Tim's Web Journal

Thursday, March 9 – transit from Guadeloupe to Dominica

Guadeloupe Information

• Currency: Euro
• Language: French
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the right
• Weather: Highs in the mid 80s, Lows in the upper 60s, moderate humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Rare
• Electrical Outlets: European
• Drinkable Tap Water?: Yes
• Time Zone: 1 hour ahead of U.S. Eastern Time

I’m on the ferry today, back to Dominica. Will there be issues? I’m expecting the worst, but we’ll see what happens…

The ferry departs at 5pm. I worked on a journal entry in the morning, was able to get a late departure from my Airbnb (thanks!), and a got a ride to the terminal from the driver, Max, who picked me up there a few days ago (35 USD).

The check-in and boarding process for the ferry in Guadeloupe was very efficient. They need to send a team from Dominica here to take notes on their methods! The ferry will stop in Dominica and then continue on to Martinique. It wasn’t super crowded, so I was able to get a window spot in the upper, open air level. We ended up breaking dock at 5:10pm; practically on-time, based on my experience!

Travel Note: I was not asked by the ticket agent or immigration officer about any onward or return travel from Dominica; a second positive data point on the method of entry to be used for those of you who are looking for ways to stay for an extended period in the islands without a visa!

There was a pretty sunset on our trip to Dominica…

We docked in Roseau at 7:35pm, only 20 minutes late. Nice! And there were three immigration officers on duty (compared to just one when I arrived previously)! I was out the door very quickly and was able to grab a taxi for the short ride (10 minutes) to my Airbnb (15 USD).

Friday, March 10 – Dominica

The Airbnb where I’m staying is located up in the hills surrounding the city of Roseau.

My plan today is to just take a walk into the town of Roseau and roam around (it’s what I do!).

After exploring the town, I made my way to the Botanical Gardens and found a shade-covered bench to plant myself for awhile. Very relaxing. I finally took Jack’s Walk back up to the Garrison and then made the short walk down to my apartment.

Later in the evening I stopped by the Top Bar and had a couple rum punches (only 2 USD each!) while visiting with the locals.

Travel Note: While on this trip (and during other visits to foreign countries too) it surprises me how interested, and knowledgeable, the locals are in U.S. politics. Considering the impact (influence?) that our government has in the world, I guess I really shouldn’t be that surprised.

Saturday, March 11 – Dominica

I thought I might have had an issue at my Madison condo this morning, but it turns out I was mistaken (not rare!). Thanks for your quick response (and understanding) Kari!

After that drama was sorted, I decided to just take another trip along Jack’s Walk into town. Nothing very exciting unfortunately!

After walking around a bit, I stopped by the grocery store and picked up some chicken chow mein takeaway (5 USD) for a late lunch.

Monday, March 6 – Guadeloupe

I’m a little behind on my journal entries; that is this morning’s mission!

Following that, I went back to the pastry shop and grabbed a ham & cheese baguette sandwich (5 USD). Tres bien! I spent the rest of the afternoon at the nearby beach (although, it was still pretty crowded, even during the week).

Tuesday, March 7 – Guadeloupe

More walking is on today’s agenda. I’m heading east from Le Gosier to checkout some scenic spots along the coast.

My first stop was a little over an hour’s walk from my apartment.

My plan was to continue further east to an area called Saint-Felix. According to Google Maps there is a trail along the coast leading there from Anse Vinaigri. However, when I got to a point on the trail it looked like it entered private property. There was no one around though, so I continued walking along the trail. Well, it didn’t long before someone came along and confronted me. He didn’t seem very accommodating, and there was the language barrier, so I eventually conceded his point and turned back from where I came! That meant I had to take a huge loop back along the main roads to eventually reach Saint-Felix. Oh well, more steps!

There were a couple other places I wanted to see that were further along the trail to the east. But once again I was stifled by private property barriers. And after my last encounter, I decided it would be best not to do any trespassing. Frustrating! I was tempted to look for alternate routes, but by this time I was kind of tired and still had a long walk back to the apartment. Time to give up (for today).

