Northwest Africa's Coast - The Gambia and Senegal

Crocodile Pond, Abuko Nature Reserve, The Gambia

After departing Ft. Lauderdale on March 14 and visiting several Atlantic islands, we finally reached the African continent exactly two weeks later.  On our two previous trips to Africa, including going to northern east Africa at Safaga, Luxor, Sharm el Sheikh and the Suez, and last year from Mozambique in southeastern Africa, South Africa and then Namibia in southwestern Africa last year, we now touched a far western corner in The Gambia and Senegal.  In fact we are in the area that has the farthest west portion of the entire African continent.

This is an area of significant history but not the kind of history that promotes pride.  Rather it is an area to be remembered for some of the worst atrocities against mankind.  The Gambia and Senegal are noted for the slave traffic.  In fact the island of Gorée right off the coast of Dakar, Senegal was a place notorious for its slave trade and the shipment of slaves, captured in various areas of Africa, to be placed on boats and shipped to the New World.

Gambia was originally settled by the British and most signs are in English, so I asked my tour guide today if everyone knew English.  He said they did not, and in fact, school is not required in The Gambia which did come as a surprise to me in 21^st century society.  He did say however, the government is encouraging students to attend school, particularly girls who have not traditionally been educated.  He said the government is subsidizing those people, particularly farther inland than we were to try to get more people to receive more schooling.  Muslim schools do not teach English which would come as no surprise.

After World War II, the British relinquished control and boundaries were drawn with The Gambia following the Gambia River and surrounded on three sides by the larger Senegal.  Gambia, with its economy tied to the 700 mile long Gambia River in western Africa, is in fact, the smallest country on the African continent.  Gambians are proud of the fact that on July 22, 1994, they overthrew their dictatorship in a bloodless coup.  In commemoration of that historic event, a gigantic arch, called Arch 22, was built in Banjul.  It towers over the small city of about 35,000 and can be seen from the ship.  The unusual name of Arch 22 comes from the fact that the coup occurred on the 22^nd day of July in 1994.  We passed through it as we left the city for our shore excursion and around it on our return back to the ship. 

After cooler temperatures than we expected, we were hit in the face with heat with an expected high of 94 degrees for our The Gambia visit. In The Gambia, Barb found no excursion that she felt she could handle, so she stepped off the ship to justify the required purchase of a $55 visa as well as to be able to say she had been in The Gambia, browsed the local craft booths that had been set up by local vendors, and got back on the ship. 

I elected to do an excursion called Abuko Nature Reserve, located less than 10 miles from the pier.  I boarded the small bus, similar to what we had experienced in Cape Verde, and had a chance to view daily life as we passed through Banjul, the nation’s capital.  We saw the unpretentious legislative building and a bit later, a much more modern structure under construction that will house the legislative chambers. In addition we saw other government buildings before crossing a bridge and into a much larger city, Serre-Kunda.   Here we drove along a busy main street with throngs of people going about their business.  Small stores were open selling their wares which ran the gamut from appliances and huge, and I mean huge, overstuffed furniture, to auto repair items, and small household objects and clothing.  We saw many women in their colorful garb (I later heard that so many were dressed that way since it was a Friday and that it isn’t customary for them to have such festive clothing other days of the week.)  Many were already carrying their purchases and some carried them on their heads.  Kids were either out romping around or dressed in school uniforms and carrying their backpacks.  Men were seen walking the streets or doing manual labor.  I remarked that I had never seen such tall men as the vast majority in The Gambia were.  One of the others on the tour noted that the women were taller here too than most women in our country.  Someone else commented that they seemed to have such excellent posture as well.  Every so often we either passed or met a donkey-drawn cart hauling one item or another.  A few goats and other animals as well of course, dogs, were running in the streets.

As we drove out of town, I had one of my unfulfilled wishes from the 2013 World Cruise satisfied.  There is an unusual tree, called the baobab tree that we thought we might see last year – and they were all along the highway in The Gambia! These are trees with fat trunks and stubby branches at the top making it look like an upside down tree.  (I will include a picture with the pictures for this blog.) Shortly before arriving at the Abuko Nature Reserve, the bus driver drove us into an area cattle-ready for market were enclosed and on the other side were more goats than most Americans have ever seen in their lifetime (or it seemed that way to me!).

