Category: Caribbean

City Tour Excursion - One Day in St. Lucia

4/17/2024

St. Lucia, amagnificent volcanic island, is located in the West Indies between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Saint Vincent, Barbados and Martinique are St. Lucia’s closest neighbors.

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links which help to keep this blog running.**

The island's official language is English, even if many of the municipalities have a somewhat French accent. Reason being, the French and the British took turns ruling over St. Lucia. After much struggle, the island was finally ceded to the British in 1814. Although English is spoken by everyone, French Patios or Creole is also spoken by most people.

The East Caribbean Dollar is the national currency, just like in many other countries, including St. Kitts and Nevis. Don't stress too much about the currency exchange because I was able to pay for my souvenirs in US dollars.

There are plenty of excursions and tours you can choose from for your day trip. Normally your cruise will offer many, but you can always decide on the day and see what offer you can get once docked. I decided to take a ship's sponsored tour of the city. I'm not keen on being left behind if our tour doesn't make it back to the ship before sailing time.

Our first stop was Morne Fortune, which is 900 feet above sea level, where we could see captivating view of Castries & surrounding areas.

Then we were able to relive history at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College where we saw old military barracks, war cemetery, and gun powder battery.

I even got to see the Pitons off in the distance. These unique, cone-shaped volcanic peaks have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are St. Lucia’s most famous landmark.

The Piton Mountains are situated between Choiseul and Soufrière.The second-highest peak on St. Lucia, Gros Piton, stands at slightly over 798 meters. Although it is somewhat smaller, the second peak, Petit Piton, stands at 743 meters. Both summits are climbable, although the government restricts climbing to Gros Piton and requires a guide if you want to do it alone.

Our next stop was Caribelle Batik. We got to see an artist demonstration of how they do batik.

Then we were welcomed into a private residence, Stony Hill, a well manicured property edged by a tropical garden and breathtaking views of the Rodney Bay area.

We also go to see what fruits and vegetables they grew on the property and enjoy a complimentary fruit juice and local snacks.

One of the snacks was a fried fish and they had banana ketchup to dip it in. Banana ketchup, YUM!

It was so good! I wanted to buy a bottle to take home but we flew from Florida (where we live) to San Juan with only carry-on luggage I couldn’t bring it back because the bottle is larger than the allowable 3 oz. So I did the next best thing. I looked at the ingredients and made a mental note and vowing to make it when I got home.

UPDATE: I actually made a recreation of the banana ketchup. Here's my recipe.

Back on board the ship, it was business as usual: sitting on the deck watching the sun and the island disappear in the horizon. It’s a lovely way to end the daylight hours.

It was hard to pull away from the beach–I could have spent another few days there, easily. But my disappointment at having to leave was at least dimmed by having with a clear view of the Pitons.

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Making Organic Chocolate at Bois Cotlette Estate in Dominica

3/30/2024

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Dominica, an island of rich vegetation, mountains, the Caribbean Sea … and CHOCOLATE!!!!!! While Dominica may not be among the largest of the world’s chocolate producers, it is certainly developing a reputation as a great producer of high-quality organic chocolate.

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links which help to keep this blog running.**

I took this tour as a cruise ship excursion while on the Carnival Glory. We didn’t quite know what to expect but we’re very interested to learn about the history of the estate and of course make and sample chocolate! You know how I love chocolate.

Bois Cotlette Estate

The trip on the bus was a bit harrowing — reminding me of a few bus tours on those narrow switchbacks in Italy — and bumpy at times due to unpaved road. But our tour guide and bus driver seemed confident, so I settled into my seat for the 45 minute drive up the mountain.

Making Organic Chocolate at Bois Cotlette Estate

The Bois Cotlette Estate is 53 acres of volcanic soil. It is self sufficient where they grow their own food, capture water, and generate green energy. It was name after a tree and has a 290 year history – making it the oldest surviving estate in Dominica — producing cocoa, coffee, and sugar cane.

The estate itself is beautiful. You are greeted by very knowledgeable guides and the owners wife who is also the chocolatier. They take us on a brief tour explaining the history of estate.

We saw ruins of a windmill.

Then we followed the path of chocolate from breaking open the cocoa shell, to harvesting the raw beans, through the drying and grinding the beans into cocoa powder.

