amazing how here in the US we would have blocked off streets for something like this, but not here. The kids just made their way despite the traffic. I didn't get a picture of it, but we were able to see the winner cross the finish line. And oh boy, there was lots of cheering! It was awesome.

[bakersdozen12]

Next up was a stop at the waterfall. This was a sight to see. For someone still new to traveling the world, I was amazed. I really felt like I was finally seeing something that I had only previously saw in movies or on tv. A waterfall in the middle of the jungle. Just beautiful.

 

 

There were steps leading down, so you could go in and stand under the fall itself and have someone take your picture for a memorable vacation moment.

 

 

It didn't take long before people started going right in.

 

 

We must of been the first of multiple groups to arrive, because it got a little crowded before long. This guy clearly chose the mud bath option at the springs.

 

 

Now, remember I said that I didn't want to get wet until we go to the beach, well, I did have my bathing suit on under my clothes, and this probably was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities...sooooo...after stewing over the idea for awhile, in I went.

 

Me under the falls:

 

 

I'll spare you the close up because, yeah, I'm not kidding when I say I need to start hitting the gym again. ;)

 

It was a cool experience though! The falls do hurt a little, pounding down on you like that, but nothing that is dangerous or that will do any real harm to you.

 

We stayed long enough for everyone who wanted a dip in the falls to have their chance. It had started raining mid-way through this stop, but I didn't think much of it. Passing showers are common on these islands and I fully expected that the sun would be out in no time. Plus, since I was now getting wet anyway, I was glad that I did go under the falls when I had the chance.

[bakersdozen12]

After getting back on the tour bus, we were told that we were heading someplace for lunch. Great, because I was getting hungry. Along the way, we stopped to see the banana trees.

 

Now this was one of the "supposed to's" that I mentioned at the beginning, when I was explaining what we were supposed to do on this excursion. We were supposed to stop to actually see the banana trees, so that someone could teach us about them. But, because it continued to rain, we only pulled over onto the side of the road, and were very briefly talked to about them.

 

 

What I remember is that it was explained that the trees themselves grow very fast, and produce bunches of bananas. You can see small ones in this picture.

 

 

The tree takes about 9 months to grow and produced the bananas. Then the bananas are picked, and the tree dies, but new baby trees are already starting to grow at the base of the now dead tree. And they just keep regrowing like that, over and over again.

 

Here's a better shot I managed to get, despite the wet windows of the van.

 

 

Since the rain just wasn't letting up, the decision was made that they would take us to a little building where we could eat lunch inside. The place was very cute. It kind of looked like a little restaurant, that was opened just for us. I'm not really sure what the purpose of the place was, but they were prepared for us with tables and chairs.

 

 

 

I ended up having some jerk chicken, rice, noodles, fried plantain, and some sort of salad that was more like coleslaw but with mostly carrots. I only took a little of everything because I tend to be really picky and not like a lot of new things that I try, but I ended up thinking it was just delicious! Really, everything was spot-on with good flavoring. I probably should have gone back for seconds.

 

 

We sat at the same table as the Cruise Critic couple, and another really nice couple who were equally hooked on cruising. We had a nice conversation about our cruising experiences. The whole time it continued to pour outside. Not just raining, it was now officially pouring cats and dogs.

[bakersdozen12]

Next up was the part of the day that I was most looking forward to: beach time! For this, they would take us back to the dock so we could board the speed boat again, which would take us to Jalousie Beach (aka Sugar Beach), where we could swim next to the Pitons. I would get to go snorkeling again!

 

When we got back to the dock, we had a little time to kill since one of the ladies with us realized she forgot her orthopedic sneakers on the bus, so we had to wait while it turned around and came back. She luckily got them back.

 

I used this time to take some pictures of the scenery around the dock area. The mountainside was very picturesque, especially with the fog on the mountaintops. These buildings reminded me of some sort of Japanese mountainside for some reason.

 

 

 

You can see that by this time it had stopped raining, but everything was soaked. I still had high hopes that the sun would come out by the time we made it to the beach.

 

 

I thought the colors on some of the boats near the dock were just so beautiful. So Caribbean-appropriate.

 

 

[bakersdozen12]

And of course, I had to do a bit of scoping-out-the-real-estate, this-is-going-to-be-my-house-some-day, picture taking. :D

 

 

 

Waking up in any one of these houses would be like waking up in paradise. More so, of course, on a less gloomy day.

 

 

And just a shot that I like because of all the birds flying around.