Swamps and Gators.

I'm not sure what I thought I was getting myself into, but we were on a search for Gators. We got in line for our boat ride and our guide looked like the guy from the swamp show. Head bandana, crooked and missing teeth, weathered skin with a country sounding accent. But he was the nicest guy ever and knew all about the surroundings.  When the boat takes off it sounds like a plane taking off.

It took a little while before we saw a gator and our guide knows them by name. He was swimming along our boat, I'm not sure if for fun, or to see if one of us was going to fall overboard.

After our ride we go to the gator show which is actually more informative about the gators. Dont expect any tricks or hands in mouth etc. All in all it was fun and we were worn out, ready to go to the airport to take the long plane ride home.

Port Everglades Florida

This is where the cruise ends. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  But before we board the plane, we go one last excursion.  When in Florida, you can't leave without seeing flamingos and Gators. So we go the famous flamingos gardens for flamingos and fauna.
We take a guided tram tour through the gardens and the tour guide explains all the fauna that we see. It's beautiful and a little hot and muggy, to be expected.

The Flamingo's and the peacocks are all putting on a show for us. 

I think this was their mating calls. 

St. Maarten

St. Maarten is the last port of this 7 day cruise. Since I already did 2 Ocean excursions I thought I would try the "Flying Dutchman" zip line because I saw someone on Facebook coming down the mountain and it looked like a lot of fun. The excursion was supposed to be 3.5 hrs so I thought I would have enough time tot explore after that. I thought wrong.

A photo from the internet

Usually I have really good excursions so was disappointed with this one, as many other people were also upset and complaining. I believe the whole thing was overbooked as there were 3 ships in port and we were the last one in. First they make you go up halfway, get off, go down an inner tube like thing with barely any water (the photo looked like a lot of water and people brought swimming suits which was unnecessary) . Then back to the bottom to wait in the hot sun to back up again on this chair lift which takes you to the top. It was a beautiful view at the top and you could see all over the island. But what happened was they were so backed up we had a 2.5 hour wait just to get down the hill. Even though it was a quick zip line down there were many people and we all had numbers waiting to get down. People were yelling because they were afraid they would miss their ship leaving and it was very disorganized and many people were going before other people that were there first. All I could think was, here I am on this amazing island with beautiful views but stuck on top in the hot sun just waiting. We were one of the last ones down. Don't get me wrong; it was exhilarating and fun going down, but if you have done zip-lining before, this is no comparison. I was so afraid to miss the last bus back I had to skip getting the photo. I was disappointed I spent over $100.00 for a minute zip ride down a mountain that took the whole day.
When we got back to the ship we shopped around the booths right before you get on the ship and bought some great home made vanilla and hubby bought some amazing cigars.

View from the top. 

The Shops next to the pier. 

I'm pretty easy to please, and it's rare I have a bad experience. But this was the bad one, and I guess you have to have one sooner or later.

Note to self: Stick with the beach excursions when in the Caribbean.

Home made Vanilla

St. Thomas Virgin Islands

I have to go snorkeling in "Turtle Cove" and search for the shipwreck.

We walk about a 5 minute walk to the catamaran waiting for us, and they give us snorkeling equipment, flippers, and safety instructions before we go in search of the ship wreck. Because of the Hurricanes that have hit this area the shipwreck has moved around a bit. I wear ear plugs in the water so don't get to hear all the information. There are scuba divers down swimming close to the wreck and we are more on the top swimming around. It's very serene to be swimming around with all the different schools of fish swimming alongside you.

Off to another location in search of Sea Turtles and Coral Reef. I'm not going to lie to you, I thought I was going to see Coral Reef like in the Disney movies and Ocean specials with coral, yellow and green fluorescent marine life. Well because of climate change and hurricanes you will only see a little coral and it will be blending in to the ocean sandy grey floor. We only saw a few turtles that were swimming on the bottom. The funny thing was one of the turtles that was on the bottom decided to come up to the surface right below me. As I was swimming towards it and came so close....I could hear the Vangelis "Chariot of Fire" theme song going through my head. I was getting so close I could reach out and touch it!!!! But through by ear plugs I heard far away yelling, and can only guess there were saying "don't touch the turtle!". So as the record scratched, my chariot of fire moment came to a screeching halt, and I never got to touch the turtle out of respect. No bonding with the amazing Sea Turtle but we did have eye to eye contact.
Not a picture of the actual turtle because I didn't have a camera with me and I'm sure it wouldn't of come out quite so vibrant. But it was a little like this.

