Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Excursion: Island Highlights & Swim.

We started the day off with a lovely scenic drive, through Road Town, up Fort Hill and along the ridge-line.  We stopped at a viewpoint overlooking Road Town and could see the Prinsendam in the distance.  'Parked' beside her was a monstrosity of a ship.  The Prinsendam looked very small - but proudly held her own.  She looked beautiful.

Continuing on we passed painted wall murals reflecting the history and culture of the island (unfortunately those photographs seem to have gone missing).  We finally headed into Cane Garden Bay for a swim (unfortunately I don't seem to have any photographs of the beach/bay where we swam - they seem to have disappeared ☹️

Our guide/driver, Keith, was brilliant and had everyone in stitches of laughter at times. He was very informative and very ‘clued up’.

Before leaving we had a complimentary cup of rum punch or fruit punch.  We loved it!  I found it a bit strong - it went to my head and I got a 'disembodied' feeling.  I had to keep my wits about me for the rest of the tour and fortunately we were sitting down!

On the way back to the ship we followed the coastline, crossing the island in a north easterly direction and had lovely views of Treasure Island and Norman Island in the distance.

Being in an open air vehicle, my poor head started to clear and I felt back down to earth by the time we reached the ship!  I even managed to take photographs as we headed out of the bay - so I must have been back on my sea legs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

 

Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe. Excursion: Carbet Falls & Hike.

It was a rather big group that went to Carbet Falls  today. We had a nice slow walk along a wide(ish) stone footpath with time to admire plants, flowers and scenery.  The falls, although in the distance, were beautiful.  We couldn't do all 3 cascades but walked to the second one, which is the most accessible one, easy to reach.

We also visited Jardin de Beauvallon which is privately owned. The lovely gardens were well maintained and looked after. The owners and guides took us around the gardens, pointing out the varieties of trees, plants, flowers and fruit.  It was very pleasant.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Carbet Falls

Jardin de Beauvallon 

Ferns growing in the stubs of the fronds on the tree trunk

 

A busy bee collecting pollen and nectar

Fort-de-France, Martinique. Excursion: St. Pierre & Botanic Garden.

It has been another wonderful day! The island of Martinique is very beautiful with quite a bit of history behind it including a volcano eruption which 1 person survived - someone in jail!??

Our first stop was Balata Church, simple but beautiful.  It was prepped for a wedding but we were still able to go inside.

Balata Botanical Garden was a treat, visiting the gardens and walking along the very popular swinging walkway which gave visitors an overall view of the gardens.  We also saw lots of humming birds.  I found that capturing them on camera was a bit difficult so I resorted to keeping my camera trained on the nectar feeding pots in the shape of flowers - and put my finger on the camera trigger and hoped for the best.  We could have done with a much longer visit - so much to see at the botanical gardens but so little time.

By the time we arrived at the Museum of Volcanoes, Morne Rouge, it was pouring with rain. Fortunately the museum presentation was inside.  We were were given Information about the Mt Pelée; and there was a video presentation about the volcano’s history, its destruction of parts of the island and the resulting consequences.  Whilst at the museum, on the way to the outside toilet, I stepped in a puddle of water on the concrete floor/pathway and slipped on what I can only presume was algae or rotting leaves in the puddle.  I ended up with grazed knees, a bruised bum, bruised ego and wet shorts which drip - dried during the rest of the tour.  I also managed to flatten my umbrella during the fall.  The camera got a bit of a knock - but it still works.  Sod's law - the rain stopped when we got back to the bus.

Lastly We visited St. Pierre theatre ruins - you can still see the theatre but there's not much left of it.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Balata Church

Balata Botanical Garden

St. Pierre

A wedding has just taken place - the bride is there somewhere.