Today, Friday, April 24, we are in Bridgetown, Barbados, the beginning of our final run up the Caribbean toward home. 

We didn't do much today except go into town so Bonnie could do some watch shopping. She was quite successful and you may see her triumph sometime after we return home. We also had lunch at the same little place on the waterfront in town where we ate two years ago on our run up from the South America/Antarctica tour. Tomorrow is St. George, Grenada.

Saturday, April 25. St. George, Grenada (gren-A-da, not gren-AH-da; the island is in the Caribbean and the city is in Spain).

This is or second or third stop here and we were not too interested in sightseeing the island. This was especially true as the temperature was over 90° by 9:00 in the morning. We did go ashore and buy the obligatory package of nutmegs in the small, but bustling street market. Then we hiked up to the top of Fort George for some scenic views (and to try to work off some of the excess adipose tissue we seem to have accumulated over the past four months…). It was time to go back to the shelter – and air conditioning – of the ship for lunch and a rest.

From the top of the fort in St. George's.

The interior harbor (called the "Careenage") at St. George's.

Tomorrow is Castries, St. Lucia.

Sunday, April 26. The last time we were in St. Lucia was many years ago when we were on a sailing cruise through the Caribbean. All we got to see that day was Marigot Bay and Harbor – we remembered that day as being an example of the exquisite locations available in the Caribbean, but not much else about St. Lucia itself. Today changed that. The sip offered the World Cruisers a complimentary tour of the island including a luncheon. Well…for free, take…

Locations of the stops on our island tour.

The tour began with a drive through Castries and out of town up into the surrounding mountains.

Wow, what we had missed the first time around. Gorgeous volcanic scenery and steep climbs and droops all around us. We did make a scenic overlook stop at Marigot Bay and were once again reminded of how lovely and lush it is.

A short drive down the coast to Anse La Raye took us into a typical local fishing village. We were fortunate in that one of the locals had just come ashore with his catch and we were able to watch them sort and skin some of the fish. He also had caught several lion fish (poisonous) and a Moray eel along with a bunch of small trash fish (mostly tropical and a few small bony fish that you see the players on “Survivor” getting by on). There was then a brief stop at a cassava factory. This turned out to be a private homer/workshop where the family (the only ones on the island we were told) take cassava root and make cassava flour, cassava starch, and tapioca. Cassava is a relative of the Yucca and is both sugar- and gluten-free, making it ideal for people on restricted diets. We had an opportunity to taste some cassava bread and it was actually quite good.

The day's catch at left; removing the skin in center; lion fish on right.

We finally arrived in the Soufriére (sue-frear) area and had a visit to the world’s only drive-through volcano. Actually the entire island is a volcanic remnant, but the southern part was last active as recently as the 18^th century (circa 1750). That blast created a large caldera that has since vegetated over except for a number of bubbling hot springs and smoke vents. The guides told us that as long as the earth can vent through these holes, there is little danger of another eruption. Apparently, there are a number of geologists from around the world who visit this area on a regular basis to do research and to check on the volcanic activity. Bonnie and I both immediately thought of our visit last year to Rotorua in New Zealand where we saw very similar bubbling pools and smoking vents. The sulpher small was not too bad, but we cannot help but think that the guides and locals are affected by the constant presence of H₂S gas and other noxious stuff floating around. Actually, Soufriére means "land of sulfur air."

The lunar-like landscape at the Sulfur Springs.

After leaving the volcano, we were taken to the Botanical Garden and the almost-world-famous “Diamond Waterfall.” This is a relatively small waterfall that is part of the aforementioned bubbling springs’ system. In addition, the gardens contain specimen plantings of most of the indigenous Caribbean plants and flowers set in very attractive beds and in natural settings.

Finally, it was off the Soufriére Estate for a luncheon of Caribbean specialties and a dance exhibition of the local quadrille dances. After lunch, a loooong drive back to the ship and a nap.

The "Pitons," St. Lucia's famous twin peaks. These volcanic leftovers have been attracting people for decades.

The Diamond Falls. The rocks along the back of the falls change color based on what minerals are dissolved in the water coming over the falls. It may be black one day and orange the next. These falls are fed by the same water as we saw at the Sulfur Springs.

One of the dancing couples at our Caribbean luncheon.

Tomorrow is Gustavia, St. Barts.