You also get to taste the fresh cacao fruit, right off a tree, and taste the cacao in different stages of production. You’ll taste the raw cacao nibs after they’ve been roasted and get the chance to grind the cacao down into powder.

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Then you’ll visit the test kitchen to see the entire process of how large chocolate blocks are tempered and turned in chocolate chocolate delights. When they asked for volunteers to help temper the chocolate, I immediately raised my hand.

We were each given a Candy Melting Pot and we had to stir the chocolate until it reached a certain temperature (yes, my arm did hurt a bit after all that vigorous stirring) and then pour the chocolate into molds.

While we volunteers finished up with tempering our chocolate and pouring them into molds, the rest of the group went into an enclosed open-air facility where we tasted various chocolate rum drinks (fruited-punch, tea, coffee), and several different types of bon bons. By the time I got to there I was a bit sick of chocolate — what did you say? — let’s just say that after we poured the chocolate into the molds, there was some left in the pot that we got to eat. It was delicious going down, but then I got a chocolate/caffeine high. I ended up saving my bon bon samples and took them back on the ship for later.

You’ll get a chance to buy some of the chocolate and coffee!

I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Dominica!! I thought this was the best tour of this cruise.

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21 Day Carnival Glory Cruise - Ports of Call Part 2

2/10/2016

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Yesterday, I shared part 1 of the ports of call aboard the Carnival Glory. Today, I’m sharing the second half of our 21 day cruise.

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links which help to keep this blog running.**

February 2 ~ San Juan
We’ve been to San Juan a couple of times before so having done the forts and island tour before we decided to do our own thing and walk around Old San Juan and do a bit of shopping.

February 3 ~ St. Croix
St. Croix is an outdoor playground with plenty of beautiful sandy beaches for relaxing.

If you’re looking for an island destination where you can kick back and relieve some stress, it’s definitely the perfect location. But don’t make the mistake of thinking St. Croix is all about lying around on pretty beaches! St Croix is also packed with adventures, activities and thrills, to create a lifetime of exciting travel memories.

Spend the morning in historic downtown Christiansted to get in a little shopping and explore St Croix’s history. This 18th Century Danish colonial town was once the capital of the Danish West Indies and is a beautiful example of neoclassic Danish architecture. The town itself is on the National Register of Historic places. Take a self-guided walking tour through the Christiansted historic district starting at Fort Christianvaern. Here you’ll find the National Park Service office and can pick up a map that will lead you to historic points of interest following your exploration of the fort.

After we explored the town, we walked over to the tent where they offered tours We didn’t want to do an island tour or anything that would take hours and hours. In one of the shore excursion descriptions, I read that they had a Botanical Gardens. Gary and I like flowers and plants so we booked a private tour.

February 4 ~ St. Maarten
This island provides some of the most exquisite landmarks and hideaways in the entire world. This country is divided into Dutch (south) and French colonies (north) by virtue of the Treaty of Concordia.

St. Maarten was on the itinerary on a previous cruise aboard the Carnival Valor that we took back in January 2015. Last time, we were the only ship in port. Today, the port was quite busy with six ships in port.

So we decided to walk the 15 minutes into town (although they do have a water taxi if you don’t want to walk) and to a bit of shopping. Gary loves boats so he had fun looking at all of the nice (read expensive) boats in the marina on our way into town

February 5 ~ Dominica

Dominica takes up nothing more than a speck on the world map. Not really known for their sandy beaches as this island is very volcanic. But where they lack with beaches, this small Caribbean island is mighty on attractions. Any nature lover would love to travel to Dominica and explore its land and underwater.

When I was browsing the “Shore Excursions Fun Guide” the Chocolate Experience VIP Tour really caught my eye. The tour was to Bois Cotlette Estate, the oldest surviving estate on Dominica. It showed the cocoa making process from bean to bon bon.

I even got to help make some of the chocolates by tempering the chocolate….and of course, the samples at the end made this tour one of the best we’ve been on.

Be sure to check out my post Making Organic Chocolate at Bois Cotlette Estate.

February 6 ~ Grenada

A wide variety of spices – cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, ginger, and nutmeg – are grown in Grenada. No wonder why locals call it the Spice Isle.

Grenada has more than just spices to be proud of. It has an array of attractions from beaches, mountains to waterfalls.

When we arrived in port, we were treated to local dancers and musicians.

