HORSE RIDING IN ANTIGUA

We went to spend some quality time on the beach after another long and sleepless night. Another life saved and two hours on the beach seem well deserved. 

We went to Haven Sand  Beach just relaxing and soaking in the water.  Than we saw the horses and we couldn’t resist the temptation to try. 

 

 You pay about $20 and it gives you an hour ride along the beach and the Sugar Cane Plantation. It is very exiting even if this is not your first time. There are miles of soft, white sand bordered by coconut palms.

 

The area is called Runaway Bay. My horse was also Runaway, 4 years old, very naughty boy!

 The local instructor was 14 years old boy and his father (owner of the business from generations) was only watching us and left us in his son’s experienced  hands.  

  

Runaway was very greedy and stopped every time there was something to graze on. There are horses for every temperament and skill levels.

 

On the islands the name is quite characteristic for the horse’s behavior. If you are a beginner go for Lazy, Old Boy, Relaxation. Names like Nut Cracker, Rabies, Fury are NO, NO, NOOOO! : )

ANTIGUA V. DESTINY 0:3

Antigua pulled out of the match. Does it mean forfeit? Well, after all preparations probably. We are now waiting for them to inform us if they would like to play at all.

CANOPY CHALLANGE IN DOMINICA

When I say  “BEAUTIFUL” ,  you say “DOMINICA”.

When I say “WACKY” ,  you say “ROLLERS”

30 min bus drive take you to Wacky Rollers Adventure Park in Dominica. Full equipment is available- harness, helmet, gloves, pulleys.A group of locals (very well trained) showed us how to climb, be safe and use the zipper lines. Seems easy at a meter above! We climbed a ladder and … OH MY GOD!!!! They ask you to walk on this. 10 meters above the ground

  

Well, you are secured. You can’t fall. So? I can’t believe I volunteered for this…

 

  

They have the famous “Tarzan Jump”. If you ask why I don’t have picture from it…. I was busy screaming like a girl. 

   

This is rather extreme exercise and you must be in very good physical condition to manage all 30 obstacles. There was a 70 years old lady with us. So I finished the course… couldn’t live with the embarrassment  to quit before her 

Don’t get fooled by the names Indiana Bridge, Monkey Bridge and Duck Walk Bridge. They are more like AAAAAAAAAAAAA bridge, Scared to Death Bridge and I am not getting there Bridge.

  

Not easy I am telling you……………..

  

The course ends with zip line across Layou River, Dominica’s longest and largest river. So this is the fastest and longest zipper line I have seen.

  At the end of our adventure we were given Certificates of completion, I think well disserved. We worked really hard to get to the end. We were tired and enjoyed very much the drinks and fresh fruits at the river side before we return to our ship.  

 

It is a survivor-like experience.  If you come with a cruise it is organized for you. If you want to book alone here is the web site http://www.wackyrollers.com/adventurepark.htm

Hey, can I go one more time?

COMPETITION… QUESTIONS… WHAT TO EXPECT?

The most of the questions over the last few days are regarding the planned game between the Destiny’s team and the team of Antigua/Barbuda. Mr Gordon Derrick- The General Secretary of the Antigua/Barbuda Football Association expressed interest and the expected time for the beginning of the match is 12:30 11/09/07 (Friday). Special thanks to all Antigua players in advance! It is a rare opportunity and our players value it.

I received some mails to publish pictures from the Casino Halloween Party. Some believe it was even more interesting than the Staff Party.

Some people are asking me to explain if professional photographers will be allowed to participate in the photo competition. The answer is YES! Everybody, even the Captain is welcome. No staged shots with Carnival’s templates will be accepted. The best 10 photos will be presented near the Staff Mess and everybody will be invited to vote from 21-27th. It doesn’t come more democratic than this, does it? So, you will decide how to give the prizes. There is still time to bring your shots.

I am planning to publish soon some materials about The Lighthouse Park in Arecibo (Puerto Rico), how you can ride a horse on the islands, a special about the latino party in Barbados and … of course from the anticipated football game.

Dear Julia, I have not been to St John yet but I will try to visit the island soon or  I might ask another crew member to write something…

I will try to answer all questions. Keep on asking!

orlinmichev@aol.com

STINGRAY SENSATION IN ANTIGUA

I dislike the pompous names of simple rip offs. This time though it lived up to its name. A short drive takes you to Stingray City.

 

Fast boats take in the ocean to some shallow waters. The place is somehow fenced.

 

There are many turtles around. But we want to see a stingray. We put the goggles and dive inside.

 

There they are… in their numbers, huge and fearless….

 

Disturbingly huge and fearless!

The creatures come in your hands and wait to be caressed. Great for the pictures!Than we got small sepias and the pushing begins.

 

The stingrays are like a group of schoolchildren fighting for candies. They suck it out of your hand. You have the feeling that with the vacuum they create they can easily strip your skin or … worse…The guides needed to drag me out of the water.

PHOTO CONTEST ON DESTINY

Hurry! 

Bring your photos now to Dr. Michev in the Infirmary,

send them with e-mail: orlinmichev@aol.com,

bring your memory card,

bring the print,

the file on a USB… improvise! 

All categories are accepted!

Don’t forget to supply your name and number. 

Read more on www.shipdoctor.wordpress.com! 

Any original (shot by you) picture can participate. Even the professional photographers can participate but we are not accepting any of the mass-produced staged photos we are all familiar with. 

