Da Water and Da Rum, Mon

"RUM, n.  Generally, fiery liquors that produce madness in total abstainers."

-Ambrose Bierce

The last week of the cruise was appropriately different from the nine weeks that went before it.  Those nine weeks were about exploring the historic and the exotic (or at least exotic to the likes of me).  The final week was about water, rum, and saying goodbye to new friends, as we plied the more traditional cruise ship waters of the Caribbean.  Stops were at Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk.

At all stops except Puerto Rico, the activity for me was the same:  snorkeling.  In Barbados, the snorkeling was with giant green turtles off a catamaran.  The cat crew were a friendly and helpful bunch, though I wasn't so sure about the advice one crewman gave me when the bad-tempered turtle named Hawkeye swam past:  make fists so that no fingers are dangling for him to bite at.  But my fingers went unbitten, so perhaps it was good advice after all.  After the snorkel, it was rum drinks all around as we relaxed and danced in the sun while the cat made its way back to shore under full sail.

In Dominica, it was snorkeling via "fun cats"--two-person catamarans that we steered ourselves as we formed a convoy of six cats.  Dominica itself is a beautiful island, widely considered to be the most unspoiled island in the Caribbean.  However, the reef is not so unspoiled--where we were, it was largely dead.  There is mining nearby of volcanic ash, and the off-flow from that activity has taken its toll on the coral.  

Dominica is politically interesting.  With a population of only 70,000, and dimensions of 29 miles by 16 miles, it is nevertheless an independent country with a seat in the United Nations.  It used to be a British colony, but became independent in 1978.

Our other snorkel island was Grand Turk.  I'd heard much about the quality of the diving here, so was looking forward to the snorkeling with the idea that if the diving is good the snorkeling will be too.  As in Barbados, we were on a catamaran.  The operation was totally professional, with the best equipment we'd had on any of our snorkels and a crew that was careful to make sure everyone knew what they were doing.  The waters were extremely rough, but I didn't experience the kind of difficulties I'd had in the Seychelles, probably because we weren't snorkeling near rocks and because the quality of the gear helped in battling the current.  But the work to counter the current did not have the same payoff as in the Seychelles--the reef here was in bad shape.  Apparently, while the island repaired its structures quickly after Hurricane Ike in the fall,the damage to the reef is more devastating and cannot be repaired by man.

The sail back to shore was particularly pretty, as the sun was setting as we sailed.  Rum drinks all around again, though less dancing on this one, probably because the cat was a good bit more crowded.  But still a pleasant day.

In Puerto Rico, we skipped the snorkeling and went straight for the rum, taking the ferry over to the Bacardi factory for a tour and free mojitos.  After that was a stroll around old San Juan, looking at the lovely buildings and blue cobblestone streets, stopping in a local cafe for lunch, and finding an exhibit in a park called "Earth from Above."  The exhibit was comprised of large, detailed and stunning photographs of places all over the world as seen from airplanes, helicopters and hot air balloons.  Many of the photos were of places we'd visited on our trip, albeit from above:  the dunes of Namibia, Kenyan villages, Petra, etc.  It was the perfect coda to our trip, coming as it did at journey's end.  And, as if to punctuate the point, the skies opened and it started to pour just as we returned to the ship from this wonderful day.

And indeed the journey is now over.  My next entry will be the last for this journal--some final words about the two and a half months of a trip that I'd never have dreamed I'd be able to take and that was beyond all my expectations of it.