After all that excitement we climbed back on to the catamaran for complimentary rum drinks, fruit, and more drinks. While my 2 teens tried to re-enact Rose and Jack from Titanic on the front of the catamaran with the wind blowing through their hair, I leisurely sat back to have a rum drink, soaking up the sun and imagining what it would be like to have a private yacht and this was all mine.

Back on shore we walk around the shops and stop off for a Pink Pina Colada drink.
A great day in St. Thomas.

#Caribbean #ST.Thomas #VirginIslands #Travelingtheworld #vacaylife

Chill vacation to the Caribbean

Believe it or not I hadn't been to the Caribbean Islands. When you live on the West coast , the East coast seems so far away. But time for a chill vacation.

*Note to self*      Next time don't go on Spring Vacation.

Not because of the crowds, but the airfare is about 2-3 times more traveling late March and April.
But we were taking 2 teens girls, so we didn't have much of a choice.

First stop Princess Cays Private Island. This is a port that is tendered in, and just for the cruise line. We rented a clamshell, which looks a blue clamshell but shaded for 2 people. Even though I love the warm, sunny weather, I am fair and not a sun worshiper so I am happy to be in the shade. Plenty of bars around with music and alcohol, and a buffet style setup for lunch. Being that I have a hard time relaxing, and this will be all day, may be challenging for me because I think I'm a little ADHD. So we walk over to the sting ray encounter (that I booked on the ship) to swim in the warm water with the sting rays. The handlers know the sting ray's by name and let us feed them and stroke them. I thought that might be in the wild but they are actually in a roped in area. So I'm not sure how animal friendly that is knowing they are in an enclosed area. But it was amazing to see them up close.

Feeding the Stingrays

The 2 teens go on the Banana Boat Ride around the bay, which looks fun and I can see them bouncing around on it with their hair up in a bun bouncing too.

I bring my water socks, because I don't care how goofy I look, I don't want to step on anything and cut myself up get bitten by anything. I go out in the water for a short while (yes I have a rash guard too) and swim around because.....hey....I'm in the Caribbean.

I skip the hair braiding corn rows, henna etc. and look at some of the souvenir shops but didn't buy anything.

All in all it was a nice relaxing day and set up was really good. I wouldn't mind an overnight there because it would be really fun to have campfires there and just hang out for the evening on the island. They could have bars, campfires, activities, etc. for a different kind of an experience.

#Bahamas #Caribbean #Vacationlife  #Stingrays

Stockholm, Sweden

After that we walk back to "Gamla Stan" in the old town and stop off for lunch at "Ruby Bistro" for a vegetarian burger and fries. Our table is on the edge of the sidewalk on a narrow little street. Most places prefer credit cards but I also bring some Swedih Krones for souvenirs and such. So once we are done we go shopping and pick up some bath fizzies and soap for my daughter, coffee mug for my son, a Christmas ornament and magnet of a funny viking to commerorate our Vasa museum visit.

There are 2 streets full of souveinir shops, coffee shops, waffle shops, ice creams shops and jewelry stores. The waffle cones smell so good and if I hadn't eaten lunch I might of ordered one. I have 60 krones left so we stop off for a beer for my husband, free wi-fi and a restroom. If you need to use a restroom I saw one that uses coins. Other than that you should try to use the one wherever you stop to eat at. After walking past the Nobel Museum and taking photos we head back to where we 

were dropped off and look for our bus. Back to the ship for sail away from the aft which has the best view. I can't believe tomorrow is our last day which is a sea day and time to pack.

#Stockholm #Sweden #Gamla Stan

Stockholm, Sweden

Today we berth in Nynashamn which is 45 minutes away from Stockholm. If you berth in Stockholm you have to leave by 2:00 p.m. If you berth in Nynashamn you can stay late. We decide to take the Princess excursion " On Your Own" to Stockholm which is around 59 or 69 dollars. This will give us about 5 1/2 hrs. in town. We are given a walking map on the bus and want to go to the Vasa Museum and find out it's about a 20 minute walk. It you are a brisk walker than you can do this easily. If not than you can take a train/tram over. There is also a HOHO boat that will take you around but I didn't want to go all the way to the pier and back so decided to walk along the pitcturesque cobblestone sidewalk along the harbor to the museum. The Vasa Musuem is $16.00 and when you go in, there will be 2 lines. One to the left to buy tickets at the window or the the one on the right that has 3 kiosk machines and will go a lot faster. Guess which one I took? This museum has reconstructed the viking ship that has sunk in 1628 but recovered it in 1970. The museum has 5 floors and I think my favorite part was the display of putting together their bones trying to figure out who they were and what they did. It's amazing what they can decipher from their teeth, bones and shreds of clothing.