Wednesday, March 8 – Guadeloupe

Okay, I’ve done a little more digging and think I’ve found public land access to the trail I was looking for yesterday. I will not be defeated! Let’s do this!

This was another good day of walking and exploring!

Travel Note: I’ve created a Google Map that tracks the route of my travels this winter (thanks for the idea Buck!). I’ll update it as I move around. I’ve included all of my stops on the trip to date, including flight and ferry layovers. The link to the map is here.

And here’s a screenshot…

Thursday, March 2 – Dominica

Nothing very exciting today. Sorry!

I did some laundry, prepped for my Guadeloupe trip, worked on a journal entry, and went for a swim. Lacking excitement, but a relaxing day!

Dominica Information

• Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the left
• Weather: Highs in the low 80s, lows in the low 70s, moderate humidity (there’s a nice breeze on the Atlantic coast, where I stayed)
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Minimal
• Electrical Outlets: U.K. Style
• Drinkable Tap Water?: Yes
• Time Zone: One hour ahead of U.S. Eastern

Friday, March 3 – transit from Dominica to Guadeloupe

I’m taking the ferry this morning to Guadeloupe. That means another one hour, 80 USD taxi ride back south to the ferry terminal. Brother! I did not plan this well! The scheduled departure time is 11:30am, so I left around 8:30am. With traffic delays in Roseau (THREE cruise ships in port), I arrived at the terminal around 10am. Still plenty of time.

You may remember that my ferry trip from St. Lucia to Dominica arrived in the Dominica harbor on time, but then encountered a 90 minute delay while waiting for another ferry to depart from the dock. Well, I now know what caused the delay – the Dominica boarding process is an abomination! There is pushing and shoving, with people cutting in line. There were three stops along the queue: pay the departure tax (32 USD); immigration check; and security. The first two weren’t terrible, but security is a disaster. Passengers are only allowed into a room one at a time, where their bags are screened and they walk through the metal detector. This took forever! (And actually wasn’t very thorough) I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that because of this fiasco we were late in departing, coincidentally by 90 minutes. I’m surprised the ferry company puts up with this. It seems like a major disruption to their operations. On the other hand, it could just be the “island” mentality. (I am attempting to go with the flow!)

Travel Note: My ferry ticket is for a round trip back to Dominica, so there was no need for the ticket agent to ask me about onward or return travel. The round trip ticket cost 130 USD. And the non-stop ferry ride took 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Another Travel Note: The ferry was the same type that I traveled on from St. Lucia, and very crowded. I ended up sitting in the middle section of the upper level. Because of all of this, I didn’t take any pictures during the trip.

Meanwhile, my Airbnb host (Xavier) in Guadeloupe had offered to pick me up at the ferry terminal because he wasn’t sure what the taxi availability would be (also, his place is kind of tricky to find). However, with our delayed departure he was no longer available for the pickup. So he was scrambling to arrange a taxi. Because of this, I needed to be online and in contact with him during the ferry transit, so thus incurred my first AT&T roaming charge of the trip (10 USD for the day – oh no!!).

I should mention that Guadeloupe is a territory of France; therefore the language is French (duh!). And Xavier does not speak English. Fortunately the messaging function within the Airbnb website automatically does the translating. We were using this to communicate.

Xavier eventually found me a driver, sent me his phone number, and asked me to text him with my details. Great! Thanks! But wait, I’m guessing he doesn’t speak English, right? How’s this going to work? I ended up typing out my text in English and used Google Translate to convert it to French. I then copied the French text into the massaging app and hit send. Good to go! Not so fast. The driver never responded. Ugh!

I assumed he was no longer available and I would just need to figure things out upon arrival. And I must say that the arrival process in Guadeloupe was very efficient, both immigration and baggage claim. A refreshing improvement over Dominica. (And my St. Lucia departure was efficient too, as well as the stopover in Martinique.) I checked my phone as I cleared immigration and noticed that I had a message from Xavier: “Your taxi driver (Max) is waiting for you outside.” Wow! That’s a nice surprise. Thank you!

