Sea Dream Cruise 2022
After 35 inches of snow in December…then 40 below zero for several days over Christmas…I was longing for sun and warmer temps….not wanting to go to the far side of the earth…the Caribbean seemed like a good choice….settled on a cruise that starts in Barbados and ends in Aruba….10 days to thaw out…perfect….a few days before departure….I was rereading the itinerary….imagine my surprise when the VERY FIRST a sentence stated “for water sports enthusiasts “….hummm…well that would not be me….shower is as wet as I ever want to be…I have visions of wading through piles of wet suits…air tanks and flippers…oh well…I am always happy on the beach.
Miami airport was a complete zoo…staggering around after midnight…locate the hotel…gratefully fall into bed….woke up a bit early…decided check bag before locating coffee and food…..good thing as it turned out….Pre check line as long a line as I have ever seen….boarding pass said gate E6….finally arrive at appointed gate…discover that gate had changed to D concourse …race along…arrive out of breath….happy to sit for a few hours…..midday …..land in Barbados….ahhhh…the tropics…warm breezes….palm trees…birds flitting around…..Easter egg colored houses line the roads….flowers…..hotel a quirky mix of funky plantation and je ne sais quoi….peacocks strolling around…my room has a wall to wall monkey /jungle mural….dinner outside under a giant pergola…..some kind of frog chirping /whistling in the trees above….not many guests… very quite evening
Feb 21…..spent the morning lounging by the pool….a family of monkeys lurked in the shrubbery….there are 50 peacocks that have the run of the property …thankfully they must get locked up night since I never heard them until after breakfast…short cab ride to ship terminal….boarding process always a bit chaotic…cabin just right…doors that open to the sea…always a plus to hear the ocean at night….left port about 6pm…gorgeous sunset….seas already showing a lot of movement…it can lull me to sleep tonite 😉
Feb 22 …dropped anchor at Man of War Bay Tobago….took the tender into town…an hour drive up into the mountains for a hike into the rainforest…..pouring rain…about 18 of us on a smallish bus….roads tiny and switchbacks as curvy as I have ever seen….up up up…then spiraling down…ended up on Atlantic side of the island….pile off the bus…even though I had forgotten to bring a raincoat…I did have a light jacket on…some people only had on a tank top or T shirts….raining fairly hard…we cluster under a shelter as some locals hand out rubber boots….needless to say not everyone got the appropriate size…some too large..some too small…our guide insisted on stopping to show us spiders…or possibly a bird…or an interesting tree….fairly deafening under the canopy with the rain hitting all the leaves…plus creeks starting to form adding to the cacophony of sound…no hope of hearing what the guide was saying..…parts of the trail a quagmire of boot sucking mud…I was sure someone would step out of their boots….I tried to stand under an overhanging tree when possible….wetness creeping into base later of clothing…water dripping off my hat…..endemic to this rainforest a White tailed Saber winged Hummingbird was spotted…and a lot of a different Hummingbird nests that were similar to netting that avocados come in…..very elongated and most interestingly made from spider webs…super strong…in the heavy rain not as many birds as normal ..need less to say…we finally arrive at a stream that has turned into a mini waterfall…snap snap…..photos taken…off we go back up the trail….numerous other groups coming down…trail now truly a muddy river …it stops raining for a while…I think that perhaps I might actually warm up by the time we get back to the bus…but no…skies open again…arrive at the bus…soaking wet…the bus ride back is like a cold sauna…windows steaming up…sit by the pool for a while to warm up….January in the Caribbean is not always warm and sunny…weather very unsettled so Captain decides to stay at anchor tonite rather than a rough trip overnight to Grenada
Feb 23…weather cooperated today in that it was nice and sunny …..BUT WINDY….hat cinched tight…you had to make sure everything was weighted down…otherwise it was gone….chairs around the pool area looked like they were possessed…moving by themselves…Captain opted to sail by Grenada instead of stopping as scheduled……will be sailing all night to arrive in St Lucia
