It seems as though the cruise industry is pretty much destroyed at the moment. I really hope it can recover – there are so many places suited to a cruise. The most obvious is the Caribbean.

We took a charter flight to Barbados to visit ten different Caribbean islands, each a different kind of paradise. Barbados is an independent British commonwealth nation with  a huge cruise port. The plantation houses are famous so of course we took a tour to one.

Bonaire

One of the most interesting islands is Bonaire. This island does have sandy beaches but we visited a fascinating and beautiful coral beach. Here we saw tiny huts built in the 1850’s. They are only waist height but provided shelter and storage for the slaves working in the salt industry. Salt is still an important export but machines do the work now. Thousands of flamingos nest on the salt flats and thrive due to aggressive conservation efforts.

 

Curacao

You dock directly in the capital Willemstad. This is a beautiful place full of brightly coloured Dutch colonial buildings. The Queen Emma bridge is famous for being the oldest and longest pontoon bridge. It’s now only used as a footbridge and is regularly winched towards the shore to allow cruise ships in.

Grenada

Grenada became independent from Britain in 1974. Its the largest spice producing island in the western hemisphere producing mostly nutmeg, mace, clove, and cinnamon. The capital, Saint George, is built in an old volcanic crater so its a steep climb to Fort George which was built by the French in 1705. A bit crazy in the heat but worth it for the view.

 

Aruba

The locals here are Dutch citizens. This shows in the houses of the capital, Oranjestad,  it’s a pretty place to walk round. Its really dry so the foliage is very different from the other islands. You see lots of cacti. We tried a submarine trip here but the water was not as clear as it could have been. ( And submarines are smelly).