Blogs from Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Advertisement


After a long flight to Miami and then on to puerto Rico, we left San juan a plane the size of my mini van. I got to ride up front. The views were spectacular and we were able to plan our saito from the virgins Islands up to puerto Rico. Our luggage did not make it so we are sailing down to the westend marina to pick it up from customs this morning. It takes with a pleasant 4 hr sail or a treacherous 2 hour drive. The new boat is awesome. Wehave the best night sleep in years and were woken up by what seemed like 1000 cockerels crowing. Afater we rename the boat with our new decals we are off to get the luggage. Luckily our taxi driver yesterdaystopped at a store so webought ... read more


Photos. love the iPad 2 for this project... read more
Virgin gorda in the distance
Penns landing marina
UploadedFile3


Unlike many tours and shore excursions I have done before, this particular one at "Dolphin Discovery Tortola" was even more remarkable than I expected. Today the ship docked at the port of the British Virgin Island Tortola. The island is surrounded with the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. This time on adventure with Ana and Robert. We get off the ship right before noon and we had only few hours time since some of us need to get back to work :) We catch a van and it was approximately 10 minutes to get to Dolphin Discovery Site. It was my first time with the dolphins and also my dream for many years. When we reached the place we choose the swim dolphin adventure program which includes a kiss, a hug, a handshake and ... read more
#flipper
#bliss


Better had sort this final bit out as much as I can – likely only with general thoughts about it at this point cos it ended almost a week ago! Maybe some general thoughts of cruising. The idea of doing it has previously not appealed at all – and not too sure, even with this programme, that I would be dying to do it again – until I see the next list of artists on the boat of course. Previously John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett have been on the boat so a real hot bill like that might draw me again. Its an expensive gig to get to after all, despite all the attractions of being able to see someone like Richard Thompson on this occasion three times, one of them with Loudon Wainwright which was ... read more
Roadtown view
hilltop view of an island
a rarely spotted Mr Mink


British Virgin Island Richard Branson owns an island here. We see it in the distance. I had been warned that after a few days cruising one island would begin to look like another. So far this has not been true. Each one had their own individual characteristics. Perhaps by the time we arrive at Tortola coupled with the speed at which we move from island to island and limited amount of time on each it is inevitable that one begins to blend into another. This is a shame because they all have their own attractions and individuality depending on who colonized them. We decide to do our own thing and set off to explore Tortola on foot. For the first time we begin to feel like travellers instead of tourists and it is a welcome relief. ... read more


We docked at Wickham’s Cay Dock for our 2nd to the last port of this fantastic cruise this morning at 8:00. We were signed up for the Virgin Gorda and “The Baths” tour at Spring Bay, which departed the ship at 8:30. The weather is again unbelievable! The British Virgin Islands are serene, seductive, spectacularly beautiful, and remarkably laid-back. Tortola, the largest member of the chain, doesn’t have many historic sights, but is abundant in natural beauty. It is very active these days, especially when the cruise ships anchor or dock in Road Town. Beaches are never more than a few miles away, and are the best on the north shore of the island. The island has a spine of steep green hills with roads that can be very steep and twisting. Our tour left the ... read more
Lush Green Island
Road Town
Our Launch


Tortola Sunday We went to Road Harbour, Tortola to get some supplies and a fishing licence for Alan. It is the capital town of Tortola, and has a big marina, shops, a ferry port and a very big cruise ship dock. While it is not without some charm, it is not really a place for yachts to linger, except when recharging the supplies. We anchored in the entrance, there were several other boats there. Anchoring is always quite funny, first adjoining boats watch nervously to see where you are going to put your boat, worried that you may be too close. Of course they are right to be worried, when we were in the med, and even here , we too often have a charter boat anchor very close to us and as we listen for ... read more
building upwards?


With the auto-pilot fixed and provisions put away in their place, The Rum Runner set sail, at a significant pace! On to the Virgin Islands to meet up with our mates, To celebrate Christmas and to fill our plates, With a Christmas feast of turkey and ham, And stuffing and gravy and a marshmallow yams. It was all delightful with laughter and cheer, Dinghy raft ups with friends and a couple of beers. We went diving and swimming and snorkeled around, There sure was lots of lobster and conch to be found. Then on to the New Year at Trellis Bay, Where fires burned brightly and Mako Jumbies Play! The anchorage was crowded and the winds did blow, But that didn’t stop the fun, the fireworks did glow. And that’s how we celebrated the holidays this ... read more
Christmas Dinghy Rides
Christmas Eve
Countdown


Getting to BVI from Denver is not the easiest travel itinerary. The airport is located on Beef Island, Tortola. One option is to fly through San Juan, Puerto Rico. We were warned about flights being delayed and canceled, so it's best to fly into San Juan and spend the night before flying to Beef Island (not so bad really!). A second option is to fly to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and take a ferry to Tortola. The third option is to fly directly from Miami to Beef Island, but these flights are very expensive. We went with option #2, which cost us about $500/person in flights + $35/person one-way for the ferry. We spent one night in St. Thomas and one night in Tortola on each end of our trip, so another $250/person ... read more


Had another AWESOME night in the Festival Village with my lovies! I love being with those girls! They are truly amazing!! A certain someone drank a little too much and 2 of us had to do a bit of babysitting for the rest of the night....but its all good!! Haha! Heres some pics of the night!! PS...for those that dont know....the Festival Village is a large open field with a stage (to host the live bands) in the middle with bars lining the circumference of the field. I believe its 20 different bars...all numbered...but im not sure...i never really checked lol.... read more
Photo 2
Photo 3




Tot: 0.439s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 7; qc: 88; dbt: 0.3681s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb