The Island of Saba May 27 - June 2, 2008

Boy kinda nuts leaving St. Martin, but happy to.... we had to get on to a smaller prop plane because the island of Saba has the world's smallest International airport, and that's a fact. The plane holds 12 people, which 2 are crew members, so no beers or soft drink will be served. As we see this island from a distance, all we can see is a very small runway, and these large type of pinnacles surrounding the island. The landing took less than 5 seconds...and you're done.

Very exciting to say the least. We are staying on the windward side, so we get a brief tour of the tiny island. It's roads all go up and then down, there really isn't any flat areas except at a place called "the Bottom". The island has 2 taxis, and they are driven by 5th generation island nationals. The entire island is Dutch, but the American dollar is excepted everywhere. There is only 1 very small beach, that I would say is maybe 20 ft. long.

Other than that, it's all cliffs or docking areas for dive boats and supply boats. All of the roads are maybe the width of 1 and a half American automobiles, very narrow. Most of the cars and trucks are made in Europe and can fit rather well on the narrow roadways.

We are pretty much in the mix of things where we are staying, so we end up doing a lot of walking....up and down...up and down... We set up 2 dives a day with a charter service. A very nice group of people. The island of Saba is famous for it's incredible diving areas, there are shelf's that drop off at 30 feet each, with all kinda of fun stuff to look at and check out. Lot's of lobsters hiding in cubby holes. Most of our dives were in the 60- 80 feet range. one day we were out and I was having some air issues with my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device ) and all of a sudden I start floating to the surface trying to get Michelle's and the dive masters attention. For those that are not aware of safe practices in diving, you are suppose to do a shallow swim at 15 ft. to release any nitrogen you have collected in your body so you don't get the bends. So...I float to the top very worried about the next issue .....

Since the last blog of July 08 ....

Picking up the pieces... AS A FOOTNOTE while we were in Puerto Rico, which I didn't put in the original blog, I was notified by my doctor, in the USA, that I had prostate cancer and needed to come home. A small detail ... so to get a bit caught up on our travels, here is the condensed version......

after we left St. Kitts in the Caribbean, we went over to St. Martin to catch a prop plane for our next island. While on St. Martin, we had a lay over, so we decided to check out the downtown part. St. Martin is part Dutch and part French, so we went to the Dutch side. While driving there in our cab, we come to a traffic jam in the downtown shopping area. As we are inching along, all of a sudden the cab driver steps on the gas peddle, rams a car, people from the cruise ship that are shopping along the main street, dive for protection, hoping not to get hit by our out of control cab. After ramming a total of 3 cars, the driver finally gets stuck between the safety bars that are next to the sidewalk and another car, but the engine is still racing. I'm in the front seat, i reach over and turn the key off. Michelle is in the back, and everyone is OK. I crawl out the front window and then get her out. It could of been a very ugly scene, but it wasn't. Next thing we know, the police, fire department, and newscasters are there on the spot, doing their job. The cab driver had no idea of what just happened...

I think I was in shock and couldn't believe what had just happened .... time for lunch ....

The next island we head off to is a small pinnacle type island, by the name of Saba. I had never heard of it, and Michelle had picked it out for the diving. ......

On to Barbados 5/21/08

Our next stop was Barbados.... time to swim with the sea turtles. Once off the big ship, we headed out to a beach that had many turtles. We boarded a boat that took us off shore...we looked over...and there they were...just like a meal. We went swimming with them and they circled aound us playing games. They looked as if they were smiling. We had also heard of an old pirate ship party boat. We were under the impression it took off early in the afternoon...so we rushed back to the harbor to find out but there was no such pirate tour. The locals said it only goes out at night, so we just hung on the beach the rest of the day...not a bad day, eh? This was the furthest south we traveled. It was pretty close to South America. Things were expensive on this island, so we just took in the scenery. Back on the big ship was the first "dress up" night. We headed out with suit's and tuxes on. Everyone looked great. Pat in a suit...watch out! Since Shell and I needed to pack light, I had forgotten a coat and tie. While we were in New York, we went to a yard sale and picked up a great looking Italian silk suit for $3.00. I still have it. We had a lot of fun at dinner with our server. She had all of us dancing around between courses. After dinner we were off to the casino......

