Posted in Beach, Carribean, Islands, Travels, tagged Beach, Islands, St.John, Travel, USVI, Vacation on Friday, 1 August, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Besides the fabulous fishes in the sea, we’ve seen some great wildlife just outside our room. This handsome fellow was wandering around the other day…
An employee told us he has a much bigger brother living outside the cottages just up the hill. We’ll have to check for him tomorrow.
The donkeys always bring a smile when we see them. I can’t help but think of Donk-kay from Shrek:
Posted in Beach, Carribean, Islands, Travels, tagged Beach, Islands, St.John, Travel, USVI, Vacation, Virgin Gorda BVI on Friday, 1 August, 2008| 3 Comments »
St. John has so many beautiful beaches so we needed to go to at least two a day just to get our fill. We took a break from St. John beaches to visit Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.
Virgin Gorda is much more dry than St. John ~ complete with cactus plants. We walked around the property which took all of 10 minutes then headed to the beach. The fish were very friendly, almost playful.
A couple photos of the ABOSOLUTELY GORGEOUS Little Dix beach!
We caught the return ferry to Caneel at the Little Dix Bay dock but we were late departing. A honeymoon couple (so we’ll forgive them if they were a little distracted) got on the wrong boat and were on their way to Beef Island. We had to wait until they returned to Little Dix and could get on our boat. Travelers Hint #256: Always ask “Is this the boat (plane, bus) to “where ever” you’re heading?”
Posted in Beach, Islands, Travels, tagged Beach, BVI, Islands, Travel, Vacation, Virgin Gorda on Thursday, 31 July, 2008| 2 Comments »
Yesterday, we took the weekly ferry from Caneel Bay to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. This is a day trip which leaves at 8am and returns at about 4pm The boat trip was about an hour and a half &, along the way, we were able to see Tortola, Norman Island, Peter Island, Salt Island, Cooper Island, and Beef Island. The Caribbean is littered with these wonderful drops of land.
As a teenager, we lived in Puerto Rico and the resorts where my dad worked had two sister properties: Caneel Bay and Little Dix Bay. I was fortunate enough to spent time on both St. John and Virgin Gorda visiting friends of my parents. I would babysit for their children and during my off-duty time, I went to the beach, played tennis and enjoyed the area. As you can see, my love of islands comes from my parents.
This trip was planned so I could show FM and FG this beautiful part of the world. For me, it’s a little strange because most things are the same and feels so familiar but, then again, after so many years, a lot of changes have occurred.
Virgin Gorda is still as beautiful as ever but has a lot of new construction and additions. The boat landed at the dock, we went through immigration which is where I got another passport stamp, then we headed about 1.2 miles by taxi to The Baths. At the Baths, there are several big boulders leaning against one another and water flows in-between creating a very interesting hike and swim area.
There’s also a beautiful bay at The Baths to swim and snorkel in ~ unfortunately, there were a ton of other “daytrippers” attempting to enjoy paradise. And the jelly fish decided to make it an adventure in pain for all of us. Fortunately, we all saw several jelly fish floating but we all managed not to get stung.
After spending the morning at The Baths, we headed over to Little Dix Bay to enjoy yet another gorgeous beach. More to follow tomorrow…
Posted in Carribean, Travels, tagged Beach, Caneel Bay, Carribean, Islands, St.John, Travel, USVI, Vacation on Thursday, 31 July, 2008| Leave a Comment »
We surely are in a beach lover’s paradise.
Caneel Bay is a beautiful resort which blends in with the natural surroundings of the island. Built in 1956, it’s a classic and traditions run deep with guests still dressing up for dinner, not wearing their swimsuits to meals and the number one priority here is relaxing. There are no phones or TV in the rooms which I love so much!! But never fear, there’s WiFi.
Families come to visit year after year. I met a couple at the beach bar celebrating their 30 year anniversary ~ they’d come to St John for their honeymoon in 1978.
Caneel Bay has seven beaches on the property. We swam at the beach outside our room, Caneel Bay Beach, and then we went to Hawksnest Beach for a snorkel and swim. At all the beaches, there are hammocks, lounge chairs and floats.
After all our beaching, we were hungry for a good meal. We caught a cab into Cruz Bay which is known as “Love City” ~ a quirky but fun little town.