Then we arrived at the Nature Reserve to begin our hike through the lush reserve.  We didn’t realize the walk would be so long, but we estimated that it might have been about a three mile walk over a mostly level dirt path.  It wasn’t difficult at all but just longer than we expected. As we got off the bus, we were told that it would take about 2 hours by the time we stopped to hear explanations from the guide and observe wildlife.  We had been told to wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts (despite the heat), socks and closed toed shoes as well as putting on sunscreen and insect repellent.  After all, in this heavily forested area so close to the water, mosquitoes could be present that might carry malaria!  Despite that, several wore shorts and light weight shirts and tops.

Our guide showed us several unusual plants and trees.  Not the most interesting creature we were shown were some termites as well as their gigantic nests.  Of far more interest were the several species of playful monkeys swinging in the trees, watching the curious two footed invaders with cameras looking at them.  Along the way, we climbed a tower to look at a pond which often has crocodiles but none seemed to show off for us on our walk.  But the vultures were in abundance, sitting in high trees or circling while watching for possible prey.  We continued to an animal rehab area to care for injured or abandoned animals (abandoned because a law had been passed saying that Gambians could no longer keep monkeys and other non-domesticated animals as pets.  There we saw some baboons, monkeys, and hyenas.  The tour ended with almost a half hour walk back to our bus and our uneventful ride back to the ship.

Before the ship departed at 5 PM (by the way, we are 5 hours ahead of Chicago here in the westernmost part of Africa), we were treated to a colorful, high energy performance of dance and song by the western African performers.  There was one group where the men did the dance in contorted positions, positions that most of us could never imagine! It was a great show before our ship moved on to Dakar, Senegal.

When we docked at Dakar, we found that neither side of the ship had a good view since there were shipping containers stacked on both sides.  While he didn’t have the dock on our side, we actually had a better view of the city buildings such as they were.  Mostly though they were medium height modern buildings, probably offices and apartment buildings.  From what we could see beyond the port, we were probably near the better part of the city. 

Senegal had been settled by the French and given the fact that it is in far western Africa, it was more accessible as well as a launching point to places across the Atlantic.  One of Dakar’s beaches is considered to be the farthest west location on the continent of Africa.  This has made the capital, Dakar, one of the more cosmopolitan cities in all of Africa. It’s population is about 2.5 million people, probably making it just slightly smaller than Chicago’s.

I chose not to do an excursion in Senegal despite never having been there before.  Normally I try to do something in every new port in order to get a better understanding of the area.  Depending on what is offered, I may or may not do something in a port I have previously visited.  The shore excursions are expensive when one considers how many new ports we visit on this cruise.  Instead, here we had a relaxing morning and got off the ship to make official the fact that we have been in Senegal.  We noticed that there were craft sellers set up so we decided to check out the displays knowing full well that we would be besieged with sellers trying to convince us that we just had to have that wooden hippo, or bright multi colored smock that we would never wear, or that huge wall hanging depicting local culture that we had no room for even if we wanted it!  When we wandered down to where the sales were taking place, most people were either out on tour or were not browsing the displays which made us fair game for the sellers.  For the most part they weren’t too persistent but Barb did find a small wooden mask that our friend had asked her to obtain if she saw something.  Initially he asked $35 but Barb started to walk away since it was obviously way too much.  The vendor asked her what she would pay and I jumped in with $5.  Anyway, after a bit more negotiating, she purchased a slightly larger mask with beading for $10.  That ended her shopping.

Having decided not to do a tour, I decided to just walk out of the port area and see if there was something near the ship that would be of interest.  I was prepared to run the gauntlet of taxi drivers wanting to take me on a tour or wherever I wanted to go.  Those who have been in many places in Africa and Asia know the routine.  Whether it is Senegal, Egypt, Turkey, Vietnam or other countries, taxi drivers and vendors want the money.  We do feel sorry for them because it’s not a way most people want to earn money for themselves and families and they have so little in the first place.  But I didn’t need several taxi drivers offering to take me places in an unfamiliar city and not knowing the integrity of the individual in whose hands I was literally entrusting with my life.  Several men offered me rides or walking tours of nearby areas.  If one gave up and approached someone else, there was always someone else to keep up the pressure assuming that even if I didn’t take the offer of the previous person, I certainly would do so with the next!  After walking about a block, I turned around and headed back to the ship.  As I walked, other walkers were being beseeched by others to take their taxis or tours.  One lady that I had seen from time to time on the ship was walking with two other friends.  The lady turned around and asked me if she could walk with me as she had had enough of the high pressure that she didn’t want to endure any more.  It seems that with our different cultures, we will never understand each other – we like to browse and ask for help if we need it while they feel that constant pressure will make us decide we really need their product or service.

