Holiday Inn San Juan Hotel Carolina

... wonderful spices, Dominica, for its mysterious wild forests and St. Thomas, for its exotic tropical beaches. The Southern Caribbean islands are places that I will cherish forever. They are "Moments in Time" that will always remain in my memory for always.

Today, is the start of our second week on board the Caribbean Princess. The ship made its way to San Juan in the early morning arriving at 6:00am. This morning, I did ...

... by ferry (1 hour) or plane. As we travelled around Culebra's little bays and outer islands we saw beautiful villas dotted along the hills, all with an unbeatable view (and the providers of our wifi - thanks!). There is certainly scope for loads more development. We did some nice snorkelling and a dive off of Culebrita and wandered up the hill to its pretty little derelict lighthouse for a great view down on the bay. On Sunday there were 10-15 motor yachts rafted up for the day. But ...

... they like to do (they LOVE dominos!) The second day we went to the beach and hung out there all day. That brings me to today which has just included walking around old san juan which I absolutely love. It's very European looking and fun to walk around. The starbucks here all have free internet so we're all taking advantage of that today. The ship internet is extremely slow as well as expensive. So this will be my best ...

Got up at 4am this morning to start the journey to St Lucia. For the first time i had to negotiate public transport with all my bags all by myself. As I heaved my faithful Northface super-bag down a set of stairs at Jackson station I kept repeating to myself "I packed it - I've got to cary it....". Blimey- maybe I can off load something in St.Lucia! O ...

... boulders that blocked our path. The formations were massive, and very clearly seen by the special lighting attached to the helmets of our guides. After several hours in the cave we rounded the corner to see the mouth of the cave staring back at us. This was probably the best adventure tour I have ever done. We were exhausted and rested up for our drive to Rincon on the west coast of the island in the morning.

... places to see before you die, with good reason. We left at one, and after an hour and fifteen minute ferry ride, arrive on the island. The coast we sailed into was incredible. Off the boat, we hired a taxi to take us to the best snorkeling on the island, which happened to be the south side. We rented snorkel equipment, and set off on our little adventure. When we got to the water's edge, we were greeted by pristine beaches. I can honestly ...

... were spent beach and poolside. We also enjoyed snorkeling, riding bikes, taking an astronomy lesson, and going to the gym. The best part was some of the home cooked meals that Pantea's dad prepared - so very delicious and very much appreciated after months of eating out.

... night I dragged myself out of bed at 7:30 to get ready for my trip to the Rio Camuy Caves. I headed outside just before 800 and by 830 we were all on the bus and ready to go. The bus ride was about two hours, which I spent talking to Amanda, who is Alexis' roommate, and had been at the bars with us the previous two nights. Once we arrived at the caves we watched a short 'rules' video and then headed to the underground. My group had an awesome tour guide, I don't remember ...

... yacht following hurricane storage in the unique yard that offers concrete tie downs during hurricane season. They are headed to the BVI for Thanksgiving and want up to meet them in St. Croix next weekend. We all hope that the weather cooperates. While in Fajardo we rented a car and visited El Yunque, the Caribbean National Forest with its thundering waterfalls and magnificent foliage. The resident Coquis (small tree frogs) serenaded us all afternoon as we drove and hiked ...

... probably glad he understood where we were going and didn't want us to confuse him.

I had always heard of the beautiful oceans, but the blues and greens were very similar to what i left back home even though the sand here was much whiter.
Boarded the cruise ship and left the beautiful port, passing Fort San Cristobal on our way out - a Fort that I promised I'd visit on my return a few days later.