The ferry terminal is in Pointe-a-Pitre and I’m staying in nearby Le Gosier; the drive would normally take about 20 minutes, but Max spent time on the phone with Xavier trying to find the airbnb, which added about 10 minutes to the trip. The cost of the ride was 35 USD. Happy to pay it after today’s adventure!

I was pretty much drained after today’s activities. I spent the rest of the day in the apartment; didn’t even go out for food.

Saturday, March 4 – Guadeloupe

I’m feeling better this morning and ready to head out and explore the area!

After strolling around the area for a few hours I finished up with a grocery run and then back to the apartment.

Sunday, March 5 – Guadeloupe

I’m motivated to do some serious walking today. I’m going to head west towards Pointe-a-Pitre, with plans to check out the coastline and visit a fort and an aquarium. Let’s go!

Travel Note: This is probably going to sound pretentious (or stupid!), but I’m getting a little bored with the waterfalls, greenery (rain forests), and 100+ USD drive-arounds to touristy spots (that I typically avoid). What I did today was the kind of activity I enjoy – exploring an area on foot. And as opposed to the the islands I’ve recently visited, this part of Guadeloupe is favorable for walking – with a good pedestrian infrastructure, and most importantly, it’s relatively flat! Today reminds me of my time in Honolulu – investigating the nooks and crannies of that city.

Today was a good day! I ended putting in the most steps since my excursions on Barbados. More of the same is planned for the next few days (along with some swimming!).

Monday, February 27 – Dominica

I’m feeling a little restless this morning. I’ve been told there’s a picturesque area south of here that’s within walking distance called Pagua Bay, with a landmark, Pagua Rock.

The hike took a total of about 3 1/2 hours. I wasn’t on a very fast pace though; stopping for pictures and to take in the sights. And I needed a couple rest breaks on the way back up. Sad!

I spent the rest of the day working on a journal entry and going for a swim at Sand Bay.

Tuesday, February 28 – Dominica

I’m traveling to the northwest part of the island today to explore the town of Portsmouth. My mode of transport?

The bus stop was about a 5 minute walk from my apartment. I got there around 8:05am, the bus arrived at 8:15, and we departed at 8:25. The ride to Portsmouth was very scenic, with about 75% of it along the coast. The trip took about 1 hour. The cost? Three USD.

Portsmouth is the second largest town in Dominica, behind Roseau. It was initially chosen as the capital of Dominica, but only served in that capacity in 1760. After malaria broke out there the same year, the capital was moved to Roseau, where it remains.

Cabrits National Park is an extinct volcano that was once its own island, separate from mainland Dominica. The park protects tropical forest, coral reefs and wetlands. It contains hiking trails and an English garrison, Fort Shirley. The park occupies 1,300 acres and was established in 1986.

Fort Shirley was formerly a military outpost; the British began building it in 1765 as a garrison to defend north Dominica. The fort was extended by the French during their occupation from 1778 to 1784. It was abandoned in 1854. After suffering for years, restoration began in 1982.

The entry fee for the park was 5 USD for the day or 12 USD for a one-week pass, which could be used at other tourist sites on the island. I chose the latter because I have an island drive around planned for tomorrow.

In the shop I ended up sitting with a couple that were originally from Virginia. They now live fulltime on their 76-foot catamaran. Wow! We had a nice conversation. In fact, it was so nice that I forgot to take a picture of my roti. Sorry! (Although, I guess you already know what they look like!) The cost of the vegetarian roti (would have chosen fish if they had it) and a drink was 7 USD.

While I was in town I stopped at the bank to get some Euros for my upcoming Guadeloupe visit, and to acquire additional Eastern Caribbean Dollars (which will also be needed for my future stops in Antigua and St. Kitts).

I didn’t have to wait at all for a return bus, as one was departing just as I arrived at the stop. Nice! Another hour ride back dropped me near the apartment around 4pm. A good day!

Wednesday, March 1 – Dominica

My Airbnb host, Phillip, offered to take me around to some sights on the island today (for a fee, of course). Thank you!

