FUN IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

We've sailed by Dominican Republic a couple of times, always in a hurry to get to another destination, but were very happy to arrive to the comforts of Puerto Bahia Marina after two hard days and nights of sailing into the wind with strong currents. I really had no idea how beautiful or how large this island is. We only had a few days, so we rented a car and drove into the lush countryside up to El Limon National Park with the tallest waterfall we've seen at 164 feet. We could have hiked, but decided to ride horses instead. Danielle would have loved it! Our guide was very informative, but instead of riding along with us, he walked beside us the entire way to keep the mule and horse moving at a fast clip. After an enjoyable ride, and swim for Ricky, we returned into the town of Limon for a wonderful lunch of local fare: fried plantains, BBQ chicken, black beans and rice, a hush puppy, and salad. Talk about good! 

After eating, we continued to explore along the coast, stopping to buy fresh produce from several farmers along the roadside: a fresh pineapple, a cocoa bean, passion fruit, avocados, bananas, limes and a large mango. The people were very friendly and we enjoyed speaking our limited Spanish. We stopped to swim at one of the many beautiful beaches, but ended up getting his-and-her massage specials (40 minutes at $30 for both of us!) before ever getting near the water. After sitting on horses for several hours, the massages were wonderful. Then we walked on the beautiful beach...

Puerto Bahia Marina

Lush landscape. Breadfruit tree far left.

Considered the most beautiful waterfall in DR

Our guide offering fresh coconut after we drank the water

Beautiful Javo Beach

I mentioned buying a cocoa bean, and this is it. The cocoa beans are coated in a very sweet white pulp that you can pop in your mouth and enjoy, but don't bite into it as the bean is not good to eat ... yet! I steeped a few beans to make a tea, and scrapped the white flesh coating the inside of the pod that reminds me of coconut flesh. Now I'm going to try my hand at fermenting the remainder of the beans for a few days, then drying them out in the sun for a week to see if I come up with dried cocoa beans that can be grated to make hot chocolate. I'll let you know how my experiment turns out in the next blog!

Everything is More Fun with Willie and Michelle!

Some of our closest friends, Willie and Michelle Lim, met us in Providentiales for one glorious week. Michelle gets sea sick, so they spent the first three nights at a hotel, but stayed aboard Always Sunday the rest of the time. Willie and Michelle are both excellent chefs, and I was thrilled to be able to watch them prepare fish several nights. Willie also loves to try the local food wherever they travel (all over the world), and he had a list ready of the top ten eateries specializing in local flavor. As I've already said, everything is more fun when Willie and Michelle are around.

Amazing Caribbean food at CoCo Van, a food truck with a lovely outdoor setting.

Prince's house on Providentiales

Da Conch Shack
Rated in
Top Ten
Local 
Restaurants

Playing Hands and Feet

Sunset Fishing Trip

All Willie wanted to do 
was catch some fresh fish 
for dinner, but alas, the big
fish weren't biting. No worries. The little fish took the bait.

They might be small, but we ate every fin and tail!
Squirrel Fish, Smallmouth Grunts and Coneys for dinner. Just add Fish Fry!

Learning how to saute ginger and garlic to top pan-fried tuna

FINALLY IN THE BAHAMAS!

We've heard a lot over the years about the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, and Exumas from other boaters, and we could hardly wait to sail there on Always Sunday. At first, I was a little disappointed because the islands were so flat, with scrubby vegetation, very different from the lush, mountainous Caribbean islands we have been visiting. But I have to say, after further exploration, the beaches are pristine and there's nothing that compares to the turquoise waters. We enjoyed many anchorages where there were no other boats in site, we call them honeymooners. 

One of the few islands with towering pines where we could sit in the shade and read. Absolutely lovely!

Are those pigs that Ricky is asking directions from? YES! The uninhabited island of Big Major Cay in the Exumas is famous for its freckled pig population. You can go ashore and visit with them, as Ricky is doing, or they swim out and visit your boat, especially if you're feeding them something good. 

Bahamian Curly Tail Lizard curls his tail when he's excited

 

Boater friends Mary and Steve on Willow hike in the National Park with us. 

Friends flew into Providentiales to spend a week with us. Left to right: Ricky, Robin, Steve and Michelle Delaune, Jamie and Ryan Crane. Had a blast together!!!

This amazing mini-monastery is the main attraction on Cat Island, built by Monsignor John Hawes in 1939, known to Cat Islanders as Father Jerome. He studied architecture before joining the priesthood. Using all local stone, he built The Hermitage on the highest hill in the Bahamas (206 ft above sea level) as his retirement get-away from the world.

          Ricky swimming with JoJo, a friendly dolphin who follows the boats around Providentiales

Always Sunday at anchor in Grace Bay

Banded Starfish

Fresh Mahi Mahi

Family and Friends Visit Always Sunday

Good friends Joe and Julie Bouligny (Lafayette, LA) texted us one morning to see if we were sailing anywhere near St. Lucia because they were on a cruise ship docked there for one day only. Luck would have it that we had just arrived in St. Lucia to pick up my niece, so we were able to have lunch together and let them see our boat for a few hours. 

Sharon Wright, our niece, arrived in St. Lucia mid-January for three glorious weeks sailing to ten different islands. The beautiful Pitons are in the background.

Uncle Ricky showing Sharon the new electronics

Sailing into Iles des Saints

       One of our favorite places on Guadeloupe is the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Deshaies                         (pronounced Days-ay). I could spend hours there taking photos of flowers and birds!

St. Barts is a busy place with lots of boats, great restaurants and shopping

Work hard all day, play hard all night!!!

We joined the throngs of crazy people who visit Maho Beach
 in St. Martin to take photos of the airplanes
landing right overhead. Then, when the planes take off,
you get sandblasted. Are we having fun yet?

One of our favorite ruins on the island of Nevis is the Cottle Church, built in 1824 by English planter Thomas John Cottle as the first church in the Caribbean for all people to worship together, regardless of colour or nationality. It's a story that truly inspires.

Filming site of Calypso's House, the sea goddess in Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest - Indian River on Dominica

Hiking in Dominica

Climbing the rocks up to a waterfall on Guadeloupe

Martinique is the beautiful French Island known as the birth place of the Empress Josephine. We walked through the ruins of what was a magnificent theatre in St. Pierre, once called Little Paris. The whole city, at that time the commercial, cultural and social center of Martinique, was buried when Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902, killing 30,000 people. The volcano gave several warnings, even sending enough ash down to kill birds and animals a week before it erupted. Two men survived: Leon Leandre, a cobbler, and the infamous Cyparis, in prison for murder.

Telling secrets on the front of the boat. Please come back soon, Sharon! WE MISS YOU!!!