Up close with a Thunbergia vines | Bigkitty Gallery

Created on: Monday 10 February 2020
Posted on: Sunday 3 July 2022
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Albums: Vacations / 2020 NCL Dawn Southern Caribbean Cruise / St. Lucia
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Erica the Turtle!

Selfie on the River Walk

Carnival Paradise leaving the Tampa Port

Look! Terminal 2 in Tampa from our balcony

Another version of the view from the balcony

Front view of the NCL Dawn

SS American Victory

Full side view of the ship

Standing mid-ship

Info about the ship

Electrical room

Mid-ship facing forward

Highest deck mid-ship view towards front

Slight side view from mid-ship

View from behind the wheel

Starboard side of the ship toward aft

Port side towards aft

View from one of the 20mm caliber Oerlikon guns

One of the 20mm caliber Oerlikon guns

The 5-inch 38 caliber gun

Erica is taking aim...

It was cool being able to sit there!

One side of the engine room

Other view of the engine room from the catwalks.

View as we start leaving looking forward

Looking back through our wing wall

Brian in our Living Room

Going through Hillsborough Bay

Panoramic View of Hillsborough Bay

This barge came very close to us as we passed each other in the channel

Off in the distance: Carnival Legend Cruise ship and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Brian enjoying the view

Wonderful sunset colors!

The sun is almost set

Sun setting as we get closer to the bridge

All 3 modes of transportation in 1 picture

Using the "Oil Painting" feature of the camera at sunset

Zoomed in view as the Carnival Legend approaches the bridge

Brilliant orange sky!

Carnival Legend going under the bridge

That's a tight fit!

Wonderful blending of color from day to night

Sunshine Skyway Bridge at dusk

Just a relaxing view to start a relaxing vacation

Zoomed in to capture the orange hues

Another "oil painting" filter picture

Lining up between the markers

The orange rays are disappearing

The purple lights on the bridge look perfect with the sunset

View to the left

View to the right

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge looks great in this light!

Getting closer!

Cool lights on the bridge

Under the bridge

Look how close the poles on the ship get to the bridge

Leaving Tampa Bay

Our ship's purple lights look good with the bridge lights

Almost fully through

Now our adventure begins!

The sign says it all!

Are those lava rocks?

More black spiky rocks!

Those black rocks would become white-ish if put in baking soda and water.

The origin of the name of this town

Cute sign on the bottom of the main sign

Turtles in the Breeding Pond

Swimming under a platform for workers

Long tails are male, short tails are female

Average age of these turtles is 30 yrs old

Exploring the stairs

Heritage of the turtles

Conservation of the turtles

Physiology of the turtles

This group of turtles are around 20 yrs old

Look one turtle is in the tunnel like Erica was in Tampa!

Cayman Crocodile Exhibit

Crocodile questions

Answers to the questions

Smiley the Crocodile

Slightly younger turtles...under 20 yrs old.

Rules for touching the turtles

I got to touch one that's just a few years old!

Isn't she cute!

Gentle touches, but NO kisses

The "beach" the females lay their eggs in. The workers move the eggs to the Hatchery.

A lizard in the middle of the picture that ran out in front of us.

Breeding Pond Info

Lots of turtles in the Breeding Pond!

They can swim under the platform we started our tour on.

Hatchery Statue

Another Hatchery Statue

Size of an adult Green Turtle

Green Turtle Facts

Hawksbill Turtle size

Hawksbill Turtle Info

Loggerhead Turtle size

Loggerhead Turtle Info

Life of a Loggerhead Turtle

Life of a Hawksbill Turtle

Life of a Kemp's Ridley Turtle

Life of a Green Turtle

Display of how an incubator is set up

Turtle Hatchlings Experiment

Photos to help explain previous picture

Good view of the male above the other 2 turtles

A male on the right, I think a female in the middle, and unknown gender on the left

Getting up close with a Stingray that's about 40 yrs old

Brian holding the stingray

Headed out to Stingray City

Our squid to feed the stingrays

Hold it like an icecream cone, and keep your thumb down

He's bringing over one to eat our squid

Soft smooth skin

The par that's in the middle of the tail is the barb

Don't touch the barb...it will hurt you!

Gently gliding along

See how they flaps their sides to move

Lots of stingrays and fish...hey free food daily, you'd hang out too!

Right under me!

Gentle creature

See I can smile!

Touching the stingray

Coming through!

