Today was essentially the same tour as yesterday - an open air 20 passenger jitney ("safari") type vehicle up the mountains. At least this one had a speaker that worked so we could hear our driver, James. He is a native who has spent his whole life here except for 2 years stationed in South Carolina with the army. He is the ninth child of 19 (3 sets of twins) and he and his wife have 5 children (1 set of twins). The hurricane did a lot of damage here, but it is not nearly as evident any more. There are still some blue tarps around, but that's about it. Interestingly, the cars (mostly American brands) have the steering wheel on the left, but they drive on the left also. The US bought the islands from the Danes in 1917 for $25 million in gold. Maybe the Danes drove on the left back then and we just didn't change it?
My only complaint about Viking Ocean would be that the included tours are very basic. I guess that's ok for a first visit someplace so you get an overview. But the quality of the tour operators varied greatly. A few optional tours are offered but they are expensive, like all cruise tours. Of course you can make your own arrangements.
We are docked next to a private yacht named Rising Sun owned currently by a Chinese billionaire and formerly by David Geffen and Larry Ellison. It is 453 feet long, sleeps 16 plus crew (up to 43) and reportedly cost $250 million in 2004. (I googled it.) Right now the crew (all wearing white shirts and kakhi shorts) are oiling the teak lounge chairs and polishing the speed boat which is stored at the back inside. There's a pool at the back on the main deck.
I have figured out how to add captions to pictures finally.
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| Carnival Fascination on the right, Viking Sea in front of Carnival, and the private yacht this side of Viking Sea. |
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| Michael buying a hat from a vendor whose pitch was "If you don't buy a hat, I'll have to get the money from Washington." That made Michael laugh, so he had to buy one. |
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| A $43 million project of land fill and new road. |
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| A better look at $250 million. |
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| The back row was a bit windy. |
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