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It’s already been a week since we arrived and while we were starting to get bored, ultimately we had a great time here with our beach routine. The kids are so used to our routine that they start packing up beach toys after breakfast and then wait by the door. It was a quiet week but it got busier towards the weekend. A big cruise ship came in one day and with that the beach transformed into a bustling place. Loungers were placed along the dock area and plenty more locals showed up selling stuff. Only a few dozen tourists showed up and most just went for a walk up the quiet beach until they found a shaded tree to lay under. All the hustle and bustle getting ready for the big ship was a bit of a let down for the locals trying to make a few bucks. It’s hard to imagine this nice beach being packed with lots of people, but it must have been at some point. On many days we are one of a few other people even laying on the beach, it’s that empty.
On our last full day, Ashleigh spotted a sea turtle surfacing near the shoreline, so Kilian and I got to snorkel with a small sea turtle. Kilian was super excited of course and we spent a good amount of time out there following it around. He is getting pretty comfortable without his swim vest as well and practices swimming in the pool often. He still prefers to dive swim rather than get his head out of the water, but we are working on it. Since he is often out of his vest, we have started to get Kalina used to the swim vest which is still slightly too big on her. She does not like it at all, even though she floats around so well in it. Overall it has been a great week here, filled with family time, beautiful sunsets and many walks around the area. We spent our last night at our favourite beach bar restaurant watching the sunset explode into the most beautiful colours before walking back along the beach to our hotel. We had a very fun first day here! The kids slept in past 6am for once and we went all out on the breakfast buffet after losing a few pounds in St. Lucia I am sure. The beach is literally in front of our room and the water is calm and clear, perfect for the kids. There isn’t much in terms of snorkelling right here, but Kilian and I went out for a long swim anyways. We stayed busy in the sand and one guy came by with a good size puffer fish to show off to us. It was a relaxing morning! In the afternoon we had a local guy park right in front of our place with his blasting speaker. We did ask him whether he could turn it down a bit, but he was clearly not fully coherent so that was the end of our peacefulness. A security guy did talk to him after we gave up and he eventually did turn it down. It didn’t matter too much since we spent the afternoon by the pool. We met two American couples who just came back from an epic sailing trip up the Grenadine island chain. We spent a good hour or longer chatting, exchanging our travel stories. It felt good to finally socialize a bit again and find like minded people. Kilian made friends with one of the ladies who was a school teacher and he basically clung to her while we chatted. She did teach him how to hold his breath under water without pinching his nose plus how to swim a good short distance under water by himself. We were all impressed and Kilian loved the attention. Time flies when having a great time so dinner was right at sunset at a place down the beach. Here is to more relaxing days ahead!
We have fallen into a bit of a beach routine since getting to St Lucia. Every morning we start the twenty minute walk down towards the beautiful beach on the edge of town. It’s all downhill, so by midday it’s a hot walk back uphill. The kids love playing in the sand and collecting smooth glass pieces. The water is never rough and there are never any people on the beach either. Kilian and I snorkelled quite a bit as well, found a bunch of lobsters and even saw two gold spotted eels. At first I thought they were water snakes, but after a quick search these eels appear to be common enough in the grass. The town itself is pretty small, very local so everyone seems friendly. We always get greeted and occasionally people want to talk for a few minutes. People do seem proud of their little island and always ask whether we like it. Our place is on the edge of town right by a supermarket which is great, but otherwise there isn’t much to do around us, at least not within walking distance. Even going for dinner involves a long walk. On one of our walks we came across a couple young kids shooting something out of a homemade bamboo canon. We weren’t sure whether anything was actually coming out of the bamboo, so we were cautious. The boys were polite enough and stopped to let us walk by, but ultimately we didn’t need to worry. I looked it up and apparently it’s a tradition the kids perform closer to Christmas time. What could go wrong with lighting up kerosene inside a bamboo pipe. Kilian is always curious and likes to stop and watch. We spent a few minutes watching some kids play soccer with a tennis ball or often observed the goats that are tied on to every tree it seems. Overall we had a good enough time, but we are looking for a more convenient place next. We are tired of self catering and also want the luxury of being on the beach front. Todays flight takes us to the island of Grenada, only 25 minutes south. The big 777 was waiting for us at the small airport again and we boarded quickly. It was an afternoon flight so the kids were up making some noise. We could tell a lot of the passengers were tired from their long haul over from London, but we were fresh and ready to see a new place! Of course they didn’t give us immigration forms again, so the on the spot chaos began as soon as we landed. We filled them out as quickly as possible and then went to queue up again. Luckily a lady let us use a priority lane so we were through much quicker. We had to pay for an expensive taxi again of course, this time for a ten minute ride but then we arrived on the famous Grand Anse Beach at our resort. We dropped our stuff after getting an ocean view upgrade and then walked down the beach to some small hole in the wall restaurant. It took a good half hour to get a burger, but that is the island pace. It’s even slower here it seems! We also had to call reception about three times to get a baby crib, which arrived about an hour later. Sometimes we still can’t get used to how slow things really move down here. It has been a trend on all the islands so far of course. However, we are glad to be here and are already excited to check out the area this week.