Retreating to the safety of the ship, I can’t say our visit to Senegal was memorable but it was primarily my own fault for not booking a tour.  Some people who are well traveled or have physical issues enjoy relaxation on the ship and that’s fully understandable.  While many people don’t book tours, a large part of my desire to travel is the education it affords and I know I missed out on that opportunity in this port.  I enjoy the excursions but with such a port-intensive cruise, I felt I couldn’t purchase tours in all locations.

When we reach the Canary Islands in a few days and Morocco later next week, there are what I considered to be some interesting tours planned. 

CT

A Study in Contrasts (Sao Vicente and Santiago) in Cape Verde

national bird of Cape Verde, kingfisher, sitting in tree, Santiago Island

To say that Sao Vicente Island which we visited on Tuesday and Santiago Island that we visited on Wednesday are similar because they are a part of Cape Verde would be like saying Massachusetts and Texas are the same because they are a part of the United States.

An overnight crossing from Sao Vicente brought us to our second Cape Verde island Santiago early in the morning.  There could be no doubt that this was the best day weather-wise of the entire cruise so far:  sunny, blue skies, temps in the mid-70s and a gentle breeze.  Because we found there was no shore excursion that met Barb’s present abilities, I decided to do a day long comprehensive tour of the island called Santiago Island Discovery.

The Prinsendam organizes its shore excursions differently from the Amsterdam.  Here, we report to the Showroom at Sea and check the chart to see where our particular tour group will sit to wait to be called.  Then at the appropriate time, we are called and go to the front to get our tour bus sticker and go to the bus.  I got there a little early and found my place.  Shortly after I arrived, what I thought was my tour was called.  I showed my ticket with the name of the tour imprinted on it and went to the bus, handed my ticked to the guide and got on the bus.  Much to my surprise, our friend Alice boarded and came and sat next to me.  It was a surprise since Alice had commented the previous evening that she was doing a shorter tour than I.  I told her this was the full day excursion so she would be getting the tour at a bargain price.  There was a bit of conversation and I suddenly realized that it was I that was wrong and I was paying quite a bit more for a half day tour than I should be.  The bus was beginning to pull away when I stopped the guide to say that I thought I was in the wrong place.  No, said he, my sticker indicated I was on the correct bus.  When I asked if this included a full day tour with lunch he indicated it wasn’t.  He and I got off, checked the tickets and found I was doing a different tour.  He directed me to one of the two correct buses and I got on.  The reason was that I had gotten to the Showroom before the earlier tour went out, was stickered for the wrong bus and was set to do the wrong tour.  I was then directed to the correct one, got on and took one of the single seats along one side.

A brief comment about my tour guide, Ernesto, is in order for this tour as he was of mixed African (mother) and European (father) heritage.  He was born on one of the islands we didn’t visit and lived there until the age of 9 when his family, consisting of parents and 11 children, moved to Providence, Rhode Island!  He lived there until 2001 when he decided to move back to his native Cape Verde.  Thus his English was flawless and no hint of anything except an American accent, making him very easy to understand.

Our tour took is to the city of Praia, the most populated city and capital of the most populous island in the republic.  We went directly to the historic part of this city of about 140,000 people.  Many people are of European (largely Portuguese who settled the islands) and African descent, while a large percentage is African and a few are solely of European heritage.  In 1975, after years of agitation, Portugal granted Cape Verde Islands its independence and it established a republic.  We were dropped off our tour bus to begin an approximately 45 minute walk around the governmental seat of Cape Verde as well as the historic Old Town.  We first saw the military headquarters and barracks along with several young male and female soldiers walking the grounds.  The entire area is on a bluff overlooking the bay and we could view the Prinsendam on the other side.  We saw the Presidential Residence which was undergoing some renovation.  The Cape Verde president is elected for a term of 5 years and he may have two terms, after which he must not run for re-election which is patterned roughly after the US procedure.  Right now their president is in the 3^rd year of his first term.  After seeing the statue of the Portuguese discoverer of the islands, Diogo Gomes, in 1460, we walked across the square and were directed to a popular fruit and vegetable market where we wandered through the busy enclosed area and watched people buying their fresh fruits and vegetables.  As we walked through, obvious tourists with our white faces, I was impressed with what seemed to be the freshest, most appealing produce I think that I have seen.  After my short walk through the market, I waited for the rest of our group.  The most interesting observation was to see so many women walking with their purchases on their heads.  One woman carried a large, very tall container of drinking water on her head.  Women even stopped to chat with each other, each leaving her purchase on her head as she chatted!  What balance!