His plan was to travel south and visit some places in the area of Morne Trois Pitons National Park. On the way though is Jacko Falls. We were going to stop there first. However, as we approached we noticed three tour buses parked there along the road. Oh oh. That means there is a cruise ship in the port. And that means the tourist sights will be busy today. (we later learned that there were TWO ships at the dock!). So Phillip bypassed Jaco and continued south to a more remote location, which will hopefully be less crowded.

Freshwater Lake is the largest of Dominica’s four lakes. It is located at just over 2,500 ft above sea level and was formed by a volcanic grater.

Trafalgar Falls is the only twin waterfall on the island. They are named Mother and Father Falls.

Our path back north brought us through the capital city of Roseau, and Phillip took us to one of his favorite places for takeaway meals.

I was taking this picture on our way out, after purchasing our food. Well, I guess it was the owner who saw me (who wasn’t around the counter when I bought the meal), and she starting giving me a hard time about needing to buy something if I was going to take photos. We quickly straightened it out and all was forgiven. Kind of funny. (It undoubtedly helped that Phillip was there alongside me!)

We’re heading back north now, and our final stop will a return visit to Jacko Falls. Hopefully the cruise passengers are nowhere to be seen…

Phillip did a lot of driving today. And I was able to take in the beautiful scenery of the island, which was great. With left around 9:45am and returned around 5:00pm. For that Phillip charged me 120 USD, which I thought was more than reasonable, considering what I’ve paid for similar services on the other islands.

And now it’s time to enjoy the takeaway dinner…

Friday, February 24 – Dominica

I’m a few days behind on my journal; catching up will be this morning’s task!

By early afternoon the journal was updated (it’s not like I’m in a rush, I’m on vacation!), and I was getting hungry. Time to head back to the ice cream place for lunch!

George (nickname: Dantie, hence the name of the restaurant/bar) and his wife run the this place and the adjacent store. They’re originally from Dominica, but lived in New Jersey for 30+ years. They decided to move back here when they retired. Their children still live in the States. Nice couple. While I was having lunch a family from Oregon came by for some drinks. It turns out this place is a fun gathering spot for travellers on this part of the island. I’ll be back (probably tomorrow…).

Saturday, February 25 – Dominica

I headed out early this morning (around 7:30) to check out the local pastry shop. My Airbnb host told me about it. I stopped by yesterday afternoon following lunch, but all the good stuff was already sold out.

Later in the morning my Airbnb host Phillip stopped by with some tasty offerings to share with me. Thank you!

By late afternoon I was ready to return for another meal at Dantie’s.

Today’s visitor while I was eating lunch was a backpacker from the Netherlands. I love this place!

Sunday, February 26 – Dominica

I had one of the morning buns this morning. I can’t say that it was all that great, but hey, the price was right!

Travel Note: My next stop is the island of Guadeloupe, a French territory. I’m looking forward to trying the pastries there!

Today’s mission is to finalize my Belize itinerary and accommodation bookings. And it seriously took most of the day!! The main issue was figuring out how to transfer to the difference places I wanted to visit. For such a small country, they make it difficult to get around. What a pain! Anyway, I finally got it sorted. So now all of my transportation and accommodations are booked for the entire trip. Whoo hoo! (Sure would have been nice if I had gotten all of this done months ago, rather than trying to freelance, right? Lesson learned!!).

Author’s Note: This journal entry is rather boring, I know. Sorry about that. I plan on getting out more in the next few days. Feel free to abuse me in the Comments section!

Monday, February 20 – St. Lucia

Sadly, not much to report today. I worked on a journal entry, did some laundry and took a walk into town to visit an ATM and pick up some groceries. And some hammock time!

