The Trip Overall

This was a really interesting experience - seeing 13 countries in 12 days! I got just a small taste of these places, but have an idea about where I'd like to come back to. Although it was a lot of fun, it was also a pretty tiring trip - especially with the heat wearing me down. I'm glad to be home again :)

Day Twelve: Home Time!!

This was the longest day of all. We left Nassau at about 7:30 am, and landed in Fort Lauderdale shortly after 8:00. We cleared customs, dropped off two passengers and the raft we had rented. Back in the plane for an almost four hour flight to St. Louis for fuel, then another three hour flight to Kenora to drop off another passenger. Another half hour and we were home in Winnipeg. I was overjoyed by the overcast skies and the 19 degree weather - so much more comfortable!

Day Eleven: Nassau

Having arrived in Nassau the night before, this was a free day! I tried to sleep in, but nearly two weeks of getting up at 5:30 made it pretty difficult. Despite having a whole day to do whatever in Nassau, all the heat had taken its toll on me and I felt like doing pretty much nothing! After breakfast we took a taxi to the airport to fuel the airplane, then went back to the hotel. I hung out in the air conditioned room awhile, then went snorkeling. At the hotel beach there are several areas of rock that were obviously placed there to attract corals and then of course fish. As a result, the snorkeling was amazing - very clear water and tons of interesting fish. I finished out the day with a nice dinner with the crew.

Day Ten: Grand Turk and Nassau

Another early morning and we got on the ferry back to the Beef Island airport. We flew into Grand Turk - one of the islands in the small British territory of Turks and Caicos. I got some good pictures coming into the island, as it's surrounded by very clear blue water. We unloaded our bags and headed to the hotel and had lunch while our passengers went on a drive around the island. By the time we were finished eating, they had returned - that's about how big the island is!! We decided to carry on to the next destination: Nassau. It's a bigger market and it made sense to spend more time there. Nassau is situated in the Bahamas, lying only 160 nautical miles from Florida. It has much of what you expect to see in the Caribbean, but much more Americanized. We arrived in time for dinner and an early night.

Day Nine: British Virgin Islands

After a quick breakfast, we all piled back into a van for the drive back across Dominica. We flew into an airport called Beef Island which is in the British Virgin Islands, near Tortola. The hotel was on another island, so we took a 20 minute ferry ride across. It was a nice resort, though it seemed to be a place popular with honeymooners and other couples. A group of five guys and one girl seemed a bit out of place - a fact that didn't go unnoticed by some of the resort guests :) I managed to get in a bit of snorkeling and saw some amazing coral formations.

Day Eight: Dominica

Originally we were supposed to fly to Tobago, but business opportunities seemed better in Dominica. It's an island country between Guadaloupe and Martinique; geologically young compared to other Caribbean islands, so few sand beaches. The island is very mountainous and covered in dense rainforest. It's one of the only places in the Caribbean where there are still Carib Indians living - for the most part still in traditional ways. There are two airports on the island, but the only one suitable for us to land on is on the opposite side of the island from the big towns, and it has no IFR approach. We made it in, then hired a driver to take us across the island. The road is unbelievably narrow and windy - barely wide enough for opposing vehicles to pass each other without one going off the edge of the road. This fact didn't slow the drivers down, however, and we had some pretty wild high speed close calls! The drive was about an hour and half, into the town of Roseau. This town reminded me of Belize City - very tight roads with a ton of cars and people, and pretty rundown buildings. We stayed at the Fort Young Hotel, which is built on the remnants of an actual fort from the 1700's. After an amazing buffet dinner, I enjoyed some rum while listening to a live steel drum band.

Day Seven: St. Vincent and Grenada

By this point, answering the question "list countries visited in the last 6 months" on the customs form is getting confusing! First we flew into St. Vincent, Grenadines. We only stopped for a few hours, so I didn't see much beyond the airport. I did, however, talk to a local police man about the area, while drooling over his motorcycle! After that, we flew into Grenada. The hotel was a beautiful resort right on the beach called Spice Island Beach Resort. I did a little snorkeling then pool swimming. This is definitely a place I would visit again on vacation.

Day Six: St. Lucia

There are two airports on St. Lucia; we landed at the north airport which is near the bulk of the island population. At first we were told we couldn't park overnight there, so we thought we'd have to fly to the south airport. We managed to find a hangar with a ramp full of small airplanes, and just enough room for us. The ramp was all broken and jagged, but fortunately they had a mule to position the airplane nicely. The island is very mountainous; the airport itself is in a bit of a dip between hills. At this point, close to a week of heat was getting to me so I spent the afternoon in my air conditioned room!!

Day Five: St. Kitts and Nevis

We flew into the St. Kitts airport just moments before a big rain storm hit, unannounced. The countryside is very beautiful there with sharp cliffs, tall rolling hills and white sand beaches. We stayed at the Marriott. I got to sample some local rum that you can't get in Canada. After a really nice dinner at a place called Rock Lobster, sitting at lucky table 21, we went to the hotel casino where I won $175 playing blackjack.

Day Four: Jamaica

When you think of Jamaica, you probably think of amazing beaches and resorts - but you'd be thinking of the north side of the island; the tourist part. We stayed in Kingston, the capital, and right in the middle. It was very industrial and run down. We were warned by the hotel staff not to walk the streets after dark. Needless to say, the only things I saw in Jamaica were from the bus ride between the hotel and airport. It was a very poor area, with numerous shanty neighbourhoods of houses made from corrugated metal sheets.

Day Three: Costa Rica

What a difference. We flew into the Liberia airport, located on the northwest corner of the country. To get there, we flew over Honduras and Nicaragua, where I saw several volcanoes that still had steam coming out of them. After a 30 minute drive, we arrived at our hotel, which is a Hilton resort. The rooms are small cabins, peppered throughout the hilly forest that overlooks the beach. Small trucks shuttle you between your room and the rest of the resort. I spent the late afternoon snorkeling. Overall from what I could see, Costa Rica is a spectacular place; much more modern and kept up than Belize.

Day Two: Belize

The capital of Belize City is quite rundown. A local cab driver/ tour guide took us to Old Belize for lunch, then gave us a tour of the city. While it was very interesting, it was not what I expected - near third-world conditions juxtaposed with the odd ostentatious mansion. Thus starts the ridiculous humidity!

Day One: Winnipeg to Tampa

We flew from Winnipeg to Kenora to pick up one passenger. the to St. Louis for fuel and then down to Tampa, Florida, to meet up with the rest of our passengers.

Caribbean Trip

Caribbean Trip: Don't you wish your job was hot like mine?

The company I work for operates stores in the Caribbean, so we are down here on business. Each day, we fly to one country, fill out yet another customs form, then go for happy hour while our passengers conduct their business.