Caribbean Cruise Underway

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Snorkeling is an opportunity to see the abundant colorful fish in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the capital of the Turks is Grand Turk, of which Cockburn Town is the sole settlement and administrative center. Grand Turk is a treeless brush covered, bean-shaped dot of an isle, just 6.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. Salt ponds were a major “industry” until 1962, to be replaced by tourism. We motor out in a small, tourism oriented vessel and members of the crew join us in the water to feed the fish and point out unique aspects of the area we’re visiting. The fish are plentiful but the coral is minimal, in this well used area, and we move on to an area closer inshore for another viewing opportunity.

Reboarding our ship we proceed to San Juan, PR and a “return to the USA” in this unincorporated territory. Our excursion is a visit to the US National Forest Service’s administrated El Yunque Rainforest. While I did get a National Forest cancellation stamp for my National Park Passport, the small bus tour was much like visiting a continental US National Park with its waterfalls, mountain streams, and picturesque vistas. Returning to the city in the evening we’ve missed visiting the 2 old forts: Fort San Felipe Del Morro (which our ship passed on the way in) and Fort San Cristobal. I take pictures of these historic structures and wander through the city as it prepared for the ending Carnival of Christmas. Puerto Ricans have more holidays than anywhere else in the US and are the only entity (that I know of) that has adopted the metric system as its system of measurement (liters of fuel and kilometers on the highway).

We sail away on schedule, watching the passengers from two very large cruise liners invade the city. Tonight special arrangements are made to view the BCS championship in style with a betting pool, availability of beer, et al and fan camaraderie. We watch as “Bama” stops LSU for a lopsided victory. Though we didn’t win the pool we had fun.

Tuesday we arrive in Gustavia, St Barthelema (St Barts). Though purportedly discovered by Columbus, the island attracted pirates, rather than commercial interests. Ownership of the island went from France to Sweden to France again in 1878 and today French is the official language. We snorkel here, after exploring the small town shopping area, and return to the ship for Tea Time Trivia after a very pleasantly warm day. The La Veranda dinner menu Wednesday featured some of our favorites, well prepared by the chef, including loads of escargots in garlic butter, large shrimp cocktail, roasted garlic, liver strips, Tai BBQ pork, baked garnished salmon and Key Lime Pie and cheese for desert. The accompanying wines were delicious. Tomorrow we deliver school supplies to the AHEAD School in Phillipsburg, St Maarten and visit their Rotary Club.

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