Monday, April 27. Another hot, humid day in the Caribbean here in St. Barts. Gustavia is the capital and is a small, but elegant city – after all, it’s a French island… If all you have heard about St. Batrs is that it is the sybaritic capital of the Caribbean, then you know all you need to know about it. It is a small gem of an island, a land of beautiful boats (yachts – BIG yachts), beautiful stores, boutiques, and shops, and of course beautiful people. It is now late in their season and most of the BPs have gone on to other pleasures, but there is still enough of a buzz to understand why the rich – very rich – and famous like it here. Bonnie wanted a day off, so I took the tender in to Gustavia for a walk around and to see if it had changed much in the ten years or so since we were here last.

Nope. Nothing’s changed except the prices. They have gone up as might be expected. IO happened to glance at a menu at a waterfront café and saw that a burger was listed at €22. At today’s exchange rate, that comes out to about $25. It would have to be SOME burger to get me to spring for that… OK, I thought, let’s see if I can add a refrigerator magnet to our growing collection. I finally found a combination convenience store and clothing boutique (I could not possibly make a combination like that up) and they had a small selection of magnets – starting at €6 and going up. Oh well, we can live without a magnet from St. Barts.

After a walk along the three main streets of this small city, I tendered back to the ship for one of our burgers – included in the cost of our cruise. Call me cheap, or whatever you like, but I just can’t get my head around that type of profligacy.

The last stop on this cruise: San Juan, Puerto Rico. I believe I will be able to find a magnet there – except that we have been to San Juan a number of times in the past and we already have one.

Today, Wednesday, April 28, we stopped in San Juan. We headed straight for Castillo San Cristobal. We have been to Morro Castle several times, but wanted to see the other end of this huge defense line. Fortunately, we are the only ship in today and all the tours are going to Morro, so we pretty much had San Cristobal to ourselves. Although not as large or as famous as Morro, San Cristobal served a vital purpose in keeping San Juan safe from land-side attacks. Morro was good for naval defense, but San Juan was overrun twice when enemy forces attacked by land - it was the "back door." San Cristobal was then constructed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was also used more recently during WWII as a listening and forward observation post.

San Cristobal sandwiched among the new/old San Juan Viejo (Old City) buildings. 

After a hot walk around San Cristobal, we took the free Tourist Shuttle to the Catedral area and had lunch at a little tapas place we had found a few years ago. The beer was colder and better than I remember, but it might have been the heat. Then it was back to the ship to gather our strength for the World Cruisers Farewell Dinner in the evening.

La Fortaleza, remnants of the 16th century original Spanish occupation. This is all that's left after several disastrous fires in the 17th and 18th centuries.

El Morro - need I say more???

The farewell dinner was bittersweet. A four-month cruise has an entirely different dynamic among both the guests and the crew than does a short one - that is, a week, two weeks, even a month or six weeks. You get much more friendly with both sets and it becomes much more familial. we are often asked what was your favorite port? That is difficult because so much on this cruise was new to us. Probably our most vivid memories will be of the people we met and the new friends and acquaintances we have made. We already have a lunch date with a couple of Aussies...

We were discussing at dinner how quickly this last week has come upon us. When we started (four months ago), we knew we had a long and exciting trip in front of us. We have, indeed, seen much, explored much, been to several places where not many people have an opportunity to go, and experienced some pretty interesting adventures along the way. A smile, a few words in native tongue, and a positive attitude have gone a long way toward making this type of trip an unforgettable experience.We have also met some very nice folks, both on-board the ship and ashore. 

We had a few hiccups along the way: one port (Ascension Island) was too rough to tender into so we just sat out there all day and made it a sea day; we had several stops in places where no one really wanted to go off on their own, but that no one wanted to miss, either. All in all, a very successful trip and one for which we shall carry many fond memories (and more than a few souvenirs) for a long time.

This is our magnet wall in the suite. We have been collecting a refrigerator magnet from every stop where we they are available. I plan to mount them in a way that will become a permanent memento of this trip.

Unless something really out of the ordinary happens in the next day or two, this is my last entry in this blog. Thank you for being part of the journey and we are looking forward to re-living some of the more spectacular parts of it when we meet again to show you our pictures – the ones we didn't

post in the blog. We really appreciate all who have stayed with us so far and we are looking forward to being back home - and planning our next adventure.