Caribbean Vacation :: Part Two

As promised, I present you my picture of two monkeys.  Wearing diapers.  Riding a donkey.  And that donkey is wearing sunglasses.  And a Rastafarian hat.  My life is complete after seeing this amusing sight.  

On to the second half of pictures from the trip... 

Saint Kitts

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Prior to leaving, I had read that Saint Kitts is inhabited by monkeys and they roam all over the place.  I was on a mission to find some and all I can say is... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

On the way to the beach, we ran into this guy who basically has a little market on the side of the road.  But I doubt anyone even noticed what he was selling because he also had this donkey with monkey's riding it.  He charged five bucks to take a picture but it was totally worth it.

On the way to the beach, I also made the taxi driver pull over so I could snap some photos of these wild monkeys.

Then, when we got to Cockleshell Beach, there were more monkeys in cages.  I thought I'd be able to hold one but when he flashed his teeth at me, I politely declined.

So after my relentless detour to find monkeys, we finally ended up at Cockleshell (thank you to all others in the cab for your patience).

It was a fun beach day.  We ended up at the Reggae Beach Bar & Grill which was a great time.  If you ever find yourself here, make sure order the Chicken Roti....curried chicken and potatoes in a thin wrap (forgot to snap a pic).  It was crazy delicious.

This was Snowy, a beach cat with the most electric blue eyes.  She was the sweetest thing ever.  

Check this out!  People were shooting up in the air all day on these things.  I totally wanted to do this, but for 150 big ones I was happy to just watch.  

Antigua

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Get ready to take a look at paradise.  No joke.  Even though I loved four wheeling across Saint Martin and the monkeys in Saint Kitts, this had to be the most relaxing and serene spot I have ever laid my eyes on. 

When we got off the ship we met Ice Man, our taxi driver.  Why do they call him Ice Man you may ask? "Well", he says,  "because it's so damn hot out that I gotta chew on ice cubes all day to stay cool!".  

He was awesome.  We told him we wanted to go to a quiet beach that had chairs, umbrellas, beer, food and not a lot of people.  And I'll tell you what....Ice Man delivered!  

He took us to Mystic Bar & Grill on Runaway Beach.  It was nothing fancy, but there were probably no more than ten people on this beach all day.  Not one person walked by and tried to sell us anything.  And the water...that water!  It was so clear and perfect that I think I could have lived in it for the rest of my life...if I was a mermaid :)    

The Heineken was flowing and by lunch time we were starving.  We split their specialty; barbecue spare ribs and Caribbean rice with lentils.  Ah-mazing, I tell you!

At the end of the day, two local fisherman brought their boat off the coast and began fishing for snapper.  After about an hour, one of them hopped right out of the boat and swam to shore to sell his freshly caught fish right to the restaurant.  How's that for local and fresh?  

Quite possibly my favorite day...ever.

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Saint Lucia

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St. Lucia was another beach day, however, this beach was quite the opposite of Runaway Beach.  We headed to Rodney Bay, which surprisingly was ranked #2 on TripAdvisor for places to see on the island.

Luckily, we had great company (Hi Laura and John!) and the ocean was gorgeous.  I was just a tad put off by the mass crowds at this beach.  Plus, it wasn't easy to relax when, practically every 30 seconds, someone was trying to sell me jewelry, aloe, bird feeders and marijuana (I passed).  Though, we did buy a few Pitons (the local beer in Saint Lucia) as well as some fruit from this bombdiggity fruit boat.

Seriously, look at this thing!  This guy just roamed back and forth along the coast and sold every tropical fruit known to man.  I got a coconut.  He just hacked the top off with a huge machete and handed it to me with a straw.  After I downed the coconut water inside, he hacked it up again so I could eat the flesh.  That was the highlight of my day.

Not too many pictures here because I realized I had my camera on wonky settings most of the time.  But I did manage to get a decent picture of this rocking fruit boat and my delicious coconut.

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Barbados

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All good things must come to an end.  Barbados was our last stop.  I'm even getting a little depressed writing this because it's been so much fun reliving all of these beautiful locales.

We had such a blast in Barbados exploring the island with our friends, Stephanie and Jarrod.  Our taxi driver, James, (who happened to be the best driver ever) was so reliable, knowledgeable and happy.  He will show you all the best places and the stuff the locals do.  Seriously, call him at 246.260.4889 or email him at happiestbond@hotmail.com.

First, he took us to Crane Beach, ranked the 5th most beautiful beach in the world by some.  But not before he stopped at a roadside store so we could buy some local Banks Beer and Barbados Rum! This beach had huge waves, blue water and was nestled between magnificent cliffs and rocks.  Absolutely stunning.

He then took us to Harbor Road in Bridgetown where we sampled some of Barbados's famous flying fish, dirty rice, pork ribs and fried plantains.  And for half the price of what they were charging by the beach!  Plus as an animal lover, I just adored the pretty little roosters walking around the tables.  

Our final stop was at Carlisle Bay where we swam with sea turtles.  Unfortunately, I did not have an underwater camera to capture any pictures of the turtles, but I did manage to snap a few pics of this adorable baby, whose father was teaching him to walk on the beach.

What an amazing place.

And after all that, we left our final mark at the San Juan Airport.  Go Browns :)