Best Western South City Plaza Hotel St. George's

... pulling out onto the pan central american highway in his van.. with his mom in the front seat. Guess they really take drunk driving seriously here, or they just like to get started early.

Also just a little tid bit for you all.. I did my first load of laundry today. Consisted of me scrubbing my clothes on a stone wash tablet... Im going to smell like something fierce after six months of this, so dont say I didnt warn you.

... on a cobble stone road, through the jungle, in the 30 degree weather. Lets just say, my ass will never recover. It was so steep, on the walk down, we had to walk backwards just to spare the wear and tear on our knees. This hike made the Grouse Grind look like a highway in the prairies. But all in all, it was worth it for the experience. How many people do you know who can say: " I climbed a volcano with a ninja named Jackie Chan." Seriously, so worth it.

... the island to Greenville and then on to Grand Etang Lake in Grand Etang National Park passing along the way verdant grove of bananas, cocoa, nutmeg and other spices. Once there, we enjoyed a complimentary beverage while taking the views of the lake which is located in the crater of an extinct volcano. Cooool!

Along the way, we also stopped at a small fishermen's village near the ocean to admire the deep blue ocean ...

... to spinach. After the veggies were chopped, the head cook carefully layered the pieces in a huge pot, added some pig parts and chicken pieces, sprinkled it with ketchup and hot sauce and put it on an open fire pit in the yard. Then fresh coconut water was poured over the whole shebang and the pot was covered with a piece of corrugated sheet metal and left to cook for two hours while we were free to visit and buy ...

... positive when recalling these devastating experiences. The tour was about 4 1/2 hours long and they gave us a very detailed description of the nature and buildings around the island.

Our ship was in port in one of the main towns, St. George's. From there, we drove around the winding roads up the mountains towards the Dougaldston Estate, where the spices are harvested. Along the way, Louise told us all about the areas we drove through ...

... envahissent les rues du centre et rendent la circulation impossible, mais on finit par ressortir de la ville et on reprend la route mais cette fois on coupe à travers l'île pour retourner à St-Georges mais cette fois à travers la forêt pluviale. Quand on voit les immenses buissons de fougères le long de la route, on sait qu'on est maintenant en zone pluviale (rainforest). C'est magnifique. On arrive à Grand Etang Lake, le plus gros lac de l'île. On fait un ...

... locals and expats, as "leave the islands any time" airways. Of note, LIAT and Carribean Star airlines have recently merged and the our short 50 minute flight to Grenada was on time, professional, and with more service than we had from Boston to San Juan! It was a pleasant way to start our day and the business model designed to gain efficiencies of two competing carriers in a small market appears to have been a good one. Kudos to LIAT for a nice flight ...

... to be 6 hours of running around, tracking down my luggage to make sure it was on the correct flight and paying for a ticket I apparently hadn't already paid for over the internet. When all seemed to be in order after passing through the security checkpoint I soon realised I had forgotten my ipod back at security, so after running through the airport like a crazy man I got my ipod back just as they were putting it in a 'special' place to look after ...

... that we are and paddle them down the coast to the bar. This was really funny actually coz the bar is only about 100 metres down the beach, but id say it took us the best part of 30mins to get there! It was clearly the girls fault, over-reacting and tipping us into the water...me trying to protect my wallet like it was a pint of beer! And we kept sinking, must have been those two heffers that got in! hehe. So the girls were instructed to BAIL BAIL BAIL as ...

... bit heavier!!.After all that wonderful food[thought i,d start off lightly ,just had some cereals and agood old bacon butty ] we decided to explore abit,there,s huge grounds to the hotel ,and a massive lake [i have visions of us jogging around that in a day or two].Looks like you can walk along the beach for quite aways,but not today,we grab our towels and head for the beach ...