Puerto Rico

Indulge me in a short story...

One year when I was teaching first grade in Arlington, I had a cute little boy named Jorge in my class. His family was from Puerto Rico and that year his mother brought me a bottle of Puerto Rican eggnog for my Christmas gift. He had the most adorable way of saying Puerto Rico, that cannot be replicated here. But both of my good friends, Paula (Byrd) Allen and Wendy Rathgeber can copy his little accent perfectly. Anyway, ever since then I've always wanted to visit Puerto Rico.

Our cruise stopped here in San Juan on Thursday. We chose not to take an excursion because I had heard you could walk all around Old San Juan. So that's what we did.

We came across this park filled with pigeons. There was a wall with holes just big enough for a bird to sit in. A kid came and started feeding them . They obviously knew that he would because they flocked to him even before the food came out.

Next we visited the Cathedral de San Juan. This cathedral is home to the crypt of Ponce de Leon.

Old San Juan is home to 2 forts which are a US National Historic Site/Park. First we explored San Felipe.

Then we walked to the other end of Old San Juan to explore the fort called San Cristobal.

 Other pictures from our walk around Old San Juan.

Pina colada was invented here so of course I had one.

I loved Puerto Rico!

US Virgin Islands

Wednesday we arrived in St Thomas.  This morning as I did my walk on the jogging track the view was gorgeous.

Our excursion did not leave right away so we walked down the pier for some lunch at Senor Frogs.

When it was time to leave we boarded a ferry that would take us to St John.  Along the way we saw some beautiful sights. We saw the homes of Carol Burnett, David Letterman and Bill Murray.  Our guide said that Bill Murray and the ferry captain are friends. When Bill is on the island, the ferry swings into the cove near his home.  The ferry riders shout out Bill's name and he comes running out and throws his coffee at the boat.  But unfortunately he was not home on our trip.

Top-house owned by Madonna, middle-house owned by Carol Burnett, bottom-house owned by David Letterman

The ferry took us to St John Island to catch a vehicle that would transport us into the Virgin Islands National Park to Trunk Bay.  Trunk Bay is named on many lists as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  The water was the most beautiful shade of blue, almost turquoise.  It was gorgeous.  We were able to snorkel an underwater trail.  I have tried snorkeling before and was excited to try again. This was LW's first try.  The fish were beautiful.  Again I wish we had more time but alas we will have to come back.

Here are pictures.

First Stop-Dominican Republic

Tuesday our cruise stopped in Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic. We had a shore excursion with Outback Tours. It was amazing!

We boarded a large 15 passenger over the road vehicle and headed to an elementary school.
We stopped at a school Puerta Plata had built about 2 years ago.  Kids at this school attend M-F from 8:00-3:00 but in the other neighborhoods, kids attend either morning or afternoon only. At this particular school it is free but they must wear uniforms.  When we arrived the kids were at recess. We stopped into a five year old class and met the students, teacher and assistant teacher.  They are taught all subjects in Spanish. Here are a few pictures of the cuties.

Our next stop was to a typical Dominican home.  But on the way there we passed a guy coming out of his home carrying a machete.  Our guide said that was normal and not to be alarmed because the main business here was agriculture.  He needed the machete for that purpose.  Uh ok.

We stopped at the home of an elderly couple.  Poppo and his wife have 4 grown children and now live here alone.  The tour company comes by their place several times a day Monday-Friday and in exchange Poppo earns a stipend from the company.  This is his only source of income.  He has also benefited because the company helped install running water and a bathroom for both men and women.  If the company did not do this, Poppo would not have running water and his bathroom would be an outhouse. He would have to gather his water from a nearby stream. He and his neighbors raise all kinds of things:  licorice plants, bananas, several types of oranges, pineapples, mango, cinnamon, cilantro, coffee, cacao, bread fruits, beans, and probably some others that I forgot.

We were given the opportunity to try the pineapple and mango and a cup of coffee and/or chocolate. The fruit was so sweet and delicious.  Since neither of us drinks coffee we both went for the chocolate.  It was infused with cinnamon and was very delicious.  Here are pictures of some of the plant life and coffee/chocolate beans.They also sold packages of coffee beans and sticks of chocolate.

Then we were able to check out their home.  The doors and windows are open to let in the air.  There is no air conditioning.  The kitchen is detached because the home is made from Royal Palm wood which of course is flammable.  The buildings have metal roofs to help prevent fire, instead of a roof made with Royal Palm leaves.  There was a hut near by that had leaves for the roof.  Here are pictures of their home.