St. Lucia Information

• Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
• Language: English
• Traffic: Drive on the left
• Weather: Highs in the mid 80s, lows in mid 70s, moderate humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: No vaccination or testing requirements for entry
• Mask Wearing: Observed very few people wearing masks
• Electrical Outlets: UK style
• Tap Water Drinkable?: Yes
• Timezone: 1 hour ahead of US Eastern

Tuesday, February 21 – St. Lucia

Sorry to say, but today’s report will closely follow yesterday’s! I spent a fair amount of time sorting out my Jamaica itinerary and accommodations (I’ll be splitting time between Kingston and Montego Bay). All I have left now for the rest of the trip is the Belize itinerary and associated bookings. It will be good when it is all finalized!

Otherwise, I went for a swim in the nearby harbor and spent some more time in the hammock!

Wednesday, February 22 – in transit from St. Lucia to Dominica

I’m taking the ferry today from Castries to Dominica, departing at 1pm. I’m looking forward to it, just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery.

The cost of the ferry ride was 86 USD. In addition there was a St. Lucia departure tax of 12 USD that was paid at the ferry terminal (I think it’s usually included in the cost of the ticket when departing by plane). And I was NOT asked anything about a return or onward ticket by the ferry ticket agent! So, the lesson learned here is if you want to stay on a Caribbean island longer than legally allowed, travel there by ferry! You’re welcome!

There was an outside viewing area on the ferry, but it is small, with no seating and mainly obstructed views. I ended up taking a few pictures from my window seat.

The ferry made one stop on the way to Dominica, in Martinique. In the upper section where I was sitting, I’d say about half the seats were occupied.

We arrived at the dock in Martinique at 2:35pm. Probably 2/3 of the passengers disembarked here. However, a LOT of passengers boarded as well! That seemed odd to me, that so many tourists would want to visit Dominica. It was only later that I learned that following the Dominica stop, the ferry was traveling on to Guadalupe. Oh. (I’m a little slow…) We departed Martinique around 3:30pm.

Travel Note: You may be wondering why I didn’t stopover in Martinique? I’ve actually been there previously, 30+ years ago. It was while I was working for the dredging company. I stayed at a Club Med.

We were scheduled to arrive in the port town of Roseau, Dominica at 5:30pm. And we were in the harbor on time. However, it appeared there was another ferry there blocking our spot. We finally ended up docking at 7pm. Only about 20 of us exited here. There was only one (slow) immigration agent on duty, and I was near the back of the line. You get the picture… Oh, and no, he did NOT ask me about my onward or return travel!

Roseau is located in the southwest of the island. I chose an Airbnb that’s located in the northeast; a kind of remote area that looked like it would be a relaxing place to stay. Well, once again I failed to understand the logistics (and cost) of traveling between the two points. So I ended up with another one hour, 80 USD taxi ride! And unlike in St. Lucia, I need to make the return trip because I’m taking the ferry again (to Guadeloupe). I’m an idiot! The hubris of my “no itinerary” travel again rears its ugly head. And I’ve realized it’s only going to get worse, but I’ll save that story for another journal entry! I arrived at the Airbnb at about 9pm.

Thursday, February 23 – Dominica

I was pretty tired after my journey yesterday, but finally got motivated around noon to get out and explore the area. I’ll be heading north, to view more of the west (Atlantic) coast.

Airbnb Note: Back to my reference about the construction taking place on the Airbnb roof. The host told me about it when I arrived on Wednesday night, but said any work taking place during my stay would be “quiet”. Well, as I was around the apartment this morning there was a lot of pounding going on. And when I returned in the late afternoon it was more of the same. So I sent the host a message via the Airbnb website, voicing my frustration. To his credit, he made the decision to shutdown the work until I departed. I expressed my appreciation to him, but in my mind that was the right thing to do. It really shouldn’t have been taking place to begin with, or he should have made it clear at the time of the booking.

Travel Note: This is probably going to sound stupid, but I’m feeling a little burnt out at the moment. So I’m not really sure how much of Dominica I’ll be exploring. I can see spending most of my time just checking out things in the area around the Airbnb. I’ll finalize my Belize plans, do some reading, maybe start working on my taxes (fun!). We’ll see, I might become motivated to do some exploring in a few days? In the meantime, my posts might be a little boring in the short-term. Sorry.

