The Sea Witch Stole My Voice! Our Two Week Land and Sea Adventure! COMPLETE 4/12

[FauntleroyFAN07]

thanks for all the good island pics so far, when u see how run down some of those areas are, doesnt it make you want to sell your house and move down there buy up some land and build a decent size house.

 

[englishrose47]

Loved the island pix !!! When I was in Euope, we werewoke each morning by goats going done the mainsteet with bells around their necks !! It as soo different

 

[Wideout]

Your trip reports are always awesome. I've followed your previous ones over the years. Ashamed to say I rarely post but read TRs quite often. Thanks for the great pics and excellent report.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

thanks for all the good island pics so far, when u see how run down some of those areas are, doesnt it make you want to sell your house and move down there buy up some land and build a decent size house.

While living in the Caribbean does seem to have its advantages (weather) there are some definite BIG disadvantages (weather, economy). I think I would settle for being rich in Canada and having a vacation home down on one of the islands.

Loved the island pix !!! When I was in Euope, we werewoke each morning by goats going done the mainsteet with bells around their necks !! It as soo different

That is very cool Rosie, I never saw anything like that when I was in Italy but then again we stayed in the bigger cities.

Your trip reports are always awesome. I've followed your previous ones over the years. Ashamed to say I rarely post but read TRs quite often. Thanks for the great pics and excellent report.

Thanks for reading and responding! It is nice to know you are out there reading.

 

[princess_momma]

Your pictures just gave me the BEST idea!! They should make another simulation for Soarin'...over Tortola!! I would love to see all those pics you have HUGE and smell that perfect, heavenly floral smell. Can I please forward your pics to Disney?

I agree with you about just wanting a vacation home there! It's so perfect!! We should split one and we can stop there on all our cruises!! (If we're rich enough to have one, we're rich enough for lots of cruises! )

I would laugh at the random chickens too!! There was this one time my mom and I were making a big deal over this lizard at the world and a cast member walked by and she was laughing at us and I was just like "is it so obvious that we're tourists?" And she just nodded and laughed some more!

Still loving your tr!! Glad you have your priorities straight and realize how much more important this is then school!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your pictures just gave me the BEST idea!! They should make another simulation for Soarin'...over Tortola!! I would love to see all those pics you have HUGE and smell that perfect, heavenly floral smell. Can I please forward your pics to Disney?

It would be nice to have a few different Soarin movies to switch things up a bit. If you like Tortola/Virgin Gorda you will love St Thomas/St John.

I agree with you about just wanting a vacation home there! It's so perfect!! We should split one and we can stop there on all our cruises!! (If we're rich enough to have one, we're rich enough for lots of cruises! )

Forget the cruise I would have a private yacht to ferry us down to the vacation home whenever we wanted. Of course I would still go on a cruise from time to time.

I would laugh at the random chickens too!! There was this one time my mom and I were making a big deal over this lizard at the world and a cast member walked by and she was laughing at us and I was just like "is it so obvious that we're tourists?" And she just nodded and laughed some more!

Still loving your tr!! Glad you have your priorities straight and realize how much more important this is then school!

Well the only reason I am studying to be an RN is so that I can have a career that pays enough money to support my vacation/trip report habit.

 

[princess_momma]

It would be nice to have a few different Soarin movies to switch things up a bit. If you like Tortola/Virgin Gorda you will love St Thomas/St John.

I completely agree that they should a few different Soarin' movies! That'd be awesome. I will take either Tortola/Virgin Gorda OR St Thomas/St John ANYDAY!!

Forget the cruise I would have a private yacht to ferry us down to the vacation home whenever we wanted. Of course I would still go on a cruise from time to time.

Oh that sounds quite nice!! And of course, when we do cruise...we'll have the Walt suite!

Well the only reason I am studying to be an RN is so that I can have a career that pays enough money to support my vacation/trip report habit.

Very nice!! I was thinking of becoming a televangelist! Kidding, of course!! Hope no one gets mad. I think I'll just go buy a lot of scratch and lottery tickets and win my fortune!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Oh that sounds quite nice!! And of course, when we do cruise...we'll have the Walt suite!

But of course!

Very nice!! I was thinking of becoming a televangelist! Kidding, of course!! Hope no one gets mad. I think I'll just go buy a lot of scratch and lottery tickets and win my fortune!

The most I have ever won on a lotto ticket is $10. We have much smaller jackpots up here than in the States but our winnings don't get taxed.

 

[ladybugmom]

WOW!! The water there is so beautiful!! And the chickens--that is hilarious!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I'm all caught up again! Love the Tortola tour! The purple school is such an eye opener! I can't see the "fat virgin" shape of that island. Columbus must have been at sea for a very long time!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

WOW!! The water there is so beautiful!! And the chickens--that is hilarious!!

The chickens were absolutely everywhere, they were even roaming around on the beach!

I'm all caught up again! Love the Tortola tour! The purple school is such an eye opener! I can't see the "fat virgin" shape of that island. Columbus must have been at sea for a very long time!

 

[princess_momma]

The most I have ever won on a lotto ticket is $10. We have much smaller jackpots up here than in the States but our winnings don't get taxed.

I won like $50 once. One time I saw this video of a couple who won a HUGE Jackpot and they were on one of our national news/talk shows and they were just so unenthused. They had just won MILLIONS and could barely muster up a smile for it. They were completely monotone. It was hilarious.

