Cruising Day Seven

Good morning Rosseau, Dominca!

 This was the most 'rustic' port yet and the town sure looked charming from our veranda.  I couldn't wait to get off ship and explore by foot.

 Always nice hearty breakfast to get us going for the day.  I don't think I felt a true hunger pang our entire trip.  Again...not good!    Oh well...this was a holiday and there was to be no dieting at all!

 We disembarked and only had a short walk down the pier to shore.  This was a tiny port and we were the only ship in town.

 What we weren't prepared for was the absolute onslaught of very aggressive tour operators and taxi drivers desperate to have our business.  We couldn't walk more than a few feet without being accosted and they don't take 'no' for an answer.  It was not a good feeling.

 Once we walked out of the main part of town it became all quiet.  But too quiet for us.  We couldn't see any other tourists and the streets were a tad scary with homeless people sleeping in gutters and beggars.  My woman's intuition told us maybe this wasn't a great idea.

 We quickly looked at a few churches and then high-tailed it back to the main street.  You can see from the above photo we aren't too far from the ship.

 The island is 65% Catholic and this church was under renovation.

 Just trying to figure out what to do next!

 We went back to town and browsed the market a while.  We approached a taxi driver to see how much it would be for him to drive us to Champange Beach and he said $50 which we thought was too high!  At this point we decided to run back to the ship and see if there were any more ship-sanctioned excursions for sale. 

There were two spots left on a four hour sight-seeing and beach tour that we quickly signed up for.  We had 10 minutes before they left so raced to our room, grabbed our beach gear and high-tailed it back to the docked where we were hustled into a mini-van that was already packed with folks and away we went.  The driver was a lovely older gent named Lambert who made sure we had a great tour.  He was very knowledgable and a good driver too. 

 This was one of the shops we passed.  As you can see this port is a 'diamond in the rough'.  So different than the posh ports of St Thomas or Barbados! 

 This was one of the secondary schools.  The government on the island is very serious about education and the goal by 2015 is to have every household have a child with a university education!

 We drove up a windy, windy road (thank goodness I didn't get car sick at all) to this viewpoint.

 As you can see in the right hand side of this picture, they had a huge stadium for cricket.  Most of these islands are of the British Commonwealth and still hang onto English ways such as cricket and driving on the left hand side.

 He drove us through the botanical gardens which weren't as green and lush as I would have imagined.  The island is mostly rainforest, rivers and volcanoes and most of the people live on the outer edges of the island.

 Our final destination was a black sand beach about 35 minutes from town.  We were provided with chairs, an umbrella and each a cup of strong rum punch. 

 It was very hot and we enjoyed relaxing, wading in the ocean and walking up and down the beach.

 I read quite a bit but the three books I had downloaded to my Kobo were horrible so that could have been better.  Just back luck random choices from the Kobo store...ugh!

 

 Sinead, this picture is for you!  Now we've been to Belfast Ireland and Belfast Dominica! 

 Quite of bit of the second 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie was filmed on Dominica.  Lambert told us this coconut tree grove was in one of the scenes.  If he was pulling our leg, we wouldn't know.

 We arrived back to port in good time and got back on board for a late lunch.

 This was the Solstice Deck which was always pretty crowded with sunbathers.  As the day came to close it would finally empty out.

 We watched the ship pull away from port.  Dominica wasn't our favorite port but it had been an adventure!

 The 'best' hotel on the island. 

 

 So long, farewell!

 We were treated to a beautiful sunset.

 We didn't go to the show tonight so had a leisurely evening of getting ready for dinner and hanging out on our deck.  My appy was a spring roll.  Fresh!

 I had the grilled steak off the classic menu.

And my dessert was soufflé with Grand Marnier sauce.  My first time eating soufflé and it was so good!  The lady at the next table had to tell me how to eat it.  Poke a hole in the top and pour in the sauce. 

And then off to walk the ship before bed.  We watched the dance party at the pool deck for a while and then headed to bed.  Next port was our last.

Cruising Day Six

Tada!  As we opened the curtains this morning we were pulling into the port at Bridgetown, Barbados!  Honestly, it was the ugliest port yet.  Very industrial and this was very much an urban centre.  A different feel from the quaint port of St Thomas or St Kitts. 