Friday, February 17 – St. Lucia

There’s a beach to the west of where I’m staying that I want to check out called La Toc. It should take about 30 minutes to walk there.

Travel Note: I should have done some better research when I was planning my transportation to St. Lucia. I searched solely for the lowest airfare. However, when taking into account my 85 USD taxi ride from the main airport in the south, it might have been better to pay more for a flight to the Castries airport.

Saturday, February 18 – St. Lucia

I mentioned previously that there is a produce market in Castries on Saturday mornings. So, I’m off! (and will probably roam around other parts of the town too)

Sunday, February 19 – St. Lucia

Today I’ve hired a driver to take me around to some areas of interest to the south of Castries. Marius was recommended to me by the Airbnb hosts, and has some good reviews online.

The park is home to a volcano that has more than 20 bubbling pools and steam holes that produce a strong sulphur odor.

Soufriere is the oldest town in St. Lucia, founded by the French in 1746.

The Pitons (Gros and Petit) were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. They were formed by a volcanic eruption 30 to 40 million years ago.

This was a fun day. I like driving around and seeing the different communities on the island. Marius picked me up at 9am and dropped me off around 5pm. The cost for the 8 hours was 200 USD. Fair, I think, based on what I paid for shorter tours on Barbados and Grenada. And it just reinforces the fact that the 100 USD I paid for the volcano hike on St. Vincent was a bargain!

Fuel Price Check: I’ve passed by some gas stations while walking around Castries, but haven’t been able to see any prices, either via a sign or displayed on the pump. I asked Marius though, and he told me that the cost is 18.50 ECD per gallon. That works out to 6.85 USD /gallon. That kind of explains the high cost of being driven around the island!

Wednesday, February 15 – transit from Grenada to St. Lucia

I have a 6pm flight tonight, so I decided to keep things kind of leisurely; mainly working on a journal entry. And it helped that I was able to get a late checkout from my Airbnb. Thank you!

My flight is on a British Airways 777. Wow! It’s the largest plane I’ve experienced so far on this trip! Weird that it would be used to travel from Grenada to St. Lucia, right? Well, as you probably guessed, it just has a stopover in St. Lucia and then travels on to London Gatwick. The plane wasn’t terribly full, and I’d say about 30 of us exited in St. Lucia. The flight took about 30 minutes and cost 158 USD.

I had a funny encounter as I entered St. Lucia. The Customs agent (not Immigration) asked about where I’d been so far on my trip, and where I was going next. Not just my next stop, but my entire future itinerary (I actually couldn’t remember all of them; when I finished going through my list she said that I should go to Antigua too. And that’s when I figured out that I actually was traveling there! I’m clueless!). She was nice about it though, and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to know for her job, or if she was just curious.

The international airport is located in the South of St. Lucia, and my Airbnb is located near the main town of Castries in the middle portion of the west coast. The taxi ride took about an hour and cost 85 USD. Ouch! Fortunately I won’t be going back there when I depart; I’ll be taking the ferry from Castries. (Speaking of which, my flight tonight will be my last one for nearly a month! I’ll be taking ferries going forward until I fly from Dominica to Antigua on March 12.) Regarding my taxi ride, it’s too bad my flight arrived in the evening, for a couple of reasons: a) it would have been nice to see more of the scenery on our one hour drive; and b) during the day there is a bus that runs from the airport to Castries at a cost of 3 USD. My cheap self definitely would have been on that!

Thursday, February 16 – St. Lucia

After a lazy morning I got motivated to venture out and get a lay of the land (in daylight). It’s about a 30 minute walk into Castries, where I plan on roaming around a bit and then pick up some groceries on the way back.

There is not a huge amount of things going on in Castries. I could foresee my time here being kind of a relaxing stay – swimming and hammock time. I do plan on taking a tour of the island at some point though.

Travel Note: I’ve noticed that one aspect of being a solo traveler on the islands is rather frustrating – that there is a dearth of organized group tours. Except for the Panama Canal cruise, all of the other tours I’ve taken so far have been private, with me as the only customer. That’s nice in one way, but it makes it rather expensive.