It was time to move on to the next island! In the morning we went for a long walk around the area in search of a breakfast place. We did find a very nice one and all enjoyed a very nice meal. We also had some pool time until the torrential downpour started! The same happened right before heading for lunch which kept us inside for a bit longer. Kilian took a while to go down for his nap, perhaps he was too excited for our next flight. We checked out and headed to the airport what we deemed super early. Little did we know that the traffic would be some of the worst we have ever been in. The airport is 25km from the city and we literally crawled there. It took us two hours! Fortunately the airport is small and the lounge as well. The food was not great as usual in the lounges down here, but we did have a couple drinks at least. We then boarded our short flight over to St Lucia! To get there we are flying British Airways 777 in their club world business product! This will be the first time flying with them and even though it’s only a 40 minute flight we figured it was worth a try. The cabin layout is very different from other products since the window seats are backward facing. Kilian is sitting in the window seat and I can look straight at him facing forward. There is a privacy divider but it’s pretty neat if one wants to socialize. The middle is equally great for couples traveling together. The crew is super friendly and welcomed us along with two other passengers. Once we get to St Lucia more people will likely join for the long haul back to London. The 777 has always been my favourite aircraft, mostly due to its sheer size. But after having flown so many newer ones that are so much quieter I must say the industry has come a long ways. Once up in the air, we got our fancy drinks and Kilian watched a movie while we got to relax. Flying in the Caribbean is not cheap, so island hopping can add up quickly. Luckily we found this fifth freedom route by British so we could use our points for it and save quite a bit of cash. We landed on time, but both immigration and customs took a very long time for us. We were just unlucky and were questioned for a good while. Not sure what their intentions were, but we were not happy with first impressions. Once finally out of the airport, our driver took us to Soufriere up the coast driving well below the speed limit on the curvy roads. Kalina was sleeping and Kilian managed to stay up somehow. We arrived after 10pm all ready for bed. Our place is on the edge of Soufriere right next to a supermarket. Tomorrow we will check out the city! A short hop ended up taking us more than half a day, what a travel day!
Our last morning on the hill went by uneventful. We managed to squeeze in one more swim before going back to the town near the airport. We wanted to at least see a little bit more of the local life, even though it was a Sunday. This meant almost everything was closed. We got to town for most people to leave for church so when we went for a walk to the store it was pretty quiet. The supermarket also closed early so we had just enough time to grab a few more items and then have lunch on our terrace. The place we are staying at is owned by a super friendly local. He was very helpful all day, brought us some fresh fruit drinks, and even drove us to the nearest pizza place to pick up our much desired dinner. In the afternoon we found a playground nearby and Kilian was on a roll finding coins. He ended up finding at least a dozen coins, so that kept us entertained on our long walks. His creativity is impressive! After collecting all coins he decided to hide them all and Kalina then had to find them, which she did very well! After our pizza craving was satisfied, we walked around a bit more and that was the end of our time in Tobago.