5/19- on to Dominica 5/20

The boat takes off from St. Thomas around 5:00 pm with everyone sharing their stories and what they did. On the beach at Megan's Bay, I noticed some guys from the boat and I see them back on the boat, Ray and Glen from AZ. Through out the trip we meet up with them many times and with their wives. Fun people. Music is played each time we leave the ports by a live band, which just adds to the fun. We have our dinner at 8 pm every night with the same sever, Nilu. Get dinners steak, lobster, what ever you want and if you extra, just order another meal....! It's Casino night tonight...watch out....wake up in Domincia. Nothing like our last stop, more of the rain forest and not as built up. Actually, lots of poverty, and we get tired of the pan handlers, we take off for a drive up to the rain forest. Very beautiful and natural. We make it to the falls, and we decide to walk down to the pools..Shell dives in as I watch. Refreshing for sure. After a short hike up to the falls and back...hey we're hungry. So big Mama is cooking up chicken at the bottom of the falls with a killer sauce...so we buy the sauce...good stuff! So we hear all the stories about how you can't bring drinks back on board, I buy some beer at the local store (Cuz beers are $4.50-6.00 each on the ship) and put them in my back pack...no problem. They x-ray ever thing as you bring it on board, but they never say anything. SO that is my MO at each stop. We have no phone or computer contact while on the ship because it's very expensive (phone calls at $6 a min. etc).... so at some of the ports we buy phone cards and try to make our calls.
Michelle is still at work so she's on the phone when she's able to be. We didn't see a lot of this island but a good taste. We have a feeling that they want to get of the destination line with the other islands, but they have some work they need to do....on to Barbados.and Lola.....

5/18/08 On the Boat

After a fun time in Puerto Rico, it's time to board the ship. We all get our rooms , which at very nice and roomie. Drinks and food 24-7, except you pay later for the drinks. We met many new friends that we would see through out the trip, even though there was 1800 people on this ship. Our bartender and dinner service person were the best. Lola, our bartender, kept the drinks coming and the smiles all the time. Our first stop, 5/19, and we travel only at night, is the beautiful Island of St. Thomas USVI. All of the gals are excited because this is the shopping mecca of the Caribbean. Nothing like waking up each morning and you're at a new island...that's the plan. Every time you leave the boat, you get your picture taken, and the picture is for sale later that night (nothing is really for free, right?). So Michelle and I decide, lets walk to town...thinking it wasn't all that far...right! Let's try 3 miles away in 88 degree heat...fun! We get to town and chug down several waters...and shopping begins. We meet the Aunt's and Pat and Luann down there too and shop away. After a while we're done so we take this cab (Shell and I) over to the other side of the island to get some beach time in...great choice! Megans Bay...very pretty and now we're getting into the mood....and local eats.

Oops....In San Juan 5/15-18

Sorry about that, still learning....the story starts here.... Back in SanJuan/Old San Juan. Met up with my cousin Pat, his wife Luann, Mom Lund, Aunt Pat (my mom’s sister in law they live together now), and Aunt Mary (Pat’s mom and my mom’s younger sister). So now there is 7….fun….first night there we all check into the same hotel…Pat is by the pool and a room that was huge. The Ladies are in the handicap room with was twice as big as Pat’s. So Michelle and I get a closet….had to be the smallest room on the block. AC didn’t work, very tight quarters, just bad all around…Michelle makes a stand…we are moving…the following day. I agree with her, there were no other rooms open because Hillary was coming to town to get some delegates…fun! So we move across the street to the Lon Concha…..a 5 star unit….nice. Over looking the ocean on the top fool was just awesome. Felt badly we split the group up, but the others were a block away. We invited them over and they had fun too. So while we are in San Juan we visit the old forts of San Juan that were built in the 1500’s. Really something, that is still holding together very well. Because the older gals had a hard time walking we left them with the hot dot vendor and the 4 of us toured the fort. At one point when I crawled out on the top of the fort, the San Juan Police rushed up in their vehicle yelling out of their mega phone….”GET OFF THE WALL!!!!”. Ouch….jail time now in San Juan….Nah…..I surrendered…. Driving around San Juan was quite the challenge, and Pat took it head on…thank god. Each street you could fit 1 and a half cars through …I don’t know how he did it in a van, but he did. The following day we toured the Bacardi Rum Factory (after getting lost for a couple of hours…) Had some samples and then back to San Juan. Getting on the ship tomorrow….)

Checking Out Old San Juan PR 5/15-18

Getting out of San Juan is like trying to get out of Los Angeles, but more confusing. So we headed to the southwest area of PR that is greatly famous for its surfing and totally surf/hippie hangout. It just so happened that a large swell was in so all of the locals were out cutting it up. They say it was an 8-10 ft. swell, I thought it was 30ft. Again, beautiful clean beaches and the blues of the water were awesome. Water temp throughout our entire trip so far was 82 degrees to 84. Always so warm. We tried some snorkeling and body surfing, but the waves were too big, we met people, ate and....drank....So 5/15 we head back to San Juan to meet up with the rest of the family that was joining us on the island cruise.