Chasing Summer –

November 29-December 2

Whenever I reminisce about Road Town, the number one thing that comes to mind is chickens and roosters. Everywhere I walked, there were chickens and roosters of all ages running around.

We had 2 and 1/2 days in Tortola. This sounds great, except the first full day was Sunday. There is nothing to do on a Sunday. It is church day, and not much of anything is open.

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and went out exploring when we did. The town is small. Very small with very few things for tourists beyond the cruise terminal shops and beaches. Sound familiar?

A small craft market had a few stalls open over the weekend, but they all sold the same things I had seen at every other Caribbean port. There was a small park with the Tortola sign, an old government building, a Prison Museum (closed), a small botanical garden (more of a park), and a grocery store.

There are also the remains of a fort and cannons at the Fort Hotel.

Monday was expensive for me. I caught the morning ferry to Virgin Gorda Island to check out the Bath National Park. The return ferry with a shuttle to the park is $40. Not bad.

Then I decided to buy another sunscreen shirt for $35, which has been the typical price on every island. What was expensive was that my wallet, with a little better than $100, did not make it back with me. So either I dropped it on the ground, not in my bag, or when I went to pull out my phone, my wallet came with it.

I need to buy a new small wallet that clips on. Luckily, it was only cash in it. I hadn’t brought my credit cards or ID with me, and my boat key was on a clip attached to my snorkel bag.

Enough sad faces, though. The Bath National Park was amazing, and I’m glad I went. Unlike the other volcanic islands the Odyssey has been visiting, this one has giant boulders dotting the landscape. It cost $3 to enter.

These boulders make for some fun caves and canyons to walk through in low tide. High tide would be harder.

The waters in the bays were clear, and with rocks and corals, there was a large variety of fish to peek at when I went snorkeling. It was fun.

At Devil’s Bay, there are no facilities, but through the caves to the next bay are washrooms, lockers, some souvenir stands (which led to my loss of money), and a small restaurant. Beside the washrooms are also two footbaths to rinse off sandy feet before climbing back up to the shuttle area.

There is a regular Speedy ferry schedule, and it takes 30 minutes to get from Road Town to Virgin Gorda Island.

It was a calm and quiet departure from Tortola and a sea day tomorrow before we will make it to the Dominican Republic for a week.