Barbados
Barbados was incredible! We started off on this tour bus that Teresa had booked with 13 other people. It was $70 each, which seems a bit pricy, but we received entrance to two parks, lunch, and drinks included in it. It was really a very good deal.

The tour took us first to Harrison's Cave. The cave has three miles worth of caves, but the part they show you is about a mile. Your ride a little golf-cart type train through the caves. I'll put a photo up of the caves, some of the caverns are huge, and the stalactites and stalagmites are amazing.

Next we stopped at a couple of lookout points. Incredible views. This island has some amazing beaches, lush vegetation, a very British feel, and an urban population (so its not as under-developed as Dominica). One place we stopped is ranked #4 in the world for surfing. Surf was not up today, though. We passed a guy on the road at one lookout who let everyone take pictures of his monkey, then informed everyone that they should pay the monkey. Teresa bought a necklace from him. I should be able to include a picture of Teres and the monkey. We stopped after that for lunch, and had macaroni and chicken. It was good.

After lunch, we went to their animal sanctuary, where we saw turtles, alligators, and some other various animals that are wild but live in their park. Finally we went snorkeling at a beach. The snorkeling at the first stop was okay, but not great. They have a sunken barge that they sunk on purpose to give the fish a home, and they fed them so there were lots of fish. A bit of coral too. We took some underwater shots there. I saw a couple fish I had not seen before, so I hope I get them on camera. The final snorkeling stop was the best though.

We went to a place just off of a rum distillery (the smell drove me nuts, I hate rum) where turtles live. We dove in the water and swam around with the wild turtles. I think there were three or four, but two were the main attraction. They would come right up to you, and approach like they were giving you a kiss. They would swim close and let you touch them. When they dove down, I dove with them, and swam beside them. Absolutely amazing. I hope those pictures turn out, I took a whole roll and so did Teresa. I also saw a puffer fish which I had not seen before. I got a picture of him too, but its not digital so I can't upload it.

After that it was time to head back to the ship. Barbados is definately a place I could consider living. Tomorrow is Aruba. I hope its as nice. If I have Internet, I'll update!
- posted by Tim Stewart @ 6:22 PM