Cruise 3 - The Caribbean

Irina Andreas and I

I am fantastically lucky. I meet a German couple, Irina and Andreas, who, in typical German style, have made excellent plans for every port stop, and, then, somehow, I manage to get invited to join them everyday in the Caribbean. We both carry our own masks and snorkels, are happy pilfering buns and plums from the breakfast buffet to eat later for lunch at some deserted lookout, actively prefer renting a car or gadding about on local busses over booking the offered cruise line excursions, and agree that a day can be definitely be declared a success if it involves taking one facebook-postable photo. In short we are great travelling companions.

Part 1 St Maartin/St Martin

One view from land out to sea...

... a few locals spotted on or near the beach....

... and one pic from the show after dinner.

Part 2 Antigua.

Antigua is tiny. And poor. We go first south to the historic dockyards and then north to a recommended snorkelling beach (where the water is a bit murky due to waves but the air full of butterflies). Afterwards we visit the cathedral and botanical gardens (both run down). We are getting about by local bus here, the only white people to do so, and loving how it gives us a wee snapshots of the culture; the girls in crisp clean school uniforms with extremely elaborately braided hair, the driver who stops the bus at his home and gets off to yell at his wife for running up too large a cell phone bill...  We are happy to have had a day exploring but don't have any desire to return later for a full week and agree that we'd not feel safe walking about after dark. 

Part 3 Martinique

Lush tropical paradise

Irina

Botanical garden beauties

I still like ferns - these ones grew about 20 m tall!

Fresh fish...

Northern tip of Martinique where I was tempted to take my requisite vacation nude selfe!

Part 4 Guadeloupe

After a last visit with Andreas and Irina I check into the only hostel in Guadeloupe for a final three days. I had reservations about this hostel as it's located precisely in the middle of nowhere twenty minutes from the capital and not on the coast ... but I immediately connect with two young men, each of them also travelling on their own, and we spend the days snorkelling at small islets off the main island or hiking along the coast and then searching for good fish restaurants.

It is heavenly.

One treasure Matt and Oliver and I came across during a hike along the coast.

Did I mention that it is heavenly?

I cannot believe it's my last stop and I'll be heading home next. 

I didn't even come close to accomplishing any of my stated goals this fall - to crew in the Med, to visit Croatia, to tour Morocco - but I did other wonderful things instead. Hiking in Romania was one highlight, being sidetracked by the history of Turkey another, seeing Greek Isles a third... working with the refugees on Lesvos was interesting and my cruise back just plain fun... And, as always, the people I met along the way added texture and richness to my travels.

I can't wait until I get to go off again!

Cruise 2 - At sea

Crossing the Atlantic

(... another blog post still in progress with photos to follow ... cruising part 3 is now complete and I'll soon get part 1 up too ...)

There are two of us who get up before dawn. I walk the decks, 5 minutes a lap, so 12 laps for the sky to turn from black to charcoal and then lighten through indigo to eggshell passing, depending on the weather, through crimson and fuchsia or rose and peach. There is another woman up, doing yoga on the bow, and we acknowledge each other every time I circle by. It is my favourite hour of the day, not only because of the sky and the promise its rainbow of colours represent but also because of the freshness of the air and the relative peace and I cannot fathom that everyone else is still abed if not asleep. (By everyone else I mean all 1000 of the other guests of course, there are dozens of crew up swabbing the decks, cleaning the railings, setting out deck chairs for the day, jobs that, even with many hands, are not light work. I often wonder if they appreciate the pre-sunrise show at all or if working the early morning shift precludes enjoying anything.)

After the sun is actually up I tend to go and stand on the bow for a bit looking for dolphins as this is the time of day, I am told, they are most likely to be about.

I was worried that I'd be lonely on a cruise ship all by myself, lost, at loose ends, feeling like a sore thumb, especially with 6 days in a row at sea. But no. First of all there are a surprising number of other people also cruising by themselves, secondly there is such an eclectic range of activities offered that there is no chance to get bored, and thirdly everyone is happy to be there, relaxed, and, above all, with time to be open to befriending others. I do the ab workout at 8 am everyday, the organized morning walk at 8:30, the aerobics at 9:00 and then after breakfast I 'do the rounds' and check in with my various new friends; the two Dutch girls who have convinced me to do the daily Arts and Crafts with them and who are keen watersliders, the British sisters who almost convinced me to do the daily Ballroom dancing with them, the four Australian teachers in the middle of their summer holidays, the only other Canadian on board, with whom I have a daily game of scrabble... And the day flies by, the days fly by. My dinner table has a man who retired in 2008 and has been travelling ever since, some Baptist Texan ranchers who honestly believe the world would be a safer place if everyone carried a gun at all times, a rich couple from Puerto Rico... you might not think we'd gel being such an odd group with little more than a language in common but each evening we are the last ones left in the dining room and our waiter has to ask us apologetically, once again, to move on so that he can clear and reset the table.

I'd rather be crewing than cruising. I'd like to be working, standing watch as the sun rises, rather than merely observing others work as I walk, and I actively dislike both that my bed has new freshly washed sheets put on it by someone else every single day and that each dinner involves me dirtying at least 6 plates that someone else will have to clean, it also worries me that even as the climate change conference is going on in Paris, I, on a huge boat, am definitely adding to the problem rather than being part of the solution, but, that sort of concern aside, cruising is OK too, the meals are fantastic, the service impeccable, and the after dinner shows reliably amazing... if you don't mind being waited on hand and foot, having your every desire anticipated and acted on, then it's not bad.