Dec 27, 2018 - Trinidad

We had not been to Trinidad before so booked a tour. First stop was a nice walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens. Lots of tropical and sub-tropical trees as well as trees from India, Burma and South America. We enjoyed this as it was a really nice day for a walk. The next stop posed a challenge for our tour guide. It was the first time doing the tour for both the driver and tour guide, and they didn't really know how to proceed. The venue was the Mt. St. Benefict's Monastery. The road up was narrow and windy and we stopped for an...

Nov 27, 2018 - Tobago Island

Today we had another day “at sea” where we observed the ceremony of Crossing the Equator. This ceremony is an initiation rite that commemorates a sailor’s first crossing of the Equator. Equator-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are also carried out for passengers' on some ocean liners and cruise ships, including ours. Sailors and passengers who have already crossed the Equator are known as Shellbacks, and those who have not are nicknamed as Tadpoles or Pollywogs. A Golden Shellback is a person who has crossed the...

Jul 13, 2018 - On the way

Up at 4:30 and down to the lobby to catch the 5:00 AM shuttle to the airport. Get there quite early and wander around a bit to find where to check in but once done we checked the bags and headed through security – Pre-check was nice. Then a breakfast as we waited for the plane. Off with out a hitch but an older plane so no movie but otherwise an uneventful flight and we landed in Miami right on time. Then we went looking for Caribbean Airways and had a real problem finding the gate. We had to leave the secure area then go back through...

Jan 23, 2018 - Port of Spain, Trinidad

This morning I head off an a walk about the area, heading to Queens Savannah park with a stop for coffee and a couple donuts. Then I get a taxi for the trip up the mountain to Fort George what a great view from the top overlooking the city of Port of Spain below, the taxi driver dropped me off and then came back a hour later to pick me up and take me to the central part of the city. The battery in my watch died yesterday so it was off to get it replace getting that done off walking the central area. A stop for a piece of chicken at the KFC...

Jan 22, 2018 - heading to Trinidad

Up early to get a taxi back to the airport a hour drive away, needed to head out of the city before the morning traffic started. Got checked in for my flight then a short 55 minute flight to get to Port of Spain airport, then a taxi to my hotel, got checked in early, then out to explore the area around the hotel. A stop for something to eat as I had missed breakfast. Then back to hotel to kick back. Trinidad brings my list of countries I have traveled too to 97 with 2 more to travel to on this trip. As it is cooler out a walk with a stop...

Jan 28, 2013 - Scarborough, Tobago

Today is Monday so it must be Scarborough, Tobago. The city is much smaller than Port of Spain but quite bustling on a week day with a cruise ship visiting. We took an excursion from the ship to Buccoo Reef for snorkeling in a glass bottom boat so that I could snorkel and Viv see the coral and creatures of the deep. We had a lovely morning out there, with some of our new friends from the ship, looking at the coral and some of the wonderful fish that swim by. On the way back we stopped in a really shallow area out at sea where even Viv could...

Jan 27, 2013 - Port of Spain

Port of Spain is a small city that has some large very modern office and municipal building, that would not look out of place in any major city. The streets and sidewalks however are in a bad way. It was Sunday when we arrived and everything, I mean everything, was closed and the near empty streets felt like the city was deserted. Deserted that is until we walked about a mile up to Savanna Park where there was a steel band competition to beat all steel band competitions being set up. About 25 bands with as many as 100 drums per band, with...

Apr 13, 2012 - First Day : Almost Stuck In Trinidad

Well the day started like this we woke up around eight o clock we got ready and my aunt and uncle arrived around ten o clock so we started loading are luggage in the truck but one of my suit cases broke so we had to get another suitcase to put my stuff in. wail they were doing that i went to the car (my aunts car )we had to go to aunt Erica's house because my aunt had to put her car in there garage after that she joined my aunts car we got at the airport at twelve o clock after that we say are family friends we ran and screamed when we saw...

Jul 19, 2011 - Monks, Street Food, and Gyros?

Welcome back – On this trip I’m trying to see parts of the Caribbean I’ve missed before. I’m also trying to see them slightly differently, by picking a spot and focusing on whatever particular experience rises rather than checking off all the Highlights mentioned in Lonely Planet. I have few expectations. I’ll see what I see. In Trinidad the prospect of visiting a monastery appealed to me so I spent three days on Mount Saint Benedict at the Pax Guest House. The monastery is almost a hundred years old, formed by a group of Benedictines...

Jan 7, 2011 - At Sea

At Sea Thursday, January 6 & Friday, January 7, 2100 Dear Friends, Some of you were on my update list from my trip through Southwest Asia as a request from friends and family of others that were on the same trip. If you would like to be removed from my update list, please let me know and I will delete your name. I’m sorry that I didn’t think of this sooner. Thursday was a gloomy, overcast day with a good rainstorm that doused the Lido deck, that’s the top deck where we have our buffets. The sea was quite rough with high waves. I decided to...

Jan 5, 2011 - Trinidad

Trinidad Wednesday, January 5, 2011 Charlie Flesch started our day with a lecture at 9:00 am on “The Formation of South America” that began billions of years ago even before the Big Bang. It sounded pretty daunting, but Charlie really put it into perspective that helped us understand the concept. He concluded with a short video clip from “The Early Tonics”, which someone else remarked that it is an excellent movie. Charlie will be our lecturer for our journey through Brazil and will tie all these parts together. We had to wait to get...

Oct 28, 2010 - Cruising The Caribbean On Grand Princess

CRUISING THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN WITH STOPS IN ARUBA, CURACAO,TRINIDAD,BARBADOS, ST. VINCENT,ST KITTS,ST THOMAS, SAN JUAN AND GRAND TURK What a magnificent cruise. It was a time to rejuvinate from a long harsh winter in Alberta. The sun was wonderfull, the scenery was unbelivable, the water was a crystal clear blue. It was a way to see some of the old world and results of conquests by various nations. We were able to relax at the beach Moomba in Aruba for three amasing hours; something we cannot do in Alberta during March. The water...