2026: Islands of the Caribbean (Part 3)

Dominica

Next day we awoke in Dominica. It was to be another busy day, and we were glad that a few clouds in the sky promised a slightly cooler temperature for the morning. We boarded a minibus for a long ride across the island to a boatyard at the mouth of a small river. Here we boarded a little rowboat, where we were to be merely passengers while a burly local guide rowed us upstream. During the ride there were a couple of gentle rain showers but, unlike in England where you would seek shelter from the rain, here we just welcomed the warm droplets while they fell on us, and we were dry again in the sunshine just a few minutes after the rain had stopped. It was a wonderfully peaceful journey up the beautiful little river though the jungle.

We were passengers in a small rowboat	The banks were lines with plush vegetation ...	... many strange exotic plants ...	... and tall trees with coconuts at the top	Until we reached this old shack

Our first stop, about 10 minutes upriver, was a tumbledown old shack which looked extremely familiar. Do you recognise it? Yes, it was the home of the Voodoo sorceress Tia Dalma in the film 'Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest'.

We continued up the river into the jungle	The overhanging trees made our passage smaller and smaller	The trees on the banks were amazing ...	... with roots that hung down from their parent branches	The waters of the river were teeming with fish

At this point we continued up the river as far as another bar where, guess what, we were served some more rum punch. The gardens around this little bar were amazingly beautiful, and there was a small gift shop from which we bought a couple of souvenirs - in appreciation of which Debbie was given a pretty decoration made from petals and leaves. We even made friends with their incredibly cute little kitten.

We were then rowed back down the river to the boatyard, so that the minibus could take us back to the ship for lunch.

Building rowboats at the boatyard,

After a quick lunch back on the ship, we walked back down the jetty to climb on board our transport for the afternoon - a 4x4 truck. \\\e were a little bit disappointed that it wasn't a smaller 4x4 vehicle, such as a jeep, but soon we were happily bouncing our way through the jungle and up into the hills. We stopped at the signboard for Trafalgar Falls, and set off on a 10-minute hike along a jungle path to reach the viewpoint for the impressive waterfalls. There were two falls, nicknamed Daddy (125 ft) and Mummy (85 ft), from different rivers into the same pool.

Our 4x4 truck	Setting off on a hike to see ...	... the impressive Trafalgar waterfalls ...	... which are nicknamed Daddy ...	... and Mummy waterfall.

Our 4x4 then continued to climb into the hills, then parked next to a clear, shallow pool which we proceeded to enter. We then swam into a cave and for 10 minutes swam in total darkness, against the current, until we reached a point where it was shallow enough to stand. Looking upwards, we could see a narrow slit of light high above us, as well as a waterfall about 100 yards upstream. This had been another location in 'Pirates of the Caribbean', briefly visible as the point where they fell into the water after plummeting down a canyon inside a giant ball of tied-together human bones. We then swam the remaining distance to the underground waterfall, to stand briefly underneath it (it was rather cold!). The swim back to the cave mouth and its pool was just an easy drift with the current, following which we got dried off and were warmed up with (you've guessed it!) some more rum punch.

Returning through extremely heavy traffic, we were the last passengers to return to the ship; the crew were waiting at the quayside for us, and pulled up the gangway within a few seconds of our arrival. We were short on time for dinner before the evening's entertainment, and the restaurant staff were unusually slow in taking our order; we complained to the hotel manager, and he immediately solved the problem by taking us to a free table in their Italian Restaurant and ensuring that the staff there knew that we were in a hurry. Full marks to him for that; we just made it to the theatre in time for the evening's excellent entertainment.

St Kitts

On the island of St Kitts we travelled on yet another of our 20 modes of transport: a narrow-gauge railway. The scenery was beautiful as we conducted a complete circumnavigation of the island - half by by train and then half by minibus.

St Kitts narrow-gauge railway. We were on the top deck, which was rather rocky but gave us a great view of the scenery			Naturally we were served with rum punch	A couple of local dancers on the train. Click here to PLAY VIDEO
The route was along the flat strip of land between the sea-shore and the hills, and passed across five rather precarious-looking bridges
There was a busy stone-quarry	The distant hills were impressive; one of them is a volcano		Sometimes we were near the sea	We passed the island of Nevis

We had 2 minor obstacles to overcome before we could enter the pier and rejoin the ship. The first was that we had to show our Driving Licenses as ID to access the pier; the second was that Debbie spotted a beautiful bright-yellow dress on sale in one of the shops, and just had to buy it (it's in the shopping bag that she is holding here)

Feeling rather tired, we spent the afternoon being lazy on board the ship. Debbie visited their Spa while I had a short nap, and declared it to be excellent. She confessed that she had been unable to spend more than a minute in their Snow Room!

The ship sailed later that afternoon and then, before getting ready for our evening meal, we sat on our balcony and contentedly watched this beautiful sunset take place.

Sunsets happen quickly in the Tropics! This sequence took place over just two minutes

St Martin

Our next day was set to be another exciting day, for me at least. While Debbie went on the included scenic tour of the island, a tour which she reported as being rather disappointing, I went yacht racing. They had two America's Cup Regatta racing yachts, and we were divided into teams before sailing out to race against each other. We were each given roles as crew (these yachts are not designed to take passengers) and I was appointed to be Prime Grinder - which means that I was one of 4 people operating the winch that hauls the sheets which control (amongst other things) the jib sail. It was extremely hard work but very exciting - and our yacht won the race. As a prize we were each given a free T-shirt. Note that I didn't risk taking my camera on this adventure!

St Martin is a very strange island. The northern part is a French dependency, which means that it is a part of the EU and uses the Euro for currency, while the southern part (where we were docked) is Dutch but is not a dependency so it is not part of the EU and uses the Caribbean Dollar for its currency. We were told that the French part is larger than the Dutch part because when they were establishing the boundaries, the Dutchman was drinking rum but the Frenchman was only drinking wine! Oh, yes, and because of the European connections, on this island they drive on the right-hand side of the road with Left-Hand-Drive vehicles,

That concluded our booked activities for this holiday. With grateful sighs of relief we settled down to a relaxing afternoon together in the ship's spa room, swimming and lazing in the jacuzzi (and a minute in the snow room). To conclude the day, we had dinner in the Chef's Table restaurant; this was a multi-course delight with a different curated wine to accompany each course, and was just wonderful!

St Croix

For the last full day of our holiday, we booked no formal activities, We chose instead simply to stroll around the town, soaking up the atmosphere. We noticed that many of the buildings were in a very poor state of repair; perhaps when the weather is always good - apart from when there's a hurricane - you don't need to do any more than to ensure that your building doesn't actually fall down. We visited an art gallery (not very impressive) and a souvenir shop (immediately following which somebody tried unsuccessfully to make a fraudulent purchase using our credit card number) before returning to the ship for the last time, ready to pack our cases and get an early night before our departure.

Our journey home was by a route that was very different from our outward trip. After the ship had returned to Puerto Rico, we flew home from there via Philadelphia Airport, which was just huge, and had a smooth ride home. Goodbye and thank you, Viking Cruises, we very much enjoyed our first Ocean Cruise with you, and it certainly will not be our last!

All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated.