Tag: Caribbean

Caribbean Islands Adventure 2022 – Part 1: San Juan, Puerto Rico

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January 10 – 13, 2022

Our long awaited Caribbean adventure began when we landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico on a Monday night in January. Spending two nights in a hotel and two nights on the ship was a perfect way to begin the journey.

During the almost 400 years Puerto Rico was under Spanish rule, Spain constructed forts and city walls around San Juan for protection. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico became a United States Territory.

On our second day in the hotel we wandered around the area close to the hotel. We were determined to find an old fort visible from our hotel room. It wasn’t easy to find but with the help of a Viking representative at the hotel we were able to walk to the fort and spend a little time exploring and learning about it’s history. Fort San Geronimo Del Boqueron was built during the 18th century. Along with several other forts, it part of San Juan’s first line of defense.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed listening to the waves and watching an American Oyster Catcher searching for a tasty morsel. Dinner outside by the pool was a great ending to the day.

Click on a photo for a closer look.

The next morning we boarded our ship, got checked in, unpacked and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening. After a good night’s sleep we took a walking tour of Old San Juan with a knowledgeable guide. As we followed our guide uphill on old cobblestone streets we passed through colorful neighborhoods and businesses in Old San Juan. Many of the streets were paved in blue cobblestones which had been used as ballast in the ships.

Our tour included a visit to one of the oldest buildings in San Juan, the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista. We stopped for view of the Palacio de Santa Catalina, the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico. We continued up the hill to Fort San Cristobal, a National Historic Site which dates back to the early 17th century.

That evening as we left San Juan we sailed by Castillo San Felipe del Morro.

Coming soon, our next adventure in two of the United States Virgin Islands.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #184 – Travel Has Taught Me

Posted in Alaska, Louisiana, Photography, Texas, Travel, Utah, WildflowersTagged , , , , , , 37 Comments

“To Travel is to Live” – Hans Christian Andersen

Travel has taught me that there is beauty everywhere you go if you just take the time to look around. When we were traveling by RV, we always had several major destinations for each trip. At first we just drove between destinations without taking much time to enjoy the places in between.

The more trips we took, the more we enjoyed the out of way places that are often overlooked by travelers. Lake Bistineau State Park, Louisiana was one of those places.

Cypress Trees in Lake Bistineau State Park

I’ve learned that traveling opens up opportunities to try new things, even things that terrify me. Our hike to Delicate Arch at Arches National Park is a perfect example of this. I’m scared of heights and almost didn’t make the hike when I read I would have to walk along a narrow ledge with a shear drop off. With Henry’s help and encouragement, I made it. The payoff was this fantastic view.

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah

I learned that asking a local is the best way to find out about the area, the history, and the out of the way places to visit that don’t show up in tour guides. One year we spent about two months wandering around Texas when the bluebonnets were blooming. A ranger I met in one of the state parks gave us directions to a scenic drive on a dirt road that we would have never discovered if we hadn’t asked.

Texas Bluebonnets

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” -James Michener

Travel has taught me I can learn more about a lot about a place by having conversations with people who live there. At the beautiful Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik, Alaska we met two women who manage the gift shop and maintain all the graves. They grew up in Ninilchik together and lived with relatives in Anchorage to attend high school because at the time there was no high school in Ninilchik (there is one today). They graduated together in 1950.

Gift Shop for the Russian Orthadox Church in Ninilchik, Alaska

Travel has taught me to try the local foods. We have enjoyed barbecue beef brisket in Texas, pasties in Michigan, Indian Tacos in South Dakota and Arizona, New Mexico cuisine, local seafood in Florida, Washington and Oregon, pork tenderloin sandwiches in Missouri, Dungeness Crab straight off the boat in Alaska, and so many other delicious things we can’t get at home.

Dungeness Crab, Haines, Alaska

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”― Mark Twain

Mark Twain’s quote describes exactly why Henry and I chose to go on our cruise in January. I’ve learned that every day is a gift. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. A single phone call, doctor’s visit, or an unexpected event can change your life in an instant.

St. Kitts

“Life is either a great adventure or nothing: – Helen Keller

Many thanks for Amy’s challenge Lens’Artists #184: Travel has taught me

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #183 – Memorable Events

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The Wandering Dawgs just returned from an amazing Caribbean Islands Adventure filled with many memorable events. Our first ever cruise was supposed to be an Alaska inside passage trip in 2020 which we booked in 2019. Then COVID came along and the cruise was rescheduled for 2021. When that one was also cancelled we decided to try something different and booked a January cruise which included some Caribbean islands and a trip up the Amazon River. A few months ago the Brazil portion was cancelled and our itinerary changed to nine Caribbean islands in 8 different countries, starting and ending in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico required a negative COVID test to enter the country. The first of our memorable events was receiving the negative test results the day before our flight!

Everything went smoothly after that. Our flights were on time and we arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday, January 10 for a two night stay at a hotel in San Juan before our Wednesday boarding on the Viking Sea. The most memorable event that first night was watching our Georgia Bulldogs win the college football National Championship from our hotel room.

There were too many memorable events to feature in one post. Here are just a few of the most memorable.

Walking the beaches of the Caribbean just soothed my soul. Our first beach was in a U. S. National Park on St. John, United States Virgin Islands
Each rainbow was spectacular. This rainbow in Dominica was one of several we saw during our journey
Swimming into a cave in Ti Tou Gorge in the rain forest of Dominica was my most memorable experience – Thanks to Henry for this photo
One of the many sunsets we enjoyed. This was from our last night on the ship

Did we love our first cruise? A thousand times YES! It was the trip of a lifetime that can never be duplicated. The weather was perfect, the seas were calm, and each island brought new adventures. With a full crew of 450 and only 150 passengers on a ship with a capacity of 930 we felt like royalty the entire time.

Many thanks to Ann Christine for asking us to share memorable events. Be sure to visit Ann Christine’s Lens-Artists #183: Memorable Events