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St. Lucia

Dec 13, 2018 – Marigot Bay & Soufrière, St. Lucia

2018 Caribbean Sail Cruise

This morning, our first port-of-call is Marigot Bay, which is basically a yacht harbour. I don’t find this port too interesting, so I take the next tender back to the ship. After a couple of hours, we raise anchor and proceed to Soufrière, our second port for today on St. Lucia, arriving after lunch.

Map of St. Lucia
Our two ports-of-call in St. Lucia

I’m on the Soufriere Morne Choval Horse Ride excursion this afternoon, which is a lovely way to spend an afternoon on St. Lucia. There are only four of us on the excursion, and it’s only a five minute drive up the hill out of town to the Morne Coubaril Estate Reserve. We spend a little over an hour riding around the estate, and then we have some snacks and drinks after the ride. They have some nice things for sale in their shop, and they also offer zip-lining, estate tours, and horseback riding to the volcano and beach.

We have an opportunity to photograph the Royal Clipper from the tenders while she is under full sail departing Soufrière at sunset (see banner image above). Now I know how passengers take those terrific photos of the ship! I also observe the Green Flash from the launch, and for the first time manage to take some photos of it, although they aren’t great.

After we are underway, the Captain’s Dinner is served in the dining room this evening: Chateaubriand, baked Alaska (just Neapolitan ice cream with cherry sauce), and bubbly to toast with. The Captain comes around to each table to toast and chat with us in person – a very nice touch!

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Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

2011 Incan Empires Cruise

Sunday, December 18, 2011 – Day 28 – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I go on the horse riding excursion today – a nice way to get away from the commercialization of Puerto Vallarta. A bus takes us inland to an arid area behind Puerto Vallarta, where the real Mexicans live. There are no Walmarts, Home Depots or upscale shopping centres here…just little cafes beside the road with a few tables and dirt floors, and vendors barbecuing chicken beside the road, selling to the local families for their Sunday dinners.

We arrive at the hacienda and are assigned our horses based on our weight and skill level. I get a horse called “Grandpa” (“Abuelito” in Spanish). There are about thirty riders from the ship, so it is a good-sized group as we leave the corral single file and try to get used to our steeds (and them to us, no doubt). Grandpa seems to be very good at following the horse in front of him, and that suits me fine. We travel slowly across country similar to the dry and scrubby landscape I remember from La Enscenada Lodge ranch on the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica. We cross the river twice, once where it is less than half a metre deep, and another point where it is probably about a metre deep. “Grandpa” is one of the bigger horses, so I don’t get my feet wet, while other riders do.

We have a rest stop after an hour, where there is a little cantina setup under a shade tree, with beer, pop and water for sale, and of course there are also bathrooms available. Some people have a dip in the nearby hot springs, while others ride one of the horses which likes to swim in the deeper part of the river. I just take it easy, take some photos, and then climb back on “Grandpa” for the return trip back to the hacienda.

The cruise ship harbour is located in a very central spot with spectacular towers on both sides of the harbour entrance, stretched along the sandy beachfront. A huge marina adjoins the harbour, which is chock full of speedboats and other pleasure craft no doubt owned by the gringos in the waterfront towers.