The next morning we left early for the airport. It is one of the smallest airports for sure, so we only arrived an hour before. The one thing that seems to be the trend in the Caribbean are the incredibly high taxi fares. Even though the airport is only 5kms away and takes less than 7minutes to drive to, we ended up having to dish out fifteen bucks. The same was the case in Barbados and will likely be the case for the next places. Our plane came in on time and within minutes we were boarding and in the air. The flight over to Trinidad is one of the shortest flights and after twenty minutes in the air we landed. It is only 90kms away, but taking a ferry is quite a long undertaking so flying made sense. At least this flight was a good deal as it seems to go many times a day. We arrived, finally took out some local currency and then started our adventure on a city bus. As mentioned earlier the taxis are just outrageous and since it was early in the morning we had the time to spare sitting on a city bus for less than a dollar each. The bus arrived an hour later and we then took a taxi to the courtyard. The hotel is right next to a mall with a bunch of fast food chain options. We checked in early and then relaxed during nap time. In the afternoon we went to the mall and had thanksgiving dinner at Burger King! We dodged a torrential downpour and did some shopping as well. Port of Spain seems like a sprawling city and doesn’t appear to be super attractive so far. We will explore some more tomorrow though. We managed to get two free drinks during check in so we had cocktail hour at the hotel bar while the kids played. Since we are only here for a night it does feel very in transit and we are eager to settle into a single place for a few days again. It feels like we are way off grid on top of our little hill overlooking the sea. The property is surrounded by six acres of thick forest which has been keeping us busy with multiple walks a day. There is a mango grove and the tallest bamboo forest I have ever seen, not to mention enough muddy steps to make us feel like we are living in the jungle. There is a small secluded beach nearby, but the trek down is quite the adventure in itself. With all of the rain, the trail was faint in places but we managed to find our way through the dense forest and mud. When we arrived ready to wash off the dirt, we were disappointed by the water. After all of the rain, the water was brown and full of debris and garbage. To make things a bit more eerie, there is an abandoned resort right on the beach which has slowly been taken back by nature. We did sit down with no soul in sight and let the kids play for a bit, while looking around somewhat admiring the isolation of this little bay. After some time we picked up the kids again and dragged them back through the forest up to our place. It took a few jumps in the pool to get us all clean again, but that is what has been keeping us busy here. Kilian can hardly get out of the pool since he discovered that he can hold his breath under water and dive around with his swim goggles. To make things even more fun, the pool has a diving board that is keeping everyone busy. The views are incredible from our place and we often just sit by the pool admiring the hill dotted landscape and many birds around us. We have seen a ton of new birds here and the kids like the many lizards. Overall there isn’t anybody here really, and it’s too far to walk into town with the kids for groceries. Our host that seems to also not be around much kindly drove us to the nearest store so we could stock up for the week. We really got to feel the loneliness the other night while having dinner outside on our terrace. Kalina was done eating and kept playing with our patio door. She didn’t seem to listen to us to stop, so I got up and closed it without thinking twice. The spring loaded deadbolt which must have come loose over time locked the door and we were stuck outside. To make matters worse, our front door was not only locked, but the key was in the lock. Of course all of our phones were inside as well. We were officially locked out, sitting on our terrace in swimsuits less than an hour from sunset and the kids bedtime. We walked to the main villa from our cabana but nobody was around. We walked up and down the property without seeing a single human. Luckily we did find a pair of scissors and I went to work on breaking back in before it got dark. There was a small mosquito net around the patio door that would let me put a hand through the blind slots, and with some awkward movement I could just reach the deadbolt at the bottom of the door. We were back in, with minimal damage done, success!
The weather has been very fast changing here as well. We get ready to go outside and as soon as we are out the door, it starts pouring rain. We do get enough sun still for time at the pool, but we have had some very strong down pours and thunder storms. Overall we are glad that we arrived after the tropical storm had come through, but for one day after it was still quite rainy. Tonight is our last night here! We were contemplating staying another night, but we are all ready to see something else. While the peacefulness of the place is calming, we are craving some bustle and a good meal. Plus we are almost out of food and beer so it’s time to get back into civilization. We had a great time traveling with Oksana, but it was time to say goodbye and start our island hopping in the Caribbean. The weather in Barbados has been quite good, even though there is constant forecast for rain. We have all enjoyed our time at the quiet beach and pool. Everyone has been very friendly and so chill. Kilian learned how to hold his breath under water and wanted to constantly practice that the last day. I even took him out for a short snorkel trip his morning which he enjoyed. After our last morning in Barbados we said goodbye to the chill island, the noisy reggae buses that keep plowing back and forth on the main road, and of course the unforgettable sunsets which have been nothing less than spectacular every night.
