St. Kitts – Wandering Dawgs

2024 Island Hopping in the West Indies – Part 1

March 21, 2024Posted in TravelTagged Caribbean Cruise, Caribbean Islands Adventure, Cruising, Pitons, San Juan, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Viking Ocean Cruise, Viking Sea, West Indies15 Comments

After a rough start to 2024 Henry and I were more than ready to take off on an adventure to nine different Caribbean islands. A month before our departure I tripped and fractured my left arm. I did the happy dance when my doctor gave me the ok to go on our long awaited West Indies Explorer cruise on the Viking Sea. We were looking forward to the warm weather, turquoise waters, beautiful islands, and some new adventures.

We did this same cruise in January, 2022. We enjoyed the islands so much we wanted to visit them all again. This time we chose different excursions so that we could experience new things on each island.

February 10 – 13, 2024 Days 1-4: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Our adventure started in San Juan on Saturday, February 10, 2024, the day before the Super Bowl. Our travel day started about 3:30 a.m. in order to get to the Savannah airport in time for our 6:30 departure. I couldn’t carry anything with my left arm so Henry had to manage all of our carry on bags through two airports. We enjoyed two nights at a beautiful resort before boarding our cruise ship the Viking Sea on Monday morning. The header image was taken at the beach at the resort.

I spotted the small iguana on the beach as he wandered next to people lounging on beach chairs. I soon saw a large iguana on the beach. I met a woman from Panama who told me she was the mama iguana in search of the baby. I don’t know if they ever found each other.

I posted about our first San Juan visit at Caribbean Island Adventure 2022 San Juan.

Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a Pina Colada at the pool bar. We were photo bombed by one of the servers.

After two enjoyable days at the hotel we boarded the Viking Sea on Monday. We spent most of the day on Tuesday relaxing on the ship. We took a stroll along the waterfront by the cruise ship docks and enjoyed watching the sunset from the ship as we cruised away from San Juan.

February 14, 2024 Day 5: Valentine’s Day on St. Martin

A bus tour around St. Martin was a fun way spend the day. Our driver Leroy drove us around the island pointing out points of interest including the many salt ponds. We stopped at a beach along the way and at the open air market in Marigot, the capital of the French side of the island. Once back at the cruise ship dock in Phillipsburg we walked around the port on our way back to the ship. We ended the day with a delicious Valentine’s dinner at Manfredi’s onboard the ship.

Henry enjoyed driving a 4×4 Honda Talon around the island on our 2022 visit to St. Martin. We had a great time watching the airplanes landing at the airport. You can read more about that adventure at Caribbean Islands Adventure St. Martin.

February 15, 2024 Day 6: Safari Island Drive around St. Kitts

Our colorful guide Christopher had many fun stories to tell as he drove us around beautiful St. Kitts in his safari vehicle. We passed by ruins from a sugar cane plantation and stopped to see black volcanic rocks. At our last stop we were treated to rum punch, the best we tasted on the entire cruise.

We took a ride on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway on our 2022 visit to St. Kitts. You can read about the fun we had at Caribbean Islands Adventure 2022 St. Kitts.

February 16, 2024 Day 7: Coastal Cruise to St. Lucia

A trip to the Caribbean is not complete without at least one boat trip. A coastal cruise to see the Pitons was a perfect way to spend the day in St. Lucia. Our ship was docked in the capitol of Castries in the northern part of the island. After boarding our tour boat we cruised south along the shore while our guide pointed out fishing villages, bays and other places of interest. The weather was perfect with blue skies and calm seas.

Our destination was the Pitons which are the two volcanic peaks named Gros Piton and Petit Piton located near the town of Soufriere. The Pitons are a UNESCO World Heritage site and glorious to see. The captain slowed the boat as we approached the Pitons and moved the boat around so everyone could have a good view and take a photo.

On our return trip to Castries the captain took us into Marigot Bay for a view of the harbor. There was music, dancing and rum all the way back to our ship. What a beautiful day in the Caribbean.

This was our fourth visit to St. Lucia. On our first two visits we stayed in a house near the town of Soufriere. Our main reason for going there was to go scuba diving in the beautiful reefs around St. Lucia. Our third visit to St. Lucia was in January, 2022 on our first West Indies cruise on the Viking Sea. For a look at the northern area of St. Lucia visit Caribbean Islands Adventure 2022.

With my wounded left arm it was difficult to hold my camera. Most of these photos were taken with my cell phone. Getting in and out of the buses and on and off the boat was challenging but the drivers and boat crews were very helpful everywhere we went.

Coming soon is a post about our adventures in five more islands.

Caribbean Islands Adventure 2022 – Part 3: St. Kitts

February 22, 2022March 1, 2022Posted in TravelTagged beach, Caribbean, Caribbean Cruise, Caribbean Islands Adventure, St Kitts Scenic Railway, St. Kitts, Sugar Cane Ruins, Viking Sea20 Comments

January 15, 2022

Welcome to the next edition of our Caribbean Islands Adventure.

Our daily routine aboard ship – wake up in the morning in a new port, eat three delicious meals, take a shore excursion, take a dip in one of the pools or relax in one of the many lounge areas, enjoy cocktail hour in the Explorer’s Lounge in the bow of the ship just a few steps from our stateroom, watch the ship sail out of the harbor, watch the sunset, sleep while the ship is cruising to our next port.

First View of St. Kitts as we prepare to dock in the capital city of Basseterre

St. Kitts is one of the two islands that make up the country of St. Kitts and Nevis. Our shore excursion of the day was a ride on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway.

Our tour began with a 12 mile bus ride through the capital and into the countryside before boarding the train. Our bus driver told us some history of the island and pointed out places of interest. The island’s number one industry used to be sugar cane. Today it is tourism.

Our tour started with a scenic drive to the scenic railway

The narrow gauge railway makes an 18 mile journey around St. Kitts. As we rode along in the open air second deck our guide pointed out interesting sights and we learned a little more about the island. The train passed through former sugar cane fields where the sugar cane still grows wild. In the villages, school children waved as we went by. The ride was bumpy with lots of turns and gorgeous views.

Two young dancers played music and danced as we rode along.

Ruins from Sugar Cane Plantation, St. Kitts

Back on board our ship, we were treated to another beautiful sunset. The crab cake appetizer at dinner was one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip.

Where will we go next? Stay tuned.

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

February 5, 2022January 22, 2024Posted in Alaska, Louisiana, Photography, Texas, Travel, Utah, WildflowersTagged Antigua, Caribbean, Favorite Quotes, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, St. Kitts, Travel has taught me37 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.

“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.

“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.