3 officers will choose the best 10 photos and than you will be able to vote for them from 21 November to 27 November. The winner will be announced on 28 November. 

I have these confirmed prises:

an iPod,

excursion for two (specially chosen by the Shore Excursion Manager)

and

a beautiful photo frame.  

Continue sending your photos!

HALLOWEEN PARTY ON DESTINY

What are we actually celebrating on Halloween.  These days it is trick-or-treating, festivals, bonfires, costume parties and horror films for no reason. Just good fun! The name is shortened from All-hallow-even (The night of (before) all saints). Many believe it comes from pagan traditions. There was an Celtic festival Samhain (actually still celebrated), regarded as ‘The Celtic New Year’. The church decided not to fight the pagan festivities but to absorb them. Pope Gregory III moved All Saints’ Day from May 13 to November 1(making it probably the holliest of the days).  The night before is considered as the time the spirits and demons are able to make contact with the physical world and the magic is most potent. After sunset spirits of the dead and inhabitants from the underworld are able to walk free on the earth. It was believed necessary to dress as a spirit or otherworldly creature when going outdoors to blend in.

Let us see how did some of us manage to blend!

We all like this man…hm… witch.

 Two witches with special interest in medicine with the Captain.

These demons dressed as crew members : )

 The ripper

Friendly witch with Catwoman

 The King fresh from the grave…

You can screeeeem as much as you want.

The vilain from Screem and a little enchantress with Svetlana.

Batman

 The sleeping beauty and  her husband.

Two sexy creatures

 Angel and devil

 Black angel …

 and white… and another captain. Who drives the boat if they are all here?

: )   : )   : )

 Another cat

 Zombies with so much muscle command respect…

 The Moonwalker and the Awesome Faraon

My favorite costume.

If you want your picture here just let me know. If you want your name under your picture just let me know.

SHIPWRECK AND SEA TURTLES

This time the catamaran is more like a powerboat. A really fast boat! It is called Wildcat III.

 

You can see that the boat had even teeth.

 

So this powerful monster takes us to Freshwater Bay and we dive to see the endangered hawksbill and green turtles.

 

 

It is a gracious, gentle dance. The creatures are not so big but they swim around as if there are no humans in the water. These are wild animals and it is not a theme park! There is nothing like a real close encounter with a free animal. We are so happy and even if the guides would say that this is the end of the tour we would be perfectly happy. There was more to come… We went to Carlisle Bay and dived near the Berwyn shipwreck.

 

 It is a vessel that sank 1900. Now the area is a national park. You will not believe the myriad fishes around – a symphony of color and shapes!  

Than we went to an excellent beach. We listened to the sea… and played like children.

 

Than we got very happy after taking some of the antidepressant of the caribbean islands called with the generic name ”rum punch”. 

 

I would say this is an experience you must have if you ever come to Barbados. It is easy to book if you are on a cruise ship and if decide to find them privately their website is:  http://www.adventurelandbarbados.com/surf.htm

WHEN A FRIEND GOES HOME…

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: Many people will walk in and out of your life but only true friends will leave footprints on your heart.

 

We have excellent team in the Infirmary. These people become part of your life. You bond together. You rely on each other, we live together and one day comes the end of their contract. It feels bad to hug them last time …

 

For only seven days we lost 2 members of the team. Sonja and Ramon. Sonja went back to South Africa and Ramon returns to Texas.

 

Here are some pictures from the farewell party.

 

We will miss you friends!

RIVER HIKE TO SARI-SARI FALLS

NB If you want to see enlarged pictures in this material, please click on the thumbnails.

Today the doctor is working. Actually he works the whole week- seven days, every day. So now I am going to the Sari-Sari waterfalls with my colleague Theresa.  In the Shore Excursions Manual this excursion is marked with one red and three black “men”. Now this means it is an Extreme Activity.

These are the most spectacular waterfalls in the Caribbean. They preserved their natural beauty. After the excursion I can state this is mostly due to the difficulties reaching them. This is a proper hike not one of them walks. You need healthy heart and trained legs to carry you around!

 

If youlook closely there is a snail. These guys were rather huge… but they can rarely outrun you!

And some of the places were very narrow. It was difficult even for me to squeeze through. Some river crossings were a real challenge.

 

It seemed dangerous and I could feel the adrenalin pumping.

 

And it is beautiful too…

Julia , Matilda and Carina lead us though the jungle. I couldn’t resist the temptation to have a picture with bread tree.

 

Julia cuts a cacao fruit. The natural chocolate is a cocoa paste made from the cacao seeds. Cacao seeds are the fruit of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao according to the big books. Julia gives us the fresh seeds to taste. She is a native Carib Indian.  Honestly you must try this. You would never expect it tastes like this.

  

But when we arrived I was speechless, breathless, stunned… it was the most beautiful waterfall I have seen till now in the Caribbean indeed.  We took some pictures and starved from the long walk we went back to “base”.

 We arrived near the river. There we were expected by one of the guides who prepared a soup for us on opened fire. Was it because of the serious exercise or the chef was really good but I ate two full plates and … frankly could have more. 

  

Almost forgot about the beach. On this picture you see the might of the Atlantic ocean. This used to be the most beautiful volcanic beach on the island. The last hurricane claimed all the sand over one night. The waves washed it completely. The guides said they have never seen anything like this.  

Do you remember that “all rivers lead to the ocean”? Well, this one does indeed.