I think if I won a lot, my first reaction would give those annoying girls a run for their money! And then I'd get it out of my system and be fancy and refined with my money and tip people who open the door for me at Starbucks or the people who distribute carts at Walmart just because i have that much money.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I won like $50 once. One time I saw this video of a couple who won a HUGE Jackpot and they were on one of our national news/talk shows and they were just so unenthused. They had just won MILLIONS and could barely muster up a smile for it. They were completely monotone. It was hilarious.

I think if I won a lot, my first reaction would give those annoying girls a run for their money! And then I'd get it out of my system and be fancy and refined with my money and tip people who open the door for me at Starbucks or the people who distribute carts at Walmart just because i have that much money.

First thing I would do is pay off all the debts anybody in the family may have. Then I would buy a nice house, nothing too big or fancy but something comfortable and I would also buy us each a car. Then I would probably donate some money to a charity and invest some. The rest I would use to travel. It sure would be great to never have to think/worry about money again.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looks like my wish came true! Disney put out a press release detailing the new cruise ship, Disney Dream, that will sail starting January 2011 and it has a water coaster! I was wishing for a slide that adults can use and we get a freaking water coaster!

There is a bunch of other cool stuff that will be new to the ships. Here is some info I copied off of a friends Facebook page (she is a travel agent).

The Disney Dream™ will introduce a number of cruise-industry firsts and family-friendly innovations designed to make your Client's experience even more magical. Among the highlights:

AquaDuck — Disney Cruise Line® debuts the first-ever shipboard water coaster! This exhilarating high-speed flume ride featuring twists, turns, drops, uphill acceleration and river rapids — all while traversing the upper decks of the ship.
Virtual Porthole – A cruise-industry first for all inside staterooms! Virtual Portholes offer a "window" to the world with a real-time view outside the ship using high-definition cameras. As Guests observe the view, they may glimpse a magical surprise: animated characters like Mickey Mouse may pop by the Virtual Porthole.
Enchanted Art — Around the atrium lobby and throughout the ship, Enchanted Art will immerse your Clients in Disney storytelling in a completely new way. Enchanted Art magically comes alive as Guests pause to admire individual pieces.
Living Characters — In youth spaces, Disney Characters come to life and interact with children in one-of-a-kind experiences. Crush, the animated sea turtle from the Disney•Pixar motion picture "Finding Nemo," or the mischievous animated alien Stitch make scheduled appearances to chat, play and joke with kids in live, unrehearsed conversations.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

After our mini-island tour our excursion group was dropped off at The Baths!

Here is a little info that I snatched from Wikipedia:

At "The Baths", the beach shows evidence of the island's volcanic origins, which deposited granite that eroded into piles of boulders on the beach. The boulders form natural tidal pools, tunnels, arches and scenic grottoes that are open to the sea. The largest boulders are about 40 feet (12 m) long.​

The safari trucks dropped us off at the top of a hill where a restaurant and gift shops, aptly name "Top of the Baths", are located. Our excursion leader called us together and told us how long we would have on the beach and when to be back at the restaurant for lunch and to catch our ride back to the shuttle boat.

She also gave us a little bit of information on the area and some tips for our exploration of The Baths. For instance you are not to wear shoes of any kind while going through what I refer to as "the caves".

After giving us all the information we would need she led us in a procession down the trail to the beach. The trail is a dirt path that is steep at some parts and has boulders and trees making it uneven in other parts. This path is the reason that I wore my sneakers that day. Going down the hill in flip-flops would have been fine but many people who attempted the climb back up with wet feet and flip flops suffered the painful side effects (blisters).

Click here to continue

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It took maybe 5-10 minutes to reach the beach. It was pretty slow going since there were so many of us going down the narrow path at once. That lovely floral scent was still hanging in the area.

When you reach the bottom of the trail you will find the bathrooms and also a foot rinse station. Many people were stopping here to get changed, silly people should have worn their suits under their clothes!

This is also the only place that I saw any indication of the swine flu pandemic. There was a sign at the bathrooms with a picture of a pig with a crossed out caution sign through it and then a picture of hands getting washed in a sink. I was so surprised that out of the whole two week vacation ,that took place right at the start of the swine flu panic, this was the only indication that this pandemic was going on.

I was really impressed by the beach and the enormous size of the boulders. They were massive!

Look how tiny that guy is up on that boulder!

Lots of boats and yachts dock off the beach as it is a great snorkeling location and also a more direct route to the beach than climbing down the trail.

People, especially kids were climbing and crawling all over the boulders. It looked like great fun. I was erring on the side of caution though; we still had "the caves" to explore and I was carrying the camera. I am a huge klutz so knowing my luck if I had tried to climb to the top of one of those boulders I would have fallen and broken a bone and the camera.

Click here to continue

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The Baths is divided into three sections:

The first is The Baths beach which is the beach you originally come to when you reach the end of the trail. This is the beach where the bathrooms, lockers and bar are located.

The second section is "The Caves", this is the area where there is the greatest concentration of the giant boulders. It forms caves, tunnels, grottoes and tidal pools. You have to make your way through "the caves" to reach the second beach, "Devil's Bay".

I think Mom was impatient with my picture taking at the first beach, she must have really wanted to start exploring the rock formations and to get to Devil's Bay.

I finally relented and stripped down to my bathing suit; stuffing my shoes and clothes in our day bag. That bag was stuffed full once my clothes and both of our shoes were stuffed in there.

Next Update: Our exploration of "The Caves"

Click here to continue

 

[Mysteria]

Beautiful!

They are building a water coaster on a ship!! That is too cool!

 

[MaryAz]

Looks like a very fun day. LOL at the chieckens. Those boulders were big!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Beautiful!

They are building a water coaster on a ship!! That is too cool!

I know! I am so excited!