Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands & some SA Inhabitants

There are more than 50 islands in the BVI but only 16 are inhabited.  For placing a location, Tortola and the other three main islands, and located adjacent to the much better known St. John and St. Thomas US Virgin Islands.  The islands were inhabited by, in turn,tribes from Venezuela, pirates, the Dutch and finally the British.  The area is now known for secluded beaches, excellent weather, water sports and a laid back culture.  The inner harbor is full of international yachts and if you forget to bring your own you can choose from a wide selection of rental yachts.  If none of this interests you how about renting Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island for up to 28 of your best friends for around $55,000 per night.

Noreen and I had a quiet day.  We stayed around the ship and local area.

we docked with a Royal Caribbean ship.

This is their climbing wall.  You don’t find climbing walls on Holland America.

The inner harbor.

The shopping village.

 

Shopping village shoppers.

These are divers getting ready to inspect the hull of our ship.  Some said it was a random check of ships coming north from South America, some said it was to check for damage from that tree we caught on bow on the Amazon, most agreed we had no idea why and weren’t really concerned.

Laid back South American dogs in the local dive shop.  You could trip over them and they wouldn’t move.

This was our last stop before returning to Fort Lauderdale.  We hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did.  Some asked if we saw some different critters in our travels.  We did.  Here are some more pictures from us and our fellow cruisers.  There were a lot of penguins, seals and birds.  They all had three things in common.  They made a lot of noise, they all totally ignored us, and they all smelled very bad. 

Bridgetown, Barbados March 9, 2013

On our visit to Bridgetown Noreen and I split up for a while.  I went SCUBA diving and she wandered around the town.  Since I had the camera, you get to see my side of the visit.

some town shots enroute to the dive shop.  It was early on a Saturday morning so things were quiet.

Our dive shop.

Welcome to the underwater world.

Star fish

 

Some wreck diving.

Fish gather inside wrecks for safety.

Interesting picture.  This is a stone fish.  If you enlarge it you’ll see a large number of babies swimming around.  I assume these are her babies or she would eat them.

We didn’t know that Barbados was the homeport for a number of sailing cruise ships.   This is a different type of cruising that Noreen and I haven’t tried.  These two ships leave for seven to ten day cruises.

Just me saying bye and thanks for reading the blog .  Oh, in case you are wondering, Noreen managed to find a pair of diamond earrings while I was all wet.  SCUBA diving can be a very expensive sport.

Devil’s Island, French Guiana March 7, 2013

Devils’ Island (French: Ile du Diable) was infamous as part of the French penal settlement in use from 1852-1946.  There are actually three islands and the main penal settlement is located on Ile Royale.  Devil’s Island is much smaller and was used for solitary confinement.  It was the home of the most famous prisoner, Captain Dreyfuss.  The best known account of life in the penal colony is in the novel and movie Papillon.

Panorama of Ile Royale.  You can see the church steeple.  You’ll also note the yachts as the island is a very quiet tourist stop with hotel.

This is a tender stop.  The islands are unprotected from the Atlantic and chances of actually being able to tender are less than 50%.   Noreen and I were here about 10 years ago on an Amazon River cruise and were unable to land.  This time we were lucky and made it.

The island is still dangerous.  The currents are treacherous and sharks still hover about from the days when prisoner bodies were thrown into the sea.  Only guards, guards families, and children were buried on the island.

Convent, Maternity wards (for guard families), and hospital.

Married guard housing.

Solitary and Condemned cells

Prisoner cell block building

solitary cell door.  The opening was made famous in the movie when Steve McQueen stuck his head through the opening as prisoners were required to do.  I tired to put my head through but it was too tight.  several others pushed it and got scraped noses for their effort.

Inside the cell.

The hallway.  Grating above the door let light and air into the cells.

Barracks for guards is now a hotel, restaurant and, of course, the ever present gift shop.  You can do a vacation there if you like.

The chapel which has wall paintings by prisoners.  It is not open to the public.

This building was the chief doctor’s quarters.  It is now home to the island gendarmes and administration.

Markings on the floor which show where the steel gates used to be.

Steps leading to Commandant’s House.  Remember, everything you have seen was built and maintained by the prisoners.

Overall map of the island.

The island has some full time residents.  This is a Agoutis.  They look like reddish guinea pigs on stilts.

There are peacocks and chickens.

A view of the actual Devil’s Island.  No one is allowed there and the ruins of Dreyfus’s hut have been over grown and not viable since December of 2004.

We hope you enjoyed this quick visit to a place not many get to see.