Posted in Travels, tagged Airlines, Flight, Travel on Tuesday, 29 July, 2008| 1 Comment »
As a seasoned traveler and having been on many, many flights, I keep an eye on the crew members for any signs of distress ~ if they’re calm, I know all is well. As I was watching “Fool’s Gold” on our flight from Newark to San Juan, I noticed three flight attendants scurrying to the front of the plane. Uh, oh…I leaned over to FM and said “Pay attention, there’s something wrong.” No sooner did I say that then an announcement came over the intercom asking if there was a doctor or nurse on board. FM, who was sitting in the aisle seat looked over his shoulder and across the aisle, two rows back, was a woman who was unconcious and looking very ill. Thankfully a doctor came forward ~ popping out from behind the curtain that leads to first class 😉 Where else would you find a doctor on a plane!
The whole incident had my heart racing and, of course, FG and I said a prayer for her. The woman’s abuela (grandmother) starting wailing and panicking about her grand-daughter which lead me to believe the woman was dead. Turns out, the woman is a diabetic, was having a reaction and the doctor was able to stabilize her. Once we landed, we were asked to remain in our seats until the woman departed the plane and, to my relief, she was able to do so on her own.
Posted in Carribean, Islands, Travels, US, tagged Beach, Islands, St.John, Travel, USVI, Vacation on Monday, 28 July, 2008| 3 Comments »
We made it back to the beach today ~ we’re in St.John, US Virgin Islands. It’s paradise and we’re all so happy to be here but both FG and FM are asleep already and I’m right behind them. It took 3 flights and a boat ride for us to get here. It was so worth it.
More to follow…
Posted in Flashback Fridays, tagged Food, Peanuts, Recipes, Travel on Sunday, 27 July, 2008| 3 Comments »
This flashback is a few days late because Friday was a blur. Between trying to keep FG entertained by taking her swimming at the lake and having an impromtu dinner with some new friends, the day flew by.
Back to the flashback: During our road trip across the country last July, FG and I started looking for Boiled Peanuts as soon as we hit the southern states. We didn’t find any stands in Tennessee but the further east we went, the more we found. Our favorite was the Cajun Boiled Peanuts we picked up at a service station in North Carolina on our way to my mom’s place. They were SPICY and I was surprised FG liked them so much.
FG’s been asking for them the last couple weeks and, since there’s no way we were going to find any here in the North Country, I bought a pound of peanuts and decided to try my own cajun recipe. They turned out fine but were no where near as spicy or salty as I would have liked. Next time I’m going to use this recipe.
Our friends who came over for dinner had never (so sad) tried boiled peanuts but was brave enough to try mine. The wife wasn’t thrilled with them but her husband was surprised how much he liked them and even took some home. A new convert and, no doubt, he’ll pull over next time he’s driving through the south and sees the handwritten sign on the back of a cardboard box top that reads:
Posted in Islands, Marshall Islands, Travels, tagged Majuro, Marshall Islands, Travel on Monday, 2 July, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Majuro, the capital of The Marshall Islands, was our last stop before we headed on to Hawaii. There was much debate on my part as to whether or not we would actually stop, I’d heard such bad reviews about all the hotels on the island and about the island itself.
In the end, I decided it would be best to check it out because my motto these days seems to be: it may be a long while before I’m this way again.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands consists entirely of low-lying coral atolls. There are 29 separate atolls in the Marshalls which contain a total of 1,225 islands, 870 reef systems and over 160 specis of coral. The Marshalls are one of four other all-atoll nations. The others are: The Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu.
Bikini and Kwajelein atolls are part of the Marshall Islands. I’ve had several people ask me “what exactly is an atoll?” so I did a little research and here’s what I found out:
In 1837, scientists first became interested in atolls and coral reefs when Charles Darwin returned from his 5 year exploratory expedition through the Pacific and Indian oceans. Darwin postulated the following stages of an atoll:
Stage 1: After a volcanic island is created, a fringing coral reef begins to develop closely around it. Oahu, Hawaii is considered to be in Stage 1.
Stage 2: Over millions of years, the volcanic island steadily sinks back into the ocean. The distance between the fringing reefs and the island becomes larger and larger. Eventually, the reef becomes a barrier reef. Guam would be considered in stage 2.