We didn’t have any cash left so our taxi driver stopped at an ATM so we could pay him. We arrived early at the small airport and security went by smoothly with the exception of them taking away one of our water bottles. This was the first time they actually took it away after many flights with Kalina. Usually we have been able to take it on if we say that it is for Kalina. Luckily the lounge had plenty of water. The lounge was quite cute and had some decent food. Ashleigh and I got to enjoy one last cold Banks beer here and then Kilian and I went in search of a shot glass. To our surprise while out shopping we heard a boarding announcement for our flight which wasn’t leaving for another hour and a half. When we checked back at the lounge they confirmed that we were trying to leave early due to the bad weather at the destination. So we packed up our stuff and left early to board the turbo prop plane that would take us to our next island, the island of Tobago. We were skeptic of an early departure right away, and sure enough we spent an hour sitting on the aircraft before everyone made it on just in time for our regular departure time. Kilian drank half a litre of juice at the lounge so he had a bathroom break before we even took off. The flight south to Tobago is less than 45minutes long, so we actually spend more time on the ground than in the air. During the same time, they were able to board the entire 777 British Airways flight that was heading back to London and the big jet pulled out ahead of us on the runway. Oh well, lesson learned that next time we just grab another pint at the lounge and show up for boarding time since early departures are almost never possible due to someone always showing up for gate closing time. We are looking forward to checking out different islands during our time in the Caribbean and hope that the latest weather system moves on as well. We are staying in a village again at a small guesthouse with only a few studio apartments. The host has been super friendly and is even picking us up from the airport tonight. The flight went by quickly and wasn’t as bumpy as expected. We were only one of a handful of passengers that got off the plane, the rest continued on to Trinidad. Immigration took a few minutes since we had to complete forms for the kids, but we got out quickly otherwise. Our host picked us up in a truck and then we started our journey to our hilltop apartment. Apparently the latest weather system did quite the number in the area, and roads were flash flooded for a few hours today. Luckily our path had been cleared so we got to our place in about half an hour. The rain started as soon as we got there. We didn’t do much at night since both kids were super tired so we put them to bed right away. Once down we listened to the wind and rain outside. Let’s hope for a break in the weather tomorrow! It’s going to take a few days to wind down from always being on the go, but this place is perfect for it. There isn’t much to do at all other than the beach and pool. We left for the beach in the morning which is only a few minutes away. The sand is perfect and the water colour is stunning! We found a shady spot in front of a restaurant that was not open on this Sunday morning. Kilian found what looked like a small apple and as soon as he touched it a local guy came running over telling us to wash his hands immediately and to not touch the fruit as it causes blisters. I wasn’t too concerned, but when we got back home I googled it and sure enough to my surprise we had been sitting under the worlds deadliest tree, the manchineel tree. One bite of the apple looking fruit can result in death and even touching the bark, leaves or sap isn’t a great experience as it results in blisters and burns. Apparently standing under it during a rainstorm can even burn the skin, who knew such a crazy tree even existed! I definitely had no idea! Anyways, we all survived and have since returned to the beach, but to a different stretch of sand. The sunset on our first night was so incredible that we went down to the beach tonight to witness yet another colour explosion. I had a bit of a rough morning with really bad back pain, bad enough that I went to a nearby medical clinic to get it checked out. The facility was actually very well run and I was offered a handful of additional tests if I wanted to (at our own cost of course). It seemed a better experience than back home at our regular family doctor. Anyways, I got some painkillers and spent a few hours in the pool slowly stretching out the sore spot until I was more functional in the afternoon. It was not a fun morning thats for sure! The rest of the group got to hang out by the beach at least until I was operational again. The kids have been playing really well here, finally nice to see them that way. The days are otherwise chill and we just rotate between sand and chlorine.
Interestingly enough during our travels we have seen more of Europe, Asia and even Africa than we have of North America. It was time to catch up on some destinations in North America while we had the time. Also the last few days have been very packed with checking out many new places. We got a glimpse of Peru only three days ago, then went to Brazil for a stroll and flew through both Bogotá in Colombia and Panama City to Barbados, our final destination. This means we have been to 5 countries in less than 4 days! It was time to slow it down and unwind in the Caribbean, an area we have been talking about for a few years now. It seems we tend to always go to far flung places and push off the ones nearby. It’s still a good hop down to the Caribbean of course, but logistically it takes a bit more planning. For now we will spend the next five days in Barbados at an Airbnb until Oksana flies back home to Winnipeg. The one nice part with most island countries is that there is little to sightsee and one can purely enjoy the sun and relaxing atmosphere. We knew that our itinerary would be busy while Oksana was with us and it was a blast. This is the perfect way to end her vacation and also a new chapter in our ongoing trip.
