” Best of an island is once you get there. You can’t go any further… you’ve come to the end of things…” (Agatha Christie)

The thought of touring eight beautiful islands in the Caribbean Basin in retrospect last week seemed so much more to me than a pleasant tourist adventure. For in my view, there’s a bit of self therapy reasoning to visit each of these places. The following original poem thus envisions how each of us might find the ideal island to visit based on our present state of mind.

ANY ISLAND WON’T DO

When Mind Needs It’s Body To Refresh Closed Doors

It’s Time For Aruba’s Sparkling Blue Shores

When Dark Memories Waste Away Your Spirit of Play

Sail East For Tanned Tranquillity In Barbados Bay

When Spurts Of Desire Wish To Turn Milk Into Cream

Fine Yacht Can Await You in St. Thomas Sprung Dream

When Heavy Heart Fears Seem Too Much For Mention

Martinique’s French Lightness Might Ease Such Tension

When Nature’s Calling Bursts In Green, Red and Blue

A Dominica Jaunt Seems The Right Place For You

So What’s Stopping You Now From Pleasurable Detach?

Just Find The Right Island That Makes A Good Match!

One’s destination is never a place, but always a new way of seeing things” (Henry Miller)

Our most recent cruise vacation is now providing me with a wonderful opportunity to explore a variety of issue perspectives with regard to eight (8) interesting destinations in the Eastern Caribbean region. Such opposing opinions are thus stated below with accompanying photos for week two of this fourteen day cruise.

Barbados (Moving Up and Down)

More than any other island we’ve visited on our present cruise, we needed to work harder in Barbados to find those much sought feelings of tropical bliss. For it seemed to be a difficult task to escape the sprawling industrial look surrounding Bridgetown, our latest port of call. Perhaps we needed the exercise anyway as we began our latest tour with a brisk walk from the cruise terminal through enticing shopping corridors to our awaiting 4X4 jeep. From that point on, this “yang” experience intensified with an adrenaline rush as we grasped tightly to our seat rail when bounced up and down roughly as we steadily climbed hills to the island interior and then to the more secluded eastern shore. Thankfully, our energetic driver would stop abruptly once or twice early on this ride so we could “catch our breath” in the middle of nowhere while he engaged with passing “locals” in casual conversations. We seemed fortunate as well to take a few breaks later on from this brisk, rollercoaster like experience when our driver stopped according to his set schedule to offer us fresh sugarcane to taste, point out a cow grazing lazily in a field, describe the kinds of fruit grown on a native tree and reveal the historic meaning of a stone wall. Yet the most notable highlight of this tour took place as we descended steeply to the far eastern shore for the first time and took sight of the long white shores along amazing Bathsheba Bay. How satisfying it felt then to accomplish fifteen minutes of slow quality time spent along these tranquil beaches after this wild afternoon of “”bucking bronco” traveling effort.

Trinidad (Animal Behavior)

Looking forward to a break from the rigid time schedule of guided ship excursions and massive cruise passenger gatherings, the island of Trinidad provided a nice opportunity to self plan a tour from our Port of Spain location to a place of our own choosing. Thus as we stepped out of the cruise terminal, a feasible opportunity arose to do so upon being warmly greeted by an older looking Trinidad woman who offered an inexpensive ride at $30.00 round trip for us at the city’s well renowned Emperor Valley Zoo. So we accepted this two hour visit when the driver graciously offered to both drop us off and later pick us up at this designated time frame we desired. I can happily report that we then took our time to circulate around the zoo corridors to breathe in fresh air on this cooler than expected morning feeling strongly that some wild animals caged in close proximity to us would sense our presence to them and provide some interesting natural behavior to observe. In this regard, I soon imagined the loud cacophony of squawking parrots and toucans begging to be let out of their cage, the loud roar of the big cats feeling hungry for some new meat, the unfolding plume of a peacock proudly flirting with its mate and the squeaking monkeys calling to each other in free spirited play.

Aruba (Saving Earth)

Beautiful white sand beaches abound around much of Aruba but overdevelopment of the island presents a serious problem from a climate crisis perspective. So from my vantage point based on our latest bus excursion from our cruise stop in Oranjestad, I advise any prospective tourist who visits Aruba to decide more selectively where to go in order to experience those rugged windswept vistas and pristine shorelines that this popular island mecca for tourism is noted for. Know for instance that much of the island suffers now from a serious water shortage, especially the cactus filled interior which receives less than ten inches of rainfall per year. Along the popular west coast, rapid urban gentrification in popular tourist spots like Palm Beach and Eagle Beach means seemingly endless rows of urban sprawl and associated problems of air pollution, traffic congestion and undisposable piles of plastic and other discarded garbage along the road. With up to 12,000 cruise boat tourists arriving at times in Oranjestad on a given day, a more relaxing piece of advice then seems that a savvy tourist should prioritize a slow drive to the more remote northern tip of Aruba at Arashi Beach as we did today. Just plop down then with your sun block, sip some refreshing coconut water and watch out for the deceptive pull of the undertow when you take a dip in the Caribbean Sea.