Leaving the city, we were quickly passing through the countryside and then on to a tertiary, bumpy, stone road quite similar to what we experienced in Sao Vicente. Our guide stopped briefly along the road long enough for us to snap a picture of Cape Verde’s national bird, the beautiful kingfisher that accommodated us with a wonderful pose as it sat in a tree.  We kept climbing into the jagged mountains and reached the Fortress of San Filipe high above a valley as well as above the coastal town and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cidade Velha.  The views from the fortress were spectacular.  We wound our way down from the fortress and into the city center of Cidade Velha.  We got off the bus for a walking tour of the historic town and birthplace of the Cape Verde culture.   Our guide showed us some of the quaint stone homes along the short streets, most notable of which was Rue Banana with its (sure enough!) banana trees and several other fruit trees. When we got back to the town square, Ernesto, our tour guide, pointed out the Pelourinho or pillory where slaves were sold to merchants that would carry them to the Caribbean islands and North American mainland and where misbehaving slaves would be publically whipped to serve as example to others.  Over 500 years old, the Pelourinho remains as an unpleasant reminder of bygone era. 

From Cidade Velha, we were on our way, climbing again through the beautiful mountains and observing the farming of land which brought the produce to the markets such as the one we had seen in Praia.  We ate our lunch at a beautiful hotel with a spectacular view in the mountains. It was a buffet lunch of local foods.  Most was “OK” but not my choice but at least it “filled in the cracks”.  I admit I passed on the goat meat.  By the way, I don’t think I have ever seen as many goats on one day as I saw on Santiago Island.  I tried one of the desserts which seemed to be more like cherry pits in a sauce.  I must have missed the point on this one!!

We were to have two more stops on our downward drive from the mountains back to Praia.  One was to be the Cape Verdean Botanic Gardens, but as we came down a hill into a small village, we all heard a hissssssssssssssing sound and the bus came to a stop.  Driver and guide hopped out and confirmed our suspicion – we had a flat tire!!  Our partner bus with others on the same tour stopped behind us. Our guide told us we would board that bus and the driver would stay to get the tire fixed.  We all got out and jumped on the other bus, squeezing in where we could.  The shore excursions manager, Maria, told us not to worry, that we had made the right decision by booking a Holland America excursion because the ship wouldn’t leave without us if we were late.  I squeezed into a seat on the other bus and someone pulled down the jump seat in the aisle next to me and we were off.  The tour company was contacted and they were sending a new bus to meet us as we continued our tour in the cramped vehicle.   

We visited the botanic gardens which was an uphill climb on a stony path as we observed some of the plant life typical in Cape Verde.  Down a steep set of stone stairs, we got back on our one bus and moved on to a dam and reservoir which held the only water I saw on the island other than the Atlantic waters that surround the islands.  We waited another 10 minutes there until the replacement bus arrived and once again we hauled our belongings out of the partner bus and got on the replacement one. 

From there, we had an uneventful ride back to Praia and the ship and were only 5 minutes late from what our original schedule said should be the return time.  Not bad in our opinion.  (The flat tire reminded me of another flat tire in 2008 in Peru on our tour to Machu Picchu with our Lincoln Way Schools travel group.  We were on a bus that had a flat tire just a few miles away from the boarding place of a train that would take us to Machu Picchu.  The other bus there didn’t have room for us and they went on their way.   Our driver and guide got out, jacked up the bus with us on it(!), fixed it and we ran to jump on the train just as it was getting ready to leave without us.  Our worries here in Cape Verde weren’t nearly as great as they had been in Peru!)

It was a wonderful day with magnificent sights.  I was sorry Barb had to miss all of it but she couldn’t have handled the walking, both the distance and the uneven surfaces, and would not have been able to enjoy it. She took a shuttle bus from the ship into Praia and then returned without getting off in town.  She spent the day relaxing and watching a favorite movie on TV.

Now we have another sea day before we reach our two ports in northwest Africa,  in The Gambia and Senegal.

CT

Across the Atlantic to Mindelo, Cape Verde

1870s stone road leading to Mt. Verde, Sao Vicente Island, Cape Verde

What does one do with five straight days at sea? 

