Michelle in the Caribbean

No rest for our intrepid Michelle, she is off again this time leading tours in the Caribbean, now read on....

Hey everyone, how ya jammin'?

 
Hope all's well whatever you may be up to ...............
 
I've visited 3 islands in 5 days!  Back to St Lucia tomorrow & the first group arrive on Sunday.
 
The last time I went to the Caribbean I helped to deliver a river ferry boat from Gran Canaria to Antigua & up through the islands to Nassau. It was built for crossing the River Elbe in Germany, not the Atlantic but after 2 weeks crossing the ocean we made it! There was a crew of 7: British, German, Spanish & American, a real motley crew! 
 
The owner of the ferry was a German interior designer of restaurants so although our ferry resembled a heap of metal on the outside it was very palatial on the inside with a jacuzzi & bar!
 
As we motored across the Atlantic we would stop for a swim.  In some places the ocean was deeper than Everest was high!
 
The only other woman on board was an American bar tender who worked on cruise ships. When we went shopping for supplies in Gran Canary she was more interested in what cocktails everybody drank! We tried a different one every day!
 
Phil & I were on watch from midnight until 04.00 & again from mid-day until 16.00.  Everyone had different sleeping patterns so we were all getting up, going to bed, eating & drinking cocktails at different times!
 
The stars in the middle of the ocean including a comet were amazing.  Absolutely no light pollution.
 
In two weeks we only saw two other vessels.
 
Once our engine stopped & there was a deathly silence for several hours as we bobbed about in the middle of the Atlantic! Scary!
 
We arrived in Antigua with skull & crossbones flying. Hee Hee!
 
As is customary we attended the weekly party at Shirley Heights drinking rum punch to the sound of steel drums & reggae music man.
 
So 12 years on & here I am again having flown here this time.
 
Have walked in the rainforest in the rain!  Checked out some palm fringed beaches, snorkelled in de Caribbean Sea & sampled some excellent creole cuisine washed down with a rum punch or two.
 
Looking forward to my 6 week stint in de Caribbean man.
 
Have Fun & Enjoy!
 

23rd Feb 2007

Hey everyone,

 
Onto my 2nd tour already in de Caribbean Mon.  One more to go ......................
 
Enjoying my stint in the sunshine (occasionally we experience liquid sunshine & this is meant to be the dry season!).
 
Dominica is known as Nature Isle.  Given the Latin name for Sunday as it was discovered by Christopher Columbus on a Sunday!
 
Also made popular by the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies.  The 3rd one is due to be released this year.  Sadly no sign of Jonny Depp
 
Due to no international airport & big white sandy beaches the island has not yet been spoilt.  However cruise ships arrive with far too many of the wrong type of tourists!  Hopefully they will not change this beautiful friendly island.
 
We spend a couple of nights at Roxy's Mountain Lodge in the highest village on the island, Laudat at 600m. We trek in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, now a World Heritage Site.  The most famous walk is the one to Boiling Lake, the 2nd largest boiling lake in the world after the one in New Zealand.
 
Went whale watching from Dominica & saw several sperm whales. Several species of whales & dolphins can be seen if you are lucky.
 
Dominica is also home to 3000 Carib Indians who were the original inhabitants of most of the Caribbean islands.  This is the only island where they still live & have their own territory. They originally migrated from north America to south America then across to the Caribbean.
 
St Lucia where we begin & finish the tour is preparing for the ICC World Cricket Cup which begins in March.  It is one of 8 venues in de Caribbean Mon.  Workmen are casually resurfacing the road from the international airport in the south to the cricket stadium in the north & building a huge hotel & expect it to be ready!  Hmmmmmm.  They are not renowned for being hard workers. No Hurry in de Caribbean Mon, Yeah!
 
The Pirates of the Caribean ship, the Unicorn can be sighted in St Lucia as it now takes tourists out for a sail & fires noisy cannons!
 
Gros Piton & Petit Piton, two volcanic plugs are the famous landmark for the whole of de Caribbean & often feature in advertising & marketing campaigns, brochures, front cover of guide books, posters .....  Both are also World Heritage Sites & can be climbed.  The view over the whole of the island (on a clear day) from Gros Piton is fantastic.
 
St Lucia was a British colony until independence on 22 February 1979.  Queen Lizzie is still the Head of State & a very young portrait can be see on the local Eastern Caribbean Dollar banknotes. EC dollars are also used on Dominica but the Queen is not the head of state over there!
 
Fish Friday is a local fishmarket on a Friday (surprise surprise) in Anse La Raye.  It's also a street party & home to the strongest rum punches on the tour! Hic!
 
Martinique, named after St Martin by Columbus is an overseas department of France.  Feels very different from the other two islands, on parle francais & uses Euro.  The capital Fort de France is home to 100 000 people whereas Dominica which is half the size of Martinique is home to a total population of 70 000!
 
The old capital St Pierre was destroyed by Mt Pelee, a dormant volcano which erupted in 1902 killing the entire population, between 30 000 - 38 000 people except one prisoner who was well protected from the poisonous gases & heat in his underground cell.  He became a hero when he was discovered after 4 days & toured the US with an American circus showing off his burns??  Hmmmmmm!
 
Martinique is famous for its rum.  Most of the sugar cane grown on this island is to produce rum.  There are many rum distilleries & only one sugar factory!
 
We travel between the islands by plane & high speed catamaran. I love to stand on the open deck of the catamaran & get splashed by the salty water as we zoom along!
 
The local lingo is Creole but it is different on each island so the locals communicate with each other in English & French.
 
Enjoying the sunshine, swimming, snorkelling, walks in the rainforest & along the coastal paths (one such walk takes us past a gay nudist beach, Explore you'll see more!), Creole food, fresh fish, seafood & of course the rum punch.
 
Dominica & St Lucia are very lush.  It's like driving through a huge botanical garden: coconut palms, banana plantations (however the banana industry is declining due to competition with Central America), papaya, avocado, grapefruit, pineapple, breadfruit (introduced by Captain Blyth on board The Bounty), nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, cashew .......................
 
It's full on in de Caribbean Mon.  Lots of optionals to organize to please everyone.
 
Staying on for an extra week 4-11th March.  Would anybody like to join me?  Am thinking of maybe checking out St Vincent & the Grenadines.  Would be great to have some company. I finish my last tour in St Lucia on Sunday 4th March in the evening & fly back from there on 11th March. BA flies to St Lucia from LGW as does Virgin or there's Caribbean Airlines from LHR via Trinidad. I'm flying with American Airlines via Miami.
 
As they say in de Caribbean mon, Be Happy & Relax, Yeah!
 
Michele  XX

 

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