Tag Archives: R. Doug Wicker

July 6, 2022 · 5:35 am

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Dominica; Soufrière back to Roseau


That charming church you see above is Saint Mark in the northeastern quadrant of Soufrière just yards from Bubble Beach Spa. The colors and architecture of Saint Mark may at first appear stark until you recall how colorful the surrounding buildings and boats are in this small village. Sat Mark is just a fun, fun structure to photograph when the light hits it right, as it did in this afternoon shot.

Saint Mark closeup

I’m going to present three more images of Soufrière sights, then take you to a couple of attractions in Roseau:

After Soufrière we headed back north to Roseau for eventual reunion with our ship Grandeur of the Seas. But before we reboarded we had two additional places to see starting with a hilltop overlook of the capital city. This is the view from Morne Bruce Garrison and Viewpoint:, which is 400 feet/122 meters above sea level:

Roseau, Grandeur of the Seas (upper left), Windsor Park Stadium (right)

As I noted above, this is the former location of the Morne (Mount) Bruce Garrison, which defended Dominica from the 1770s until July 1854:

Morne Bruce Garrison historical marker

From Morne Bruce we descended back toward Grandeur of the Seas, but not before passing through the Dominica Botanical Gardens. Doesn’t this look delish? It even has a delicious name, sausage tree:

Sausage tree (Kigelia africana)

But let neither the name nor the appearance of this large (up to 15 pounds/7 kilograms) berry lull you into taking a nibble. Kigelia africana is poisonous to humans if eaten unprepared! But elephants and baboons love them straight off the tree.

Sausage tree berry

And here’s an example of a banyan fig tree:

Banyan tree in Domina Botanical Gardens

Fun Photo Friday will conclude not only this visit to Dominica, but completion of this series on cruising in the Southern Caribbean. Starting next week I’ll be taking you to place I’ve reviewed before, but which has since gotten a complete remake.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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July 4, 2022 · 5:35 am

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Dominica; Soufrière and Bubble Beach


Heading back north from Scotts Head, our next stop was the small fishing village of Soufrière (good article on things to see and do in Soufrière at this link: 11 Amazing Things to Do in Soufrière, Dominica. Here you’ll find Bubble Beach, in which small Champagne-like bubbles gently rise to the surface from a volcanic vent below. There is even a Bubble Beach Spa here to take advantage of it all, but you can get those bubbles for free just by stepping off the public beach into the water. And, yes, I did a lousy job of capturing those bubbles, but here you go:

The “bubbles” at Bubble Beach

Soufrière, to me, is all about the color. I’ll talk a little on Wednesday about some other Soufrière sights, such as St. Mark’s Church, but for today I’m going to let the following images do the rest of the talking along with a couple more images from Scotts Head (the last two gallery photos below are Scotts Head, Caribbean side):

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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July 3, 2022 · 3:28 am

Trashy Amsterdam and the Hellhole of Schipol


Amsterdam:

Once was a great place to visit. Now, it’s pure garbage… literally. Ripped trash bags everywhere. Trash strewn about. Piles of trash on what seemed every corner. Trash floating in the canals. Trash, trash, trash. Has no one in this once great city heard of trash bins? Does no one in this city any longer give a damn about their image, or the impression given to their visitors?

And Schipol Airport? Don’t even get me started on that fiasco. Arrived over five hours early because of the security horror stories, and still almost missed our scheduled departure time by the time we got checked in (Hey, Aer Lingus, if you know there’s a problem then don’t start check-in only 144 minutes before departure) and made it through the world’s worst security (As bad as Barbados airport security is, they ain’t got nothin’ over these incompetent clowns). The security line snaked through, and even outside, the terminal for well over a mile, probably closer to two, with thousands, probably near 10,000 if not more, waiting to clear while unmanned security stations sat idle. Well over two full hours before we made it that far, only to find D gates were at least 16 minutes away, and our flight was about 20 minutes from scheduled departure. Time to start a brisk pace, weaving through the throngs of tired, weary, shellshocked, frustrated and angry travelers.

We needn’t have worried about “scheduled” departure, however. Only about three dozen of the 158 passengers for our flight had made it by that time, so Aer Lingus made the decision to delay the flight for more to get through security and complete the long trek. That delay stretched to about an hour and a half (thanks again for the ”timely” check-in opening, Aer Lingus). That in turn led Aer Lingus to delay overseas connections out of Dublin.

Total time on our feet waiting in lines at the primary airport serving this trash-strewn city: Over FIVE hours.

Suggestion: Skip Amsterdam. Stay in nearby charming, CLEAN Utrecht instead. But ONLY if you can escape the Netherlands from an airport other than that hellhole known as Schipol.

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