As we waited for everyone in the tour to finish visiting the home and use the restroom, our driver served drinks.  Regulars sodas, water or anything with rum.  I had a rum and pepsi but here is LW. He was not as adventurous with his drink choice.  This is a regular pepsi.

This was a neighbor girl sitting and watching everything we were doing.

Here is a picture I took while inside the vehicle at the conditions of the roads.  Unpaved, rocky, sometimes crossing streams, wide enough for one vehicle.  Our guide told us that most people have motorbikes because you don't need a license to drive that or any kind of registration and they can get around much easier.  He said that we would see taxi motorbikes and motorbikes with multiple people on them.  This reminded me of Bali.  Motorbikes were all over the place with 3-4 people on them.

Our next stop was the tour headquarters for lunch.  We were treated to a Dominican festival dance and some delicious food.  We had bread, spaghetti, fried chicken, pasta salad, fruit and choice of drink, which of course included anything with rum if so desired.  They also had a few animals to see and some local craftsmen on site.  I bought a ring made with a beautiful Larimar stone that the man created for me while I waited.

Our last stop was a secluded beach to try our hand at boogie boarding.  We didn't have a lot of time here but had fun trying to catch a wave.

This trip was awesome and an eye opener into the lives of the typical Dominican.

Alligators and More Alligators

On our way to Miami to get ready for a cruise, we stopped in the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. Our goal was to see alligators. We did not have much luck on our mangrove wilderness boat tour through the Everglades but it was still a nice adventure. We did however see lots of alligators in the Big Cypress Preserve when we stopped at a couple of roadside parks. Here are a few of the many alligators we saw as well as a few pictures from our mangrove wilderness boat tour.

Captiva

We spent 3 days on Captiva Island. We stayed at Captiva Island Inn. Our room was a little cottage called Daisy. It was within walking distance to the beach. We spent time at the beach, watched the sunset over the Gulf and tried several different restaurants. It was a shell paradise. It was a beautiful place to be. Sad to leave but got to get to Miami for our cruise.

Daisy cottage

Some of the items I saw on the beach.

Things spotted at the Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.

Sunset on the beach

Plant life on the island

Manatees hanging out near Jensen boat pier

Fun in the Tampa Area

Here are a few pictures from our fun in the Tampa area.

 Rays at the Manatee Viewing Center.

 Clearwater Beach

 Scientology sightings in Clearwater

 Smugglers Cove Putt Putt with real alligators.

Lunch at the original Hooters in Clearwater.

Winter, the dolphin with the prosthetic tail, from the movie Dolphin Tale at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Manatee Sanctuary

Sunday we visited the Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach, Florida. It is located near the Big Bend Power Station Canal. It is a federal and state manatee sanctuary. It provides a safe haven for these marine animals.  The viewing center opened in 1986 and has had millions of visitiors. When the bay temperature reaches 68 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, the manatees seek out the warmer water of the Big Bend discharge canal. There are also sharks, rays, fish and crabs living in the canal.

Information on manatees
The gestation period for a female manatee is 13 months but they only have a calf every 2-5 years.  Calves depend on their mother for up to 2 years. At birth a calf can be from 3-4 feet in length and weigh 60-75 pounds.
Manatees do not form long term bonds, except for mother and calf.  They do not mate for life and are not territorial.
They communicate with whistles, chirps, squeaks, kissing, bumping, and chasing each other. They have poor eyesight and are nearsighted but can see color. Manatees have a thin layer of fat and can become cold stressed if the water temperature falls below 68.
Almost all manatees have some type of scarring and the Florida Wildlife Research Institute keeps a scar photography catalog to help identify individual manatees. Manatees are herbivores and can eat up to 10% of their body weight every day. Their teeth  are all molars. They can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes when resting. They only breathe through their noses, not their mouths.
Manatees have no natural predators.  Collisions with watercraft, ingestion of marine debris, cold stress and natural causes are the main reasons for death.
The West Indian manatee congregates in the warm waters of central and south Florida in winter. In spring, summer and early fall they can be found from Texas, east to the Florida coastline and as far north as Virginia. They can live in fresh, brackish or saltwater. They are able to travel up to 15 mph in short bursts and can travel up to 50 miles per day.

We saw several manatees in the canal but got no real good pictures since they seldom come very far out of the water.

There was also a nature trail that led to an observation tower overlooking the surrounding area. The tower was built to withstand major weather. The main poles were driven more than 30 feet into bedrock. In case of a major hurricane, the roof was designed to blow off to reduce stress on the rest of the structure.