There are so many options that it would be hard to list them all!  It’s wonderful to get up in the morning and realize we can relax and have a leisurely breakfast as we are not tearing off for a shore excursion.  Following that, Chuck often heads out to Good Morning Prinsendam, followed by a lecture or two, either on the ports we are about to visit or to hear one of the On Location lecturers that have prepared a series of lectures for guests. Other morning choices are daily book club meetings and HAL Chorale practice.  As for me, I usually spend the time relaxing and recuperating.  It’s too difficult yet for me to sit in one spot for any length of time.  One of the first days on the ship our tablemate Alice asked us to come down for Team Trivia since her team was short-handed.  So Chuck goes when he can, and I try to be there regularly – pretty much the only morning event I participate in at this point. 

After lunch there are other events we can do – more lectures, perhaps a movie, and there’s always Bridge or Mah Jongg, water color or arts and crafts, knitting and needlework groups, afternoon tea, technology workshops, on board sports, gambling tournaments, etc.  Since we’re traveling east, we have the disadvantage of losing hours frequently, and this is done at noon so we lose time during the afternoon.  If someone is bored, it’s his own fault!  Often there’s too much to do! 

We were invited to the Captain’s Dinner – the first one they were holding on this cruise.  We were happy to get that out of the way early in the cruise, and had a pleasant evening, sharing a table with our next door neighbors, two retired English professors, and the ship’s, Safety, Environmental, and Health Engineer.  This made our third trip to the Pinnacle Grill (specialty restaurant) within six days.  We had scheduled an evening there with Alice, but we didn’t anticipate being given a free meal there for an “inconvenience” we endured just after boarding.  And we certainly didn’t expect the Captain’s Dinner to be on our agenda so early! 

I spent most of the five days working to recover from my typical sinus infection – which I get just about every time I board a ship. This year it started coming on in San Juan and really hit just as we were finishing our excursion in St. Maarten!  I was happy to have five days at sea to recuperate without having to worry about missing ports. 

The crossing itself was cool and rocky.  The ship did a lot of pitching.  All we could think was that we hoped it was due to the small size of the ship, the speed, and the latitude, which is an area where the prevailing winds are in the easterly direction.  The captain also explained that the shape of the ship’s hull causes the ship to sort of slap the waves as we sail into them.

We arrived in Cape Verde bright and early on the 25^th – our first port in the Eastern Hemisphere.  When we went out on deck to try and locate the area of the bus pickup, we saw a whole school of large fish jumping out of the water.  They reminded us to some extent of small dolphins, but their tail fins were vertical so we knew they didn’t belong to that family.  We later found out that these fish are a type of tuna. 

Cape Verde is made up of ten islands, nine of which are inhabited.  The port of Mindelo is on Ilha de Sao Vicente (St. Vincent Island).  Contrary to the name of the country, Sao Vicente is quite dry.  Despite this, about 80% of the population of Sao Vicente earn their living by farming.  We passed vast barren areas with farmlands nestled in between them.  Each farm had what we consider typical Midwestern-type windmills to help bring water to the surface.  Cape Verde Islands were discovered by the Portuguese which claimed them in 1460 and held the islands until independence was granted in 1975.   Thus the languages of the islands are Portuguese and a form of Creole.  The median age is a young 26 and a large percentage are still of school age.

After a drive through the port city of Mindelo, we headed up to Mount Verde on very bumpy one-lane roads.  Our guide explained that stone roads were built by Portugal in 1876.  With the small and uncomfortable bus seats, we were grateful that we only had to do the about half of tour on this kind of road.  We made a photo stop about 2/3 of the way up the mountain and were able to overlook most of the island.  It was a little too hazy to see the neighboring islands of St. Antao and St. Lucia. 

Two mores stops afforded us lovely views of a few of the beaches that line the coast of the island.  During our stop at Praia Grande Beach we were given the opportunity to taste the local liquor.  I didn’t even attempt, thanks to my dislike of straight alcohol, coupled with the medications I’m on! 

The Calhau Valley agricultural region gave us the opportunity to view the working farms of the island.  This area is considered the breadbasket of Cape Verde. 

Cape Verde was originally settled by the Portuguese. While most of the people speak Creole, Portuguese is the official language.  Because the different islands have different dialects, they often can’t understand each other.  Cape Verde got its independence in the 1970s and is now a multi-party democracy.  Elections are held every five years to decide which party will hold the power during the next term.  The unemployment rate is about 25%, although the area does not look impoverished. 