Sunday, February 12 – Grenada

This is my 100th Journal Entry. Kind of a milestone, I guess. It all started in January of 2019, with 2021 sadly being a lost year. Thanks to all of you for sticking it out through my ramblings. It appreciate it! And I enjoy reading your comments too!

Sunday’s are pretty quiet here. Most of the shops and restaurants are closed. And that’s fine with me, except for the fact that I need to get some groceries. Looking online I found a place that’s open. It’s about a 40 minute walk each way, which is probably a good thing, since I’ve haven’t been super-active since the volcano hike!

The low-key Sunday made for some good photo opportunities on my walk.

Monday, February 13 – Grenada

Kind of a leisurely morning today. I finally got out the door around 10am. And when I did, I discovered that…

…St. George’s has been invaded!!

The town is packed with people and vehicles (mainly taxis). What the…? Finally, I realized what was going on (I’m a little slow) – a cruise ship is at the dock! Ah…

My plan for today was to head out of town and go back to the Grand Anse area, where I stayed during my previous visit. This situation only reinforced that decision!

The walk into GA should take about 45 minutes.

The market and the adjacent beach were also more crowded than I previously experienced. Cruise passengers gravitated to this area as well.

I also made a stop at the hardware store (Ace Hardware, in fact!) to pick up some duct tape.

Kind of a boring day to read about, right? Sorry about that!

Tuesday, February 14 – Grenada

I’m going to visit a couple forts to the east of town today. But first, I’ll be making a stop at a roadside stand to pick up some roti. My Airbnb host told me about it. She claims they serve the best roti on the island.

A Grenada speciality, Roti originated in the Caribbean with Indian roots. It’s a wrap sandwich filled with curried meats or vegetables.

Fort Matthew was built from 1784 through 1790 by the British. About 90 years later, when it no longer served a military purpose, the property became a mental institution. Unfortunately, Fort Matthew was mostly destroyed by the conflict that occured here in 1983 (that I mentioned in a previous journal entry).

St. Vincent Volcano Hike Addendum

Anthony sent me some pictures that he took on our hike. I’ve posted a few here so you can see the dork (me!) in action!

Wednesday, February 8 – St. Vincent

My Quads Are Killing Me!!!

Climbing those steps up to the volcano yesterday took a toll. Therefore, the word for today is REST! I do have four days worth of journal entries to work on though. That will be a nice diversion for the day.

Things Are Falling Apart!!! (and I’m not talking about my decrepit old body!)

Thursday, February 9 – St. Vincent

My plan is to take the ferry to Bequia Island today. And no, I’m NOT going to walk to the ferry terminal in Kingstown! They have a bus system here like in Barbados, but with just one type of transport – the minivan. I can pick it up right at the entrance to the apartment complex. I just need to flag one down as they drive by. So, I’m outside and ready at around 9am. The first bus comes by shortly thereafter. I wave at it. And it keeps going. Huh. I did notice that it was filled to the max though. I guess this is a busy time of day. Well, it turns out a half dozen buses pass me without stopping. Seriously! Finally, the seventh bus was the charm. And it was only a 30 minute wait; the buses are pretty frequent at this time of day. The trip to the bus terminal in Kingstown took about 25 minutes and cost the equivalent of 1 USD. From there it was a 10 minute walk to the ferry terminal.

I ended up staying on the island a couple of hours, roaming around, and then took the next ferry back to Kingstown.

I was kind of disappointed in Bequia Island itself, but I really enjoyed the ferry rides. Very relaxing! And the harbor is beautiful! The round trip ticket for the ferry was 17 USD.

While I was waiting to depart back to Kingstown I spent some time in the indoor seating area of the ferry. A TV was on that was showing the local news. There was a report that someone was killed the previous night in a shooting. It was the eighth killing so far this year on the island (two of which were by police). On an island with a population of 100k. Interesting. There was nothing in the State Department report that I read that mentioned this type of risk here. Maybe an aberration? The TV report did mention that the total number of murders here in 2022 was 34 (still seems kind of high).