Passing by Brian

Here comes another

Eyes on the top

The end of the body of the female stingray

The boat we used to get to Stingray City

Grand Cayman is a tender port...we are leaving the ship

Coming back to the ship

I love the "smile" the ship has

It needs a bit of paint touch ups when it goes to dry dock in December

This is Bes...our Tour Guide/driver for the day (just not at Stingray)

Early Morning first Sea Day

Great Morning on a Sea Day

Sun starting to peak out

Great orange color!

Sunrise view out of the side window

Sunrise with the sun camera filter

Sunrise colors stretching to the clouds

Sea Day sunrise rock

Rock view of Grand Cayman from the ship

Good morning Aruba!

Starting our UTV Excursion

We're in the middle of the line of UTVs

Heading to the coast

Today's driver is Erica

Such blue waters!

Random shacks for traveling fishermen

The ocean is eroding the land

The ocean is powerful!

Following the coast to the natural bridge

Different rock formations everywhere

Yellow building in the back is at the Natural Bridge

Passing Andicuri Beach

Overlooking Andicuri Beach

The cliff shows the erosion

Driving right along

Steep cliffs on the side of Andicuri Beach

Looking out to sea on Andicuri Beach

micro view of coral

Lines in the sand from the waves

Left side of the beach

Micro view of seaweed

Us on the beach

Us on Andicuri Beach with the cliff behind us

Continuing to the Natural Bridge

Different cacti growing around here

Some of the drive was on paved roads

Oh boy it's windy here! The dirt is flying into my eyes!

Long ago, the small piles of rocks were used to mark fishing spots.

Looking inland...nice scenery

Entrance to the Natural Bridge

This is the original bridge to Andicuri Beach that collapsed in 2005

The power of the ocean!

Erosion in progress

Still wreaking havoc on the old broken bridge

The small beach under Baby Bridge

Spectacular crashing waves

A shack various fishermen use during their trips

Heading to Alto Vista Chapel

Driving right along...

Alto Vista Chapel information

Alto Vista Chapel front

Inside Alto Vista Chapel

Side of Alto Vista Chapel

This is on the back of the chapel

Driving the Arashi Dunes

Heading to the California Lighthouse

California Lighthouse

Looking at Arashi Bay

Starting our trip aboard the Siamese Sailing Junk

The captain of the junk

Sailing to Klein Bonaire for snorkeling

Getting ready to snorkel

Clear water...and a fish trying to blend in to the sandy bottom

Where the sandy area drops down deeper

The first Sargent major fish that wasn't camera shy

This fish followed me EVERYWHERE!

Follow me...this way!

a school of sargent majors

Pink glow on my guide

Brian snorkeling

Fish swimming along the sandy bottom

A fish near the coral rock

My guide to a school of sergent majors

"Who you looking at?"

Getting very close to the fish

Large school of sargent majors

"Did you get good pictures of all of those fish?"

Nice coral and a rock with fish around the rock

Different types of coral

"My work here is done!"

Siamese Sailing Junk with sails down

Rainy morning sea day with a masked booby

A masked booby along side the NCL Dawn

3 masked boobies flying near us, as the rainbow fades away

One of a few harbor porpoises playing along side the ship

The moon ending day 7 of our cruise

Plaque at Harrison Cave Visitor Center entrance

Vegetation wall

Cliff Wall Vegetation Zone Info

Entrance to Cave and land formation information

The type of tree the "Awesome Tree" is

Welcome sign to the info center

What is a karst?

How did Harrison Cave form?

Barbados is not a volcanic island

The formation starts here

Less than 1 million years ago

120,000 Years Ago

In the last 120,000 years

It's all about water...

2 stalagmites...the large one has be cut to show it's layers

The layers of minerals on the stalagmite

Wearing the required head gear to go into the cave

Down we go on the tram

Great stalactites

Many stalactites still forming today

The minerals forming a flowstone

Different types of speleothems

A spring flowing through the caves

See the drops on the stalactites?

Many new stalactites

Small vertical flowstone

Almost a column

Steam running through the caves

Spout of water flowing out

A cluster of stalactites and a cluster of stalagmites

Stalagmites almost looking like a group of people hanging out together

Sharp looking stalactites

Reggie Medford - The man who created our sculptures

Sunrise at Castries St. Lucia

My rock with his new turtle friend at St. Lucia

The bay at Castries looking at the NCL Dawn

Panoramic view of Castries, St. Lucia

NCL Dawn in St. Lucia

Official residence of the Governor-General

One building left from 1600s battles

Another 1600s building

Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Us over looking Marigot Bay

Looking out on the beach at Anse La Raye

Pier at L'Anse la Raye

Looking off the side of the pier

Fish Market Mosaic sidewalk art

Cool looking plant

Entrance to Maranatha Gardens

Thunbergia vines

"But He was pierced for..."

