Barbados Day 1

Due to internet problems on board ship I gave up attempting to do a blog while on my travels so here I am almost two weeks later catching up.  We glided into Barbados-no tenders needed here!






We had a tour that began in the early afternoon so we decided to go into town.  There are a zillion taxis as you leave the pier area.  This time we took one with some other people.



Bridgetown was a very busy town especially since our last stop had been Devil's Island.  It is the capital of Barbados and the buildings above  are the Parliament Buildings.







Below is a statue of  one of Barbados heroes, Errol Barrow.

I liked how this guy knew how to relax!

I loved the bright colours!














Somehow there is always a pirate ship in the West Indies...








Barbados is divided into parishes, each with an Anglican church and this was Bridgetown's, St. Mary's Church.















After checking out the church we continued our walk back to the ship to grab an early lunch so that we could go on our tour the island on a 4 by4 vehicle and visit a wildlife reserve to visit the green monkeys whose kidneys have been used for the polio vaccine.








The trip began well as our driver drove around the island and explained highlights of the various parishes to us.









We arrived at the wildlife preserve at feeding time and you can see i was happy to immediately see turtles.







and lots of monkeys









and a peacock or two










and a very strange little animal that looked like a combination of a rabbit and a deer…apparently he was an agouti but looked bigger and moved much more slowly than the ones on Devil's Island.






Below are Brocket deer, not native to Barbados.









Neither are the caiman below.  There were reptiles and snakes but I missed them in their compound completely but I did see enough animal life to make me happy.








This is a sample of the coral rock which is what basically Barbados is made from and used a great deal in buildings as well.









Here's our vehicle-please notice how open the passenger section is!






After some rum punch we proceeded around the island.








The Atlantic beaches in the north are beautiful with pounding waves but the Caribbean side is better for swimming.
























The weather began to deteriorate and





the rain began pounding so that Val and I sitting in the front were busy trying to keep the plastic flap windshields down but note we were basically soaked by the end of the ride-fortunately it was warm rain!


We were supposed to go to an Azamara Amazing Evening at the Polo Grounds but we were rained out so got to do laundry instead!  But we still had a pleasant evening now that we were dry!

Devil's Island, French Guinea

Long ago I had read the book, Papillon, and later watched the movie about the French Penal Colony off the coast of French Guinea.  Devil's Island actually refers to three islands and we actually visited Ile Royale which was the main prison and administration buildings were located.








We took tenders from our ship to get to the island.  It was a self-guided tour so with maps we were basically on our own.  Shortly after we arrived there was a tropical cloudburst and I temporarily lost Val and ended up walking along the rocky beach.  I realized it was the first time I had really been alone in a week!  Not that I was alone for long as other visitors explored as well.








I was strangely struck by how beautiful it was, much more so than the tropical forest we had visited in the Amazon.  Also there was animal life.  I ran into a rooster then a very interesting creature skittered across my path and then disappeared!  It was so fast I couldn't get a picture and finally managed to video one as it carried food to its lair.

I later found out it was an agouti.  And I came across several on my walk.





In the next picture you can see the island where prisoners were put into solitary confinement.








I just loved the beautiful wild beaches!  I thought how much more I enjoyed a walk like this than a walk around the track on the ship!









Decomposing coconuts








More gorgeous flowers
















After I had walked the perimeter of the island I climbed up the rather steep hill where there is a hotel, (interesting place to spend a night), restaurant, a small tourist shop, and a lovely garden.


































In this area you can see many of the buildings that were used when this was a penal colony.

I have to admit I really didn't want to linger amongst the prison's remains!  It was a grim history!






But I really thought it was a beautiful island!





It strangely reminded me of being on Kauai with its lush tropical vegetation and stunning scenery.  How ironic that its beauty was a borrow for so many!











But we were not doomed to stay there forever, rather on our way back to the ship for a late lunch!

Location:Devil's Island

Going down the Amazon Feb.27,2015

Internet continued to be problematic and expensive and it was extremely hard to post blog entries! And here I am back in Vancouver trying to catch up and edit and in some cases add more pictures.

But yesterday was exciting as we headed down the Amazon to the city of Belem. And that seemed quite magical to me. As you see it was a bit muddy and also wide. The Amazon could contain the other major world rivers. In the picture above you can see them bringing down the lifeboats that would be our tenders to transport us into the city of Belem.








When we got to Belem we immediately went onto another boat to take us in our Amazonian rain forest tour.






































When we got off the boat we initially walked over a rather rickety boardwalk








At the clearing we entered there was a small school in session. Parents are given by the government, family allowances if children in school, and this is effective in improving school attendance and lessening poverty.








We entered the rainforest and our guide was very knowledgeable about the Amazon plant and animal life. I wish I could remember all that he told and showed us!



























It was fun to see Birds of Paradise in bloom









A little girl brought us a wooly, apparently harmless spider to examine and other than ant and termite nests and one butterfly we didn't see much other animal life!








Here are cocoa beans drying








Below local boys scampered up the trees








A peak into the school








A couple of young men cool off in the river-I almost jumped in myself it was so hot!








But on our way back to Belem a dramatic tropical storm flared up. It was so bad for awhile tenders couldn't get back to the ship but we were in the pier shopping centre in pursuit of acai ice cream.





We would have liked to have seen a sloth or even a bird in the jungle but no luck. It also would have been nice to have seen a bit more of Belem but we were a bit wet as it was. But now I have been on the Amazon, and have experienced a bit of a world I had only read about!