Once again the Badger's are wandering, this time on the high seas.
On February 18, 2011 we set sail on the Cruise Ship Celebrity
Equinox for a fun filled 10 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise. Along with our friends, Chris and Jan, Gary and Courtney and Fred and Sharon.
We set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday, February 18 at 5:oopm. It was a beautiful sunset as we headed out for two days at sea before arriving at our first Port of Call, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. Arriving at 7:00 am on Monday, February 21. We would be in port until 6:00 pm that evening.
A brief history of the Island.. Christoforo Colombo and his fleet came upon the islands that he would name in honor of the 11,000 beautiful virgins of St. Ursula, "Islas de Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgenes". The islands were inhabited by the Carib and Arawak Indians. However, over the next two centuries the Indians would be virtually wiped out by modern European weapons, ancient European disease and man's timeless lust for gold.
It was in the late 1600's that the Danish West India Company took control of largely uninhabited St. Thomas with the idea of developing plantations. Convicts from Denmark were to be used as labor..that failed. In the 1670's African Slaves were imported to work the plantations. The town that would grow along the waterfront would soon be named after Queen Charlotte Amalie, wife of Denmark's King Christian V.
With the coming of steamships, by the mid 1800's Charlotte Amalie had become an important coaling station.
As the dark clouds of World War I gathered on the horizon, in order to counter any attempted incursion by Germany, the United States re-instituted negotiations that had begun with Denmark a half century earlier. The United States soon bought the Virgin Islands for $25 million. That works out to about $300 an acre. On March 31, 1917 the Stars and Stripes were raised over Government House as the Virgin Islands became a U.S. Territory. The U.S.Navy governed the U.S.V.I, through 1937. In 1971 the islands' first elected governor was voted into office by the people, prior to that they had been appointed by the President of the United States. Virgin Islanders have had full U.S. citizenship since 1927 and have a non-voting Representative in Congress.
Our friend Chris had been raised here on the Island so he headed the tour and began with the house where he was raised and where he played as a child. How wonderful to have a special guided tour!! The weather was perfect and we sat outside at a local restaurant to have lunch and sample some of the local fare. The beer was great and when we looked at the bottle, found that it was made in Cold Springs, MN.!!!!!
Tuesday, February 22 and we are in port at Basseterre, St. Kitts. Christopher Columbus named the island after his own patron saint, Christopher, during his second voyage to the New World in 1493. The British established their first Caribbean colony on the island in 1624. It was the British who began to call the island St. Kitts (a nickname for Christopher). The French arrived in 1625 and went on to establish Basseterre two years later. There was not much to do on the island. We did go to town and walked around.... we found the same shops as on the other islands.
Wednesday, February 23, and we found ourselves in another port. Bridgetown, Barbados. This is the easternmost island of the West Indies. Pear shaped Barbados combines beautiful beaches with ingenuous British charm. Due to the 10 miles of perfect white sand beaches with perfectly clear water. It has become a very popular destination and has been dubbed the "Platinum Coast". Barbados is unique being actually two land masses that merged together over the years. It was here that we put the shopping on hold and went off to do the aerial trek zipline. I was the only one that did not go due to my intense fear of heights!!!!!! Everyone else had a good time and I had a nice quiet day by the pool.
Thursday, February 24th, and yet another port of call, Roseau, Dominica. When the first Europeans arrived in 1493 the Carib Indians who in inhabited the island called it "Wai'tukubuli", meaning "Tall is her body". It is only conjecture but this probably refers to the island's towering mountains which rise to a height of over 4,000 feet above sea level. It was Christopher Columbus who named the island Dominica (Latin for Sunday), the day of the week on which it was discovered.. It is the most northern of the Windward islands in the West Indies. Dominica is bordered on the east by the vast and beautiful Atlantic Ocean and on the West by the calm and romantic Caribbean. One of the youngest islands i the Caribbean, Dominica is a former British colony. It attained its Independence in November 1978, and now has a seat in the United Nations.
It was here we left the ship and found a van to accommodate all of us and we headed to Trafalgar Falls. Trafalgar is actually the site of two falls (the "father" and the "mother") between 180 and 200 feet height that converge in rocky pools. The falls, particularly the taller one "father", was impacted by a rock slide in 1995. At the base of the waterfall are hot sulfur springs. The view from the platform was spectacular. (I will add pictures in a blog later).
Friday, February 25 and we are in our last port of call, Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The island is only 37 miles square in size and it the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two different nations. It is owned by both France and the Netherlands Antilles, thanks to a treaty signed over 350 years ago. Philipsburg is the capital of Dutch St. Maarten. Though the island is basically divided in half, between the north and south, visitors will not find any border crossings or passport control stations. There are many beautiful beaches on the island, on the French side, swimsuits are optional! It was here that we met up with a fellow NWA pilot, Terry Browne and his wife. They have a sail boat and have been sailing around the world for the past 9 years. We met them at the marina and boarded their sail boat to listen to their wonderful tales of adventure and saw some of the most amazing photo's of their travels. In the photo above we all are having lunch at the marina and listening to the most wonderful tales! They live in Washington state and will not return there by boat until sometime in 2012. A real sense of adventure!!!!!
Back on the ship after a little more shopping and we are back at sea for two more relaxing days before we once again return to the port of Ft. Lauderdale. It was a fun filled 10 days with great friends, good food and wonderful wine!! We are talking about another cruise in 2012.. until then...
I will add more photo's .
Until next time, Fair winds and calm seas..... Candy