As I write this I can look out over the green waters of the harbor and see the sprawling city of Mindelo nestled at the foot of jagged mountain peaks.  Quite an interesting contrast of sights, and from what we understand, this island will be quite a contrast to our next port of Praia on Ilha de Santiago, which apparently does a better job of living up to the name of the country of Cape Verde!

BT

The Two Nation Island Phillipsburg, St. Maarten and Marigot, St. Martin

PLEASE NOTE:

For the first time since we came on board, we are going to try to post our first three short blogs.  We have heard nothing but complaints about the quality of internet connection from others.  One friend has wasted over 60 minutes and has been able to send one email and has received none.  It seems to be a problem throughout the whole Holland America fleet since changing providers because of complaints with the previous one.  Apparently in trying to solve the issue, it has only compounded the problem.  Thus we may not be able to continue the blog or post pictures if we can do the blog. If these blogs go out, it will be a hopeful sign but this blog may be sporadic or non-existent if the situation with internet connection doesn’t improve.

 

Approaching border between (French) St. Martin and (Dutch) St. Maarten

The Two Nation Island:  Phillipsburg, St. Maarten and Marigot, St. Martin

As we pulled into port to another sunny day, we looked forward to a pleasant view of the island known as St. Maarten to the Dutch and St. Martin to the French until I notice one of the behemoth cruise ships, a Celebrity ship (Reflection) pulling in opposite us to fully block off any view.  Then we heard that, and later witnessed, one of the larger Holland America ships, the Westerdam had docked right behind us.  Needless to say it was a very busy day on the island!

Today was a two for the price of one day as we visited two brand new countries after two new destinations in the past two days.  This puts us into the upper 80s for number of destinations we have visited.  There is what is known as the Travel Century Club which lists over 250 world destinations and a person becomes eligible (on the honor system) for membership once he/she visits 100 destinations on their list.  Some destinations are within one country; for example, continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii are three separate destinations. Prince Edward Island, because of its small size, is a separate destination within Canada.  Just these five places give us 5 destinations.  Following strict rules, one has to set foot in the destination for it to count, so technically we have not visited Panama since we went through the Canal without stopping and touching land though we were close enough to touch it a time or two as we transited the Panama Canal last year.

We elected to do a short, easy tour called Under Two Flags Drive, so that Barb could enjoy the island without much walking being involved.  We met on the dock between our Prinsendam and the Celebrity ship and because Barb was in the wheelchair, we were put in the front of the line along with another wheelchair.  Barb never uses the chair on the ship and can walk a fair amount now but can’t stand in a line and then walk to where the buses loaded, all of which took about 45 minutes.

We boarded the bus and set off through Philipsburg on our way to French St. Martin and the tourist town and capital of that part of the island, Marigot.  Our driver explained that there had been rivalry between the French and Dutch and they finally agreed to just split the island between the two countries.  So while they can travel freely on the 37 square mile island without stopping at the border (a marker and flags designate which country one is in but there is no need to go through customs or stop), everything else is different.  While nearly everyone speaks English on the island and virtually everything else is in English, English is more prevalent on the Dutch side while French predominates on the French side (which by the way is the slightly larger part of the island geographically).  St. Maarten uses American dollars and St. Martin utilizes Euros.  License plates are different.  Children on the French side attend school with a much longer school day to around 4 PM while those on the Dutch side finish around 1:30 PM.  Our guide explained other changes such as the fact that there were casinos only on the Dutch side and no one was permitted to visit the casino any more than four times a week.

When we arrived in Marigot, capital of the French part of the island, we were given time to visit the markets filled with the typical souvenirs, tee shirts, and crafts.  Barb decided it was best to sit in her wheelchair rather than walk around the shops when she was already sure she was not likely to make purchases.  As she waited in a less trafficked but open area, I wandered the various stalls and made as many purchases as she did!  Even without buying, it’s always interesting to spend a few minutes checking out what the locals have to offer.

Back on the bus, we began our drive back to Philipsburg where the ship was docked.  Probably the most intriguing event occurred when our guide pointed out a couple large iguanas resting on a stone fence in front of someone’s home. Later he called our attention to several in some trees which quickly became photo opportunities for those that wanted them. 

So after three days in four new Caribbean venues was over and we were on our way to begin our five days at sea before we reach our next port in Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

CT