Chenille plants along the path

"Walk in the ways..."

Bread and Cheese (Begonia obliqua)

"For I know the plans..."

Bird of Paradise

Neat small plant

Bananas curve up when growing!

Overlooking Soufriere and the Pitons

Always steaming

Red tinged water from the minerals around

Bubbling spring

Pool where you can swim in the Sulphur Springs mud

Green-throated Carib

Belly view of Green-throated Carib

Up close with a Thunbergia vines

Close up of a chenille plant

Close up of West Indian Jasmin

Steaming volcanic plug

Too hot to grow anything there

Look how large the area is

Very nasty smelling...Sulphur

Closer view of the steaming stuff

Wide view of the volcanic plug

Good morning Antigua

Heading out on our excursion

Mountains in the distance

Looking out from St. John

Looking back to port

Oil rig off the coast

Multi-million dollar house facing at oil rig

Fort Barrington in the distance

Closer view of Fort Barrington

Other side of Fort Barrington

Rock off of Shipstern Point

It looks like a turtle opening it's jaws

A "frog" in the distance

Getting closer the the "frog"

Hawksbill Rock...our "frog"

Nice coast line

Looks like a face

Where we are first snorkeling

See the Caribbean Sea

Our excursion catamaran

The sand is all broken shells

Close up view of a shell

Hey there little hermit crab!

Here's the full picture

Lunch during our Champaign Lobster Catamaran cruise

Our 2nd snorkel spot

View from the beach

Heading back to port

Passing more rocks

Another view of Fort Barrington

Name of our boat - Filante

Just 1 great view after another

St. Maarten - Good Morning!

Good morning San Juan

Historical architecture with the modern version

Walking along a street in Old San Juan

Part of Plaza de la Barandilla

Our first stop on our Food Tour - La Carreta

Different view of Plaza de la Barandilla

2 different pork dishes

Stuffed Sweet Plantains With Corned Beef Croquettes

Original brick pavers line the streets in Old San Juan

Looking out to the Atlantic Ocean at La Perla

Full view of La Perla

You can see the thickness of the fort wall

Part of the original fort

Balcony with no gap at toe area

Newer balconies have the gap at the bottom

Nice white cockatoos hanging around

Second stop - Deaverdura

Simple platter of pulled pork, rice, and beans

Chocolate Martini at the Chocobar

Casa Alcaldía de San Juan

Our tour guide sharing history of the plaza

Bronze statue of Catalino 'Tite' Curet Alonso

Info on Catalino 'Tite' Curet Alonso

Next stop - Hotel Plaza de Armas coffee bar

An espresso shot

Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista

El Convento - started as a Carmelite convent in 1651

Inside view from the street of Catedral de San Juan Bautista

La Fortaleza in the back and the hanging PR flag

Bastión de las Palmas de San José

Walking along the wall down

A view of the cruise port

Looking up to where the walk down started from

Fuente de la Herencia de las Américas

The way to Paseo de la Princesa

Last stop - Princesa Cocina Cultura

Historical stage at the restaurant

Closer view of the table

Our beverage had mint and lime in it

A cup of garbanzada, a traditional Puerto Rican chickpea stew

Sunsetting on San Juan

Walking through the galley

What is cooking?

Galley continues

Chef talking to us about what happens here daily

A lot of food being prepared

Refridgerated storage

Talking about baking pastries

Different color whipped cream

One day's worth of bread

Making desserts

Washing Machine

washy washy your laundry

Where the sheets are coming out

Towel folding machine

Towel going through it

Ladies dressing room for Main Theater

Most of the costumes

Sorted my cast member

Men dressing room for Main Theater

Tech staff for Main Theater

Day 13th - The sun is rising from behind us

Sunrise on Day 14

Rock and Turtle enjoying the view

Sunrise looking forward Day 14

Chef JJ Johnson

He worked in the atrium

Starting a Tuna tartar appetizer

Making a dressing for the Tuna Tartar appetizer

Erica got to help Chef JJ with one of his recipes

Erica talking about what we grill at home

Adding final touches to the food before serving it to everyone

Sunset on our last day of this cruise

Our towel animal menagerie

The nights were so clear. Here's our last night!

Entering the Tampa Port

We are docking, and you can see our hotel from before the cruise.

Zoomed in...there it is Marriott Water Street

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