Gary and I decided to explore on foot and do some shopping, especially for spices and chocolates.

February 8 ~ Bonaire

Bonaire has long been known for world-class diving and snorkeling. Between the pristine coral reefs of the Bonaire Marine Park and year-round crystal clear waters, it’s no wonder readers of Scuba Diving magazine have consistently ranked Bonaire among the best locations in the world for scuba diving. However, there’s so much more to do on this tiny Dutch Caribbean island.

We didn’t have a shore excursion booked but decided to get off the ship and see what we could do. There weren’t the hoards of people yelling at you to take their tour. No, there was just one woman telling about the two island tours available. You could either take the North Island tour or the South Island tour. Both were approximately 2 hours in length and both were $25 mandated by the government. Wow! So civilized.

We decided on the North Island tour …

February 9 ~ Aruba

Aruba is 15 miles off the Venezuelan coast. Aruba receives visitors all year long. Most of the people who come there are after its white sand beaches and clear waters. With a tropical climate, cool winds, and the absence of hurricanes, Aruba lives up to what a paradise should be.

After doing a little shopping, we hopped in a cab to go to the Butterfly Farm. Both Gary and I got some really great shots so I plan on doing a separate post on this.

Aruba is known for these beautiful birds called the Bananaquit. They had them flying all around the Butterfly Farm. The owner told us that they are also known as “sugar thieves” because they constantly eat sugar.

Our driver picked us up at the appointed time. On the way back to the ship, we asked him to drive us to one of the local beaches.

I loved Aruba and hope to visit there again … perhaps for a longer period of time.

February 10 ~ Curaçao

Curaçao, famous for its beautiful multicolored waterfront, nightlife, and eponymous blue liqueur, is the largest and most rugged of the ABC (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao) islands. It’s located in the Dutch Antilles and is a part of The Netherlands.

When you think of a Caribbean island like Curaçao, post card views of white sand beaches, palm trees, coral reefs, and tropical drinks come to mind….not the oil refinery you see immediately after arriving in port blowing black smoke into the air.

Both Gary and I were a little disappointed. But we tried to not let it cloud our impression of the island.

Right off the ship, they have a nice walking promenade that takes you over to the pontoon bridge.

Walking promenade from ship to pontoon bridge.

We walked across the pontoon bridge to the other side of Willemstad and did a little souvenir shopping, check our email and enjoyed the sights.

They turned an old fort into souvenir shops and cafes

Well, there you have it — a recap of our 21 day Caribbean cruise. Our last two days were sea days before returning to the Port of Miami.

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21 Day Carnival Glory Cruise - Ports of Call Part 1

2/9/2016

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We just returned from a 21-day Caribbean cruise!!! Actually it was two cruise back-to-back aboard the Carnival Glory called the Journey’s cruise. Here’s part 1 of the ports of call cruise recap.

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links which help to keep this blog running.**

The difference in a Caribbean cruise versus one in, say, Alaska, the Mediterranean or South America, is that the islands are so close together, you stop in a different port pretty much every day. During our 21 days, we visited 16 islands and had 5 sea days.

This was our longest cruise to date. I’m trying to convince my husband that we should do an around the world cruise which is usually 115-117 days. Gary asked me “how do you know if you will like a 115 day cruise when the longest cruise we’ve been on is an 8-day cruise?” I hate to admit it but I guess he is right (but don’t tell him I said that … wink, wink). So we are working our way up.

I still can hardly believe it. It truly was an opportunity of a lifetime…We arrived in Miami the day before our cruise. If we can drive to the port, we like to get there the day before and do a Stay and Cruise package at one of the hotels so we can leave our car at the hotel. This time we stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites near to the airport. It was great. The price included a manager’s cocktail/appetizers (on Friday evening) which was filling enough to be dinner, a full breakfast, one-way transportation to the Port and up to 14-days storage for your car (since we were gone 21 days, I just had to pay the extra 7 days at $5 a day).

Ports Of Call
Here’s a brief recap of the islands we visited. I plan on doing a few more extensive posts on some of the ports and activities we did … at some point.

January 23 ~ We woke up to sunny skies for which I was very thankful. We had to drive to Miami yesterday in the rain so I was very thankful when we woke up to sunny skies and mild weather.