Feb 24….arrive in Soufriere St Lucia in the early morning… very mountainous island….clouds hang over the peaks of the Piton Range…misty rain…blissfully short tender ride to port…quick drive up into the hills to visit Botanical Gardens…wander through gardens….guide is knowledgeable and the flowers are gorgeous…since the Pitons are volcanic mountains…at the far end of the gardens are a series of mineral pools…apparently a favorite of Josephine …Napoleon’s wife…..flowers as big as basketballs line the path…path ended with a good size waterfall….caterpillars that resemble of a tube of lipstick….poisonous plants mixed with the beautiful torch ginger plant…pop back on the bus for a short hop to a different waterfall…ended at Hummingbird beach…misty rain isn’t terribly conducive to sitting on the beach…back on the ship…sunny warm afternoon…..ship surrounded by dolphins….sunset departure for Curaçao ….Masked boobys darting through the waves….idyllic
Feb 25….full day at sea….misty rain with bouts of sunny periods….lazy day…reading….eating…even squeezed in a short visit to the gym….need to counteract the caloric intake somehow
Feb 26….early morning arrival in Willimstad Curaçao….acid yellow houses with orange tiled roofs trimmed in white…cobalt blue houses with black roofs…all the colors of the rainbow….love that our ship is small enough to come through the floating Queen Emma bridge…grateful to spend the morning walking around town…fruit and vegetable market along the canal…gorgeous murals add to the color palette…flea market in a large circular building…palm trees mix with large cactus…most of the islands in this part of the world get very little rain….early morning shoppers bustling….will stay in port till 10 pm
Feb 27…..arrive this am in Kralendijk Bonaire….azure waters….sherbert colored houses….police station a dark Periwinkle blue….beautiful promenade along the waterfront….the town has a more permanent feel to it….rather than strictly tourist ….Dutch influence evident…nice area of stalls set up with selection of jewelry..art…food on grills…smells were heavenly…strolled along the water before the day got too hot…sensing that we have left the rainy cool weather behind us….sipping a strawberry smoothie…enjoying the ocean breezes…arrival early tomorrow morning in Aruba
Feb 28….Aruba…ship in flux…passengers getting off…new ones getting on…lots to do…have a driver that will take me on a tour of the island…rather than sitting in the airport for 6 hrs..…charming buildings that look like something out of a Disney princess movie….see the downtown area then venture off into the countryside…Haystack Mountain is a prominent feature on this part of the island…small lanes twist and turns along past brightly colored houses……Chinese grocery stores…enormous cactus mix with a local tree than shows the signs of storm winds from the north…abandoned gold mining operations…rugged coastline…imagine if Arizona had a coastline it would look very similar ....visit a large rock formation called Casibari…scramble to the top..nice view of a good portion of the island…good size lizards darting through the undergrowth…intermittent rain…visit the California Lighthouse…if the weather had been clear..might have merited a climb to the top..but rain coming down in earnest…pass numerous stretches of beautiful beaches…head towards the airport passing dozens of high rise hotels that line this part of the island…..arrive at the airport…the scene is something resembling rush hour traffic at the start of Labor Day weekend….check in…was told to go through security then retrieve bags…a wave of the arm in the general direction of security……let the games begin….endless line to passport check…shoes off…bins flying through X-ray machines…lots of beeping and confusion…another line to get passport stamped……pop out into duty free area…wait…where is the luggage???…more arms waving….giant room loaded with luggage…finally locate my suitcase….final ( I hope) passport check…another confusing luggage line….toss bag on conveyor…hoping that it was for the correct airline….and yet one more shoes off X-ray security check…seriously more security to get off the island than to enter a top clearance military facility..…currently in the air heading towards home…need to remind myself that the Caribbean in January can be a bit windy and rainy….still it was a nice respite from the long cold and snowy Montana winter…arrive home at midnight..temperature a brisk MINUS 12