 It was a good trek from the ship to the taxi area.  They offered a free shuttle but we had to take our exercise where we could and walked it.

 Our goal was to see the Mt Gay Rum Distillery.  This was a 'must see' for Keith.  It was difficult to find a taxi to take us as it was in the opposite direction of where most of the tourists wanted to go (to the beach!).  Finally we found one taxi to take us and the whole way there he kept trying to sell us an all day tour of the island for $100.  No thank you!

 We arrived, bought out tickets and had to wait 30 minutes or so for the tour to begin.

 We sat on the outdoor patio and enjoyed this lovely view.  There was a nasty septic stink though that I'm glad you can't experience along with the view.  Yuck.

 Keith and I were always perusing maps.  Every port had an information centre close to the terminal for us ignorant tourists where you could pick up maps.  Fact:  It is illegal to wear camouflage clothing of any kind on Barbados.

 Finally the tour began and this lovely young lady did a great job with lots of laughs as well.

 

 Near the end of the tour we had a tasting.  Make that MANY tastings.  They gave you so much liquor....more than the $10 price of the tour! 

 She started us off with their basic rum.  After we drank it down and had our eyes watering and throats burnings she told us this rum should be used in mixed drinks and it's not good for shots.  Thanks a lot!  Then she moved onto the more expensive and smoother rums.  Keith had the rest of the shots.  I did not.  I was still in recovery mode from the first one!

 After she had set us all drunk we went down to the main bar and these bartenders made us a shot with rum punch and some yummy sweet fruit juices.  It was MUCH more delicious and I enjoyed it very much.

 

 

 After the tour we hit the gift shop.  The rum there was ridiculously cheap.  It's a shame we don't drink more!  Ha ha!  We bought a few things and then decided we would spend the afternoon at a beach.

 So after all that drinking we stumbled out of there to find a taxi.  Luckily there was one just heading out with another couple in the back seat.  So we shared a ride with them and made it back to the ship for lunch. 

Our goal for the afternoon was to head to Carlisle Bay. This time we took the shuttle to the taxi terminal.  We found a taxi easily and shared it with some crew members from the Carnival ship also in port.  It was interesting hearing one of the girl's experiences and work on board.  She was from Croatia...or was it Serbia?  I can't recall.  Our ship had 1218 crew representing 70 countries.  It was fascinating to hear all the accents!

Anyhow we safely made it to the beach and settled down for an afternoon of sunbathing.  Just our luck the storm clouds rolled in just as we set up shop. 

 

 But darn it we had paid $15 for two chairs and an umbrella and we were going to get our money's worth.  The beach emptied out but we sat there and refused to budge.  It never did rain and was plenty warm.  We are tough Canadians....there was no way we were going to leave just yet!

 This beach had the BEST sand.  Super soft like white flour and a pretty pink.  Keith took a sand sample from each beach we were at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The water was warm, the sand was soft and the smiles were from ear to ear.  This is what I had dreamed of!

We had taxi drivers coming to offer us rides back.  You do feel like fresh meat thrown to a pack of wild dogs sometimes in these places.  When we decided it was time to go back we had plenty of offers. 

I snapped a few pictures on the way back to port as we hadn't even set foot in the main area of town at all.

 

 Every port had a KFC.  I guess fried chicken is a universal meal.

 As we drove through we found Bridgetown to be a bit worn down and not really pretty.  There were closed shops and interesting looking characters.  We were glad we chose to do the rum tour and beach. 

We walked back to the ship and just hung out on the deck until it was time to get ready for the show.  Tonight's performer was a singer named 'Johnny Walker'.  He was pretty good and sang a good variety of songs.  Some old stuff, some new and some classical...a talented guy with some interesting stories between sets.

Then to dinner!  The highlight of the every evening.

 Keith's appetizer.  Some cold lumps of more raw salmon with cheese balls.  I don't know how he ate it.

 Keith's dinner was a rolled up chicken breast stuff with mushrooms and spinach. 

 I opted for surf and turf.  It was great...very tasty!

My dessert that night was meringue with chocolate ganache in the layers.  Heavenly!  We enjoyed our dinner with lots of chatting with the neighboring table and a nice conversation with our Maître 'd.

Tomorrow would be our final port!