Stage 3: Over time the high volcanic island becomes a smaller and smaller island.
Stage 4: Ultimately, the entire island is washed away to the sea and all that’s left is the barrier reef outline which is what is referred to as the coral atoll.
Other atoll facts:
* The word atoll comes from the Maldivian word atolhu.
* Atolls can only be found in tropical ocean regions, near the equator.
* Coral reefs, which form the foundation of atolls, can only be grown in waters with an average temperature of 23 to 25 degrees celsius.
Posted in Boonie Stomping, Guam, Travel, Travel: Guam, tagged "Double Reef Beach", Beach, Boonie Stomp, Guam, hiking, Island, Photography, Travel on Sunday, 10 June, 2007| 2 Comments »
We opted for a private boonie stomp for our finalé since the organized stomp yesterday was rated VERY difficult and didn’t end at a beach. My daughter stayed with her favorite sitter rather than head out to the boonies with us. It was probably just as well since it was a hot, long, and definitely “in the boonies” kind of hike and she had more fun playing with her friends. John and I were rewarded with this:
My favorite thing after a long hike was jumping into the cool, refreshing ocean waters and that’s the first thing I did:
Double Reef is one of the more remote beaches and, by far, the best snorkeling we’ve encountered on Guam. The ocean was very calm and we were able to swim quite a distance out to a “drop off” ~ there were so many fish and a variety of coral. I was mesmerized by all the vibrant colors of coral.
The beach itself is surrounded by a rugged, limestone forest (think “Predator” the movie) and there are giant binalo trees whose branches extend completely over the beach thus shading almost the entire length of the 150 feet long white, soft-sand beach. Absolutely gorgeous!
Much to our dismay, and I’m sure the other couple’s dismay as well, we weren’t the only ones there. We caught up with them on the hike and arrived at the beach at the same time. They went out for an even longer snorkel then we did, so we enjoyed a little time alone on the beach.
Along the trail, we came across wild pigs. I decided to carry a stick to ward off any attacks. Now that I look at it in the photo, my best hope would have been to poke it in the eyes with that lame stick:
I had heard many people tried to make it to Double Reef but couldn’t find it. I can see how that could happen. I highly recommend any one living on Guam, who plans on Boonie Stomping, buy the book “The Best Tracks on Guam” by Dave Lotz. It is very detailed and gives step by step guidelines to all the best hikes. And thankfully, there were markers along the way so we knew we were heading in the right direction. We did get off track a couple times but thankfully I was with John who has a great sense of direction. Not to mention he’s spent a lot more time in the woods. This is John standing next to a major marker ~ if you don’t turn right here, you’re way off course:
For anyone interested in hiking to Double Reef, be sure to park at this sign and start down the dirt road:
As the sign says, be sure to check in with the security desk. They will let you know if the beach is closed due to training ~ heed the warnings, you don’t want to get ‘shot’ accidentally. UPDATE: I’ve been advised, in the comments below, that hikers must sign a “release” prior to hiking to Double Reef beach.
It’s a rough hike but worth the reward at the end! Take lots of water, sunscreen, bug spray and snorkeling gear. I’m trying to figure out how we can fit one more hike there before we leave.
Posted in Beach, Guam, Islands, Travel, tagged Beach, Guam, Photography, Tarague Beach, Travel on Monday, 4 June, 2007| 46 Comments »
We continued our tradition of visiting Tarague Beach on Sunday afternoon. It’s so nice to be able to hop in the car and be at a beautiful beach within 10 minutes. This time we decided to explore the Tarague Trail and ended up hiking 3 miles along the water.
We found these guys along the way:
One crab was in desperate need of a new shell ~ I’m always fascinated as to how they find their new homes.
We could not have asked for a more beautiful view along the route:
 | Anonymous on Favorite Beach Found ~ Haputo… |
| Anonymous on Favorite Beach Found ~ Haputo… |
| Anonymous on Guam: Poltergeist? Amityville?… |
 | Jane Fearn-Zimmer, E… on Favorite Beach Found ~ Haputo… |
 | SaaniaSparkle 🧚🏻♀️ on South Africa: It’s A… |
Displaced Beachbums 