We boarded the Carnival Glory. We like to unpack and then have a little lunch and get acquainted with the ship. Then we head up on deck for the sail-away party.

January 24 ~ Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
I don’t know what it is about this port but I guess we are destined to never see it. This is our second time to this port and both times we just stayed on the ship.
This is a port where you have to use tenders and I think there was a glitch with the tenders the first time we visited. This time, it was COLD and WINDY. The Northeast from Virginia up to New York had just had a blizzard (I know that the DC area got 26 inches of snow). Even North Carolina and George got hit with snow and ice.
Here’s my view from the ship

I do love the multi-colored blue waters. Gorgeous! Maybe one day…

January 26 ~ Grand Turk

When we visited Grand Turk previous on the Carnival Conquest in July 2014, we did a ship sponsored shore excursion. Actually, we did a lot of ship sponsored shore excursions on previous cruises so this cruise, we decided to do less of that and more just walking around and maybe catch a shore excursion once we got on land.

Last time we were in Grand Turk, we saw a lot of people renting mopeds. We thought what what a great way to tour the island so we tucked this bit of info into our brains for the next time we visited.

To rent mopeds was our plan but we woke up to clouds and rain. By mid-morning the rain had stopped but that bagged our plans. So we just got off the ship, walked around, checked our email and did a little shopping.

January 28 ~ Antigua
Today is a beach day! And we had a lot to choose from since Antigua has 365 beaches. Most of the people we talked to were headed to Dickenson’s Bay. If you like a fully loaded beach with a lot of action, this beach is for you.
But, we decided we wanted something a little quieter so we asked our driver to take us to a more secluded beach. It was one of the most picturesque beaches. Soft sand and beautiful layers of multi-colored blue water.

January 29 ~ Martinique
I consider myself to be a Francophile so I was excited to visit the Martinique is an island in the Caribbean Sea that is located north of Saint Lucia, northwest of Barbados, and south of Dominica.

Martinique is one of four islands in the Caribbean that’s part of France (also known as the French West Indies). Others include St. Martin, Guadeloupe and St. Barts. It is home to around 380,000 inhabitants.

Because it is a region of France, the official language of the island is French although many of the inhabitants speak Antillean Creole. Few speak English there, and you’ll find that signs and menus generally aren’t meant to accommodate anyone who isn’t French.

We did our own thing in Martinique. This port is one of the nicest Caribbean ports going,very clean, the locals are dressed impeccably and are all very friendly.

The fruit/veggie/spice market is a must to see.

I would definitely visit this port again.

January 30 ~ St. Lucia
St. Lucia is best known as a romantic getaway but can also offer something for the family or for a group of friends. Who doesn’t love a tropical island with long, sandy beaches, and beautiful, natural surroundings? It is located midway down the Eastern Caribbean chain, between Martinique and St. Vincent, and is only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide.

We visited St. Lucia in January 2015 aboard the Carnival Valor so we just walked around taking in the all of the sights.

January 31 – St. Kitts
Intoxicating natural beauty … warm, sunny skies … and that water! Oh and the trade winds…

This is my second time to St. Kitts. We visited this island on our Carnival Valor Cruise in January 2015, Gary was sick so I went on a tour with our friends Regina and Mike…which is what we did time time as well.

The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Timothy Hill, a popular tourist spot to take photos of where the two bodies of waters meet.

February 1 ~ St. Thomas/St. John
St. John is one of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the majority of the island is national park, which provides opportunities for lots of trekking and wildlife spotting. Out of the three U.S. Virgin Islands, this one is my favorite – you have lots of trails to hike in the park, tons of beaches, snorkeling opportunities, and delicious food.

We’ve been to St. Thomas a couple of times so we decided to take a ship sponsored tour to St. John. We took the ferry over to St. John then boarded our bus for a short island tour on our way to Trunk Bay.

February 2 ~ San Juan
This is the end of the first part of the cruise - some people disembarked in San Juan. But, we stayed for the second part of the cruise so check out my post here.

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Cayman Turtle Farm Excursion

7/16/2014

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Did you know that Turtle Stew is the National dish of Grand Cayman? I didn’t until we visited the Cayman Turtle Farm while on our Carnival Legends cruise.

I’ve tried alligator, frog legs and rabbit but not turtle … yet … maybe next time.