These minibuses typically have loud music playing (on Barbados too). Well,it’s funny that one of the songs that played during this trip was Jump Around! I tried to do a little jumping, but was too squished!

Friday, February 10 – St. Vincent

I need to get some work done today. I have transportation and accommodation booked through March 12 so far, but I’d like to get everything else sorted soon. I brag a lot about how my trips are “freelance” and that I have no set itinerary. And that worked pretty well in South America. Very well, in fact. But I’m finding it’s not so easy in the Caribbean. That’s mainly due to the logistics of traveling between the islands. You can’t always go directly from one island to the next. Or, if you can, it might be prohibitively expensive and/or have terrible routing (like flying to Canada and then coming back, just to go from one island to another that is close by – you think I’m kidding?!?). Hubris often comes back to bite you, and I’m feeling the pain here! I’m sure it would have been better if I planned everything out in advance for this trip. And I undoubtedly would have saved money as well! I’ve learned my lesson though. When I go to Africa (probably in 2025) I’m going to have it all figured out and booked in advance.

So, I literally spent most of the day working on this, and only advanced up to March 28 with transport and accommodations. Ugh! Oh well, tomorrow’s another day…

St Vincent Country Information

• Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the left
• Weather: Highs in the upper 70s, Lows in the lower 70s, Mild Humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Very few
• Electrical Outlets: My apartment had both U.S. and U.K.!
• Drinkable Tap Water: Yes

Saturday, February 11 – transit from St. Vincent to Grenada

My flight isn’t until 7pm, and I was able to get a late checkout from the apartment (thank you!), so it’s back to work on trip planning today. The main problem is getting to Belize, which is where I want to finish out the trip. I’m currently booked into Jamaica, but getting from there to Belize is proving to be frustratingly difficult. Well, after much thought and analysis, I was finally able to figure things out. It may not be the prettiest, but here’s how the balance of my trip will play out…

• February 11 (today): to Grenada
• February 15: to St. Lucia
• February 22: to Dominica via ferry
• March 3: to Guadeloupe via ferry
• March 9: to Dominica via ferry
• March 12: to Antigua
• March 18: to St. Kitts
• March 23: to St. Maarten
• March 28: to Jamaica
• April 6: to Miami (that’s not a typo!)
• April 8: to Belize
• April 19: to Madison

The most cost-effective and itinerary friendly (one-way flights) way to get from Jamaica to Belize was to go via Miami. And that’s fine; I’ll spend a couple relaxing nights there. You can see I’ve set aside a fair amount of time in Jamaica and Belize. As such, I haven’t yet booked my accommodation there yet. I want to figure out how much moving around I want to do first. Hopefully I’ll get that finalized soon.

Travel Note: Today marks the 1/3 point of trip. It seems like it’s gone by kind of fast, right? I guess that’s a good thing though. I’m currently averaging a little over 12k steps per day, which I’m happy with, taking into account the fair amount of quiet days I’ve had (an old age thing…).

I think I mentioned that my Airbnb reservation included airport transfers, which is a nice bonus. So we headed off to the airport around 4:30pm.

Another Travel Note: Two different cars were used for my airport pickup and dropoff, and I noticed that both were Japanese cars. Not manufactured in Japan, but meant to be sold to the Japanese market. I could tell because there were short vocal announcements in Japanese when the car was started; the satnav was displayed in Japanese; and the safety notes on the sun visors were written in Japanese. Weird.

Once again we were on the plane the boarded from the back. The flight to Grenada originated in Barbados, so was about 1/3 full when we boarded. And the passengers added here in St. Vincent brought the capacity up to about 2/3. And the flight actually departed about 15 minutes early! Airtime to Grenada was about 35 minutes, and the cost of the flight on Caribbean Airlines was 139 USD.

My Airbnb host arranged for a taxi to pick me up at the airport (he knew how to find the Airbnb apartment). The cost of the transfer was 22 USD and took about 20 minutes.