Curacao (Range of Emotion)

From previous visits to the Dutch capital of Willemstad in Curaçao, I’ve been very much reminded that this inviting tourist spot seems to be a smaller version of Amsterdam, Holland with its accessible walkways over narrow canals into a colorfully quaint town center. But for our final tour of this cruise vacation into the interior of the island, it seemed I wanted to experience something more firsthand just than reliving nostalgic memories of past European settings. So off we went by bus instead to an island ostrich farm where our super enthusiastic guide on the park tram encouraged us to more directly encounter these prehistoric avian giants in the wilds. You might imagine how much I laughed then upon volunteering to stick my arm out with a bucket of pellets over the fence barrier as several of them anxiously pecked away at this inviting snack. Somewhat more fearfully, I also repeated the experiment again with no bucket as the toothless ostriches took the treats by awkwardly pecking my hand. But it seems that I obtained the greatest thrill at the end of this visit in noticing how a severely autistic man sitting across from me on our excursion smiled very happily as a result of this most unusual ostrich encounter.

” Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes” Jimmy Buffet)

Our most recent cruise vacation is now providing me with a wonderful opportunity to explore a variety of issue perspectives with regard to eight (8) interesting destinations in the Eastern Caribbean region. Such opposing opinions are thus stated below with accompanying photos for week one of this fourteen day cruise.

Radiating Fast Yang Energy vs. Slow Yin Energy (St. Thomas/St. John)

My initial initial impression of St. Thomas as we landed in Charlotte Amelie definitely exuded a lifestyle involving ultra luxury yachts, sleek speed boats, and aggressive resort tour operations geared to some heavy indulgence in fast paced fun like zip-lining and kayaking nearby. Having no desire to “buy into” such hedonistic antics, we instead booked an inexpensive ferry for a much desired “slowdown” experience at less visited St. John Island. We then settled into enjoy three morning hours of tranquil beachfront views and pleasant walks around tiny Cruz Bay. When it began to rain, we found pleasant refuge under some tall shade trees sipping coconut water while engaging in some informal conversations with cruise members from our ship.

Experiencing Old Times vs. New Times (St. Kitts)

Our next island experience in St. Kitts beginning at Basseterre Bay appeared to portray very much a country in historic transition. Most definitely , those days of British colonial rule with stately government buildings and vast plantations for sugar production and other products still exist as evidenced by our guided excursion westerly along the coast to Fairview Great House and Botanical Gardens. But from a modern tourist perspective, I noticed equally the conspicuous presence of colorful welcome structures and billboards, glitzy electronic marketing tools, trendy shopping mall complexes, exclusive golf course resorts , and a spacious a new International Airport accessible to downtown. So If you want to avoid such commercial touristic overload, I would recommend taking a short ride to the highest points of the island and spend awhile for some fantastic views of both the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea below.

Exhibiting Balance vs.Imbalance (Martinique)

We have never visited French influenced Martinique before this cruise. So with a fresh outlook, our landing at Fort -de – France environs along the westerly portion of the island soon registered as one exuding a mixture of balance and imbalance sightings during our excursion to Jardin de Balata high above the city. Along the way there, I first noticed miles of shabby housing conditions protruding in irregular fashion along steep slopes surrounding our views. I could only imagine then the horrific damage a category 5 hurricane could inflict on such unstable residential grounds. Yet the tropical nature of the environment there seemed to opposingly instill more of a delicate visual balance between land, sky, and sea. Proceeding to the massive grounds of the Balata Arboretum itself, I thus observed a continuation of wild nature’s synergistic balance as provided by its well manicured tropical gardens spreading prominently around this site. Interestingly, I might also share that much of Balata’s greenery could be best viewed from above in bouncing up and down from point to point via an elevated rope bridge. So I might report in this regard that it’s no surprise that I personally experienced a hard time keeping my balance on these somewhat unusual modes of transport.

The Matter of Safety (Dominica)

From a human respective, our cruise visit to Roseau, Dominica and its southern beach coast definitely exuded a most hospitable air of friendliness in everyone we met. After all, as we noticed a common Dominica motto, “Don’t Worry Be Happy on public taxis, it appeared there would be no problem for us if we needed to induce a local stranger to help us in times of crisis. But we most certainly would find driving around the island a risk-filled challenge. Consider in illustration those narrowly curving roads running perilously close to oceanside cliffs below that we experienced by taxi in traveling to scenic Scotts Head, the most southerly point around the island. Along the way, I would also make note of the impending danger that the steep cliffs on the inland side which might represent during heavy rainfall periods an added danger of mudslides and rock debris likely falling unexpectedly in the pathway of passing vehicle traffic below. A noticeable lack of modern infrastructure conveniences noticed along the route of these secluded roadways most would also make basic functions like finding a store to eat or using the bathroom a major issue for tourists then. From past experience, I could therefore conclude that these same travel issues would exist on those who decide to partake on those popular touristic visits to the Dominica rainforest in its central point mountains above.