Grand Cayman is the largest island in the Cayman Islands and a British Territory. We boarded a nice air conditioned bus at the cruise dock. Cayman Turtle Farm is located on the Northwest tip of Grand Cayman in the district of West Bay, just 8 miles from George Town.

On the way, we were treated to a scenic drive with authentic Caymanian architecture and world-famous Seven Mile Beach.

The Turtle Farm began in 1968 as a way to domesticate Green Sea Turtles. Currently there are 4 species on the farm: Green, Kemp’s Ridley, Loggerheads and Hawksbills, totaling over 7,000. All of the turtles are held in separate tanks, grouped together by species and age.

The first thing you see when walking in is Green’s Breeding Pond. This is home to the Green Sea Turtles who have become mature enough to mate. The turtles here were quite large, some over 500 lbs. The farm helps to conserve the Green Sea Turtle by releasing yearlings into the wild, about 20 annually.

The Kemp’s Ridley species is actually the rarest, most endangered turtle. They are known only to breed in the Gulf of Mexico, but a few were found and brought to the farm.

The highlight was holding a yearling turtle (squealing with delight).

I wish this little guy could have come home with us. Isn’t he/she adorable…apparently you can’t tell the sex until they are 9 years old.

Anyone can step inside the water tanks and pick up a turtle, as the water line is fairly low. To pick one up, hold it by grasping firmly under the flippers. He may start flappin’ his little flippers, so hold on tight and over the pool.

You are more than welcome to take pictures with your own camera.

Here are some other random things we learned about turtles:

You can tell the gender of a turtle by their tail. The males have much longer tails than the females.

You cannot distinguish the sex of a young turtle just by looking at them. The sex can only be distinguished in green sea turtles at about nine years of age and older.
The white marks on the back of a turtle’s neck are scars from bites that are caused by normal turtle behavior, especially during breeding. This does not damage the heavy underlying skin of the turtles.
Mature breeding turtles can weigh between 350 – 500 pounds. The biggest turtle on the farm is a female named “Sparky”, and she weighs in at a whopping 575 pounds! Whoowee, that’s a big girl!
Female turtles can lay between 50 and 100 eggs at a time, up to 10 times in a season.
A turtle can hold its breath for 15 minutes, and when it is sleeping it can hold its breath for up to 12 hours.

The Cayman Turtle Farm is the world’s only sea turtle farm…but there is more to the attraction than just turtles. There is a colorful bird aviary, a predator reef tank with sharks and barracuda, Cayman Street, two lagoons, a restaurant, a gift shop, a nature trail and an education center. There is something for everyone.

You’ll get to see more island wildlife than you’d expect – colorful tropical birds, sharks, iguanas and other local flora and fauna.

We also spent a few minutes roaming through the free-flight walk-through Aviary. It’s very small but worth a stop.

You can even feed the birds.

There are many activities to do as well. One of them is snorkeling with marine life – yes, turtles – in a 1.3 million gallon saltwater lagoon (Snorkel gear is provided as part of the excursion).

When you are snorkeling, it looks like you would be in the same area as the sharks and barracuda……don’t worry, there is a separation.

We decided not to swim/snorkel in the saltwater lagoon, we opted instead to relax at Breaker’s Lagoon, the largest fresh-water swimming pool in the Cayman Islands. This lagoon is definitely more child-friendly, has lifeguards, and boasts an incredibly fun water-slide.

This is where we hung out for the remainder of our visit.

NOTE: Our excursion was 4 hours, which included travel time. There wouldn’t be enough time to visit both the freshwater lagoon and snorkel in the saltwater lagoon, unless you did not spend any time at the turtle tanks or passed on lunch. The time went very quickly and I sure wish the excursion had lasted longer, so you could experience everything the Turtle Farm had to offer. (For those interested, the cost of the excursion was $49.99 Adult, $29.99 Child and if you wanted to include lunch it was an additional $10.)

What an experience! We had a fabulous time and learned so much about turtles.

Have you ever been to a turtle farm? Have you ever held a sea turtle?

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City Tour Excursion - One Day in St. Lucia

Making Organic Chocolate at Bois Cotlette Estate in Dominica

21 Day Carnival Glory Cruise - Ports of Call Part 2

21 Day Carnival Glory Cruise - Ports of Call Part 1

Cayman Turtle Farm Excursion

Linda Roisum

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