We left the hotel bright and early and checked in to the massive terminal in Panama. The lounge had a lineup but once we got in, we found a pretty nice family area and even got somewhat of a breakfast. Boarding was on time and we were in the exact same seats with Kilian while Ashleigh sat behind us. Our flight to Barbados took around three hours, so after Kilian played enough games he went to sleep while we got to enjoy some wine and quiet time. Kalina had a great nap as well of course. The view coming into Barbados was already beautiful; turquoise waters and nice beaches! We were welcomed with the expected island attitude, no stress and slow but friendly pace. The cab ride to our Airbnb in a small town on the west coast took half an hour and gave us a nice tour of the area. We forgot to ask for checkin directions, but luckily we were able to locate the keys when we arrived. It’s a charming little set of two storey holiday apartments around a pool, only a couple hundred meters back from the busy road and beach. We stocked up on groceries and then watched one of the most amazing sunsets ever. The colours were spectacular tonight, we couldn’t stop looking until it was dark. The kids went to sleep and we relaxed after our travel day. We are glad to be on the island and are looking forward to chilling for the next few days! We had a decent last night in Colombia, but it was time to say goodbye and continue our journey to Panama City. We had a long breakfast and then walked around the neighbourhood one last time. We got to the airport early enough to check out some lounges. Check in wasn’t as smooth as we expected it to be. We only have one night in Panama City, but we have never had issues getting our luggage to a layover city. The agent said it was not possible and that they would send our checked luggage all the way through to our final destination rather than Panama. So we went through my bag on the spot and got out whatever essentials we needed, most importantly our swim gear. The rest of the formalities went by smoothly and we got to the Copa Club lounge with plenty of time. The lounge itself seemed cozy but there was no food except for some chips. Kilian and Oksana stayed behind, while Ashleigh and I took Kalina to a much nicer lounge next door. The lounge even had a small exhibition from the gold museum. We had some breakfast there and then returned to swap teams. Now it was Kilians turn to go with Ashleigh to check out the Amex “lounge”, a very small nook right in the middle of the walkways. The rest of us met them there and since we still had fifteen minutes before boarding, we swapped teams again for a final lounge hop. This time Ash and Oksana took Kalina and went to the LATAM lounge for a coffee while Kilian and I checked out our gate. It definitely made time go by fast and when we got to the gate, we walked right on. Kilian and I are sitting in the first row on Copas 737 business class which is spacious enough to relax. Ashleigh and Kalina took the window seat in the rear business cabin which consists of only 4 rows. Oksana was shafted to the back of the bus, but I am sure she appreciated the peace and quiet from the kids as a break. It took a very long time to get out of the airport since it was super busy. Kilian was happy about it so he could play games and watch the many planes land and takeoff in front of us. The flight to Panama is just over an hour so as soon as we were in the air, I told Kilian a story and he went to sleep. The service was lacking and I basically had to beg for a glass of wine. Fifteen minutes before landing we got some pretzels and that was it. Getting out of the airport was pretty quick, and only immigration took a while as they were hung up on whether I had any checked bags or not. Hopefully this isn’t going to end up in a lost bag tomorrow. Either way, we got to the hotel and went straight for food. There is a massive mall nearby of course so options were plentiful. We ended up sitting down at Applebee’s of all places and afterwards the ladies did some shopping at the mall for clothes, all of which were pretty cheap. I still couldn’t find sandals unfortunately that I liked. Back at the hotel we had just enough time for a dip in the pool before the rain started. Since we only have one night here we won’t be getting into the city proper. Oksana has already been here anyways and we were personally not keen on city sightseeing. The canal would have been great, but the traffic must be brutal since Google indicated it would take one hour to get there, and it’s only 20kms away! So we would have to be satisfied with our dinner at Applebee’s in Panama.
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November 2022
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