Day Seven: Saturday 2nd January
Having passed a somewhat patchy night, Maria’s Hotel did not go down well in Sam’s estimation, although Richard rated it fair enough, albeit horribly expensive at $140 per night for our (big) twin room and breakfast (which was $20 extra (!), and not much good to boot.)
We explored Road Town for a couple of hours. This is easily achievable because there is basically nothing to see in Road Town if you discount the Botanical Gardens (strange, a bit run-down, permeated by a feeling of oddness and dozens of free-roaming chickens but worth a visit in the absence of anything else to do), a couple of roundabouts, some rusting cars, one or two open sewers and a petrol station where we bought Ting, a delicious slightly fizzy grapefruity drink which is very refreshing and not very calorific. On our map there was also a museum we were quite keen to see, but it seemed to have vanished, as we trudged around for what seemed like hours in the sticky heat looking for it without any success and trying to avoid buying crap gifts.
Right; view of the botanical gardens.
Everything in Road Town is typically Caribbean: that is; a bit run-down, generally unkempt, not grimy or unpleasant but cluttered, uncoordinated and either in an apparent state of semi-permanent construction or intentional dilapidation. Rows of shops and suspicious-looking clumps of dark-windowed office buildings are punctuated by the occasional splash of brightly coloured paint, palm tree, or gift shop selling overpriced crap to elderly Americans in soft shoes who have come ashore from the monster-cruise-ships which hang around from time to time in the bay. The huge size of these vessels becomes apparent when seen in the context of a small bay as they completely dwarf everything else. On the evening we arrived we could see, from the plane, two or three of these enormo-barges lit up like Christmas trees. By midday they were off, belching black fumes into the stratosphere and funnelling away no doubt hot en route to the next place selling crap souvenirs.
At about midday we took a dip in the hotel pool and, being English, soaked up some of the midday sun rays while more sensible people skulked indoors with cans of 7-Up. The pool at Maria’s Hotel is pleasantly fresh, a good size and has decent views across the bay. Before we knew it, two hours had elapsed and it was time to go back to Beef Island to Trellis Bay and get on board The Sir Francis Drake, and we had arranged with the taxi man to come and pick us up at 2.30pm.
He duly arrived and we rumbled off eastwards through East End and across the tiny Queen Elizabeth II bridge which connects Tortola to Beef Island and before long we had arrived at Trellis Bay. The taxi journey cost US$18 and we tipped the man $2.
After a short wait at Trellis Bay we were met by a launch from the Sir Francis Drake, and very soon we were on board. The boat is a fairly impressive sight from a distance, and looks smaller than it actually is. It has three masts, a good-sized top deck and two levels beneath deck, comprising kitchen, dining area and engine/maintenance room at the lower deck level and the sleeping accommodation down below in the bowels of the boat, accessed by a steep staircase.
Once everyone was aboard we were given a “Captain’s Chat” which involved the captain (Martin, also English) telling us about the boat and about what we were going to be doing for the next week, when mealtimes were, and so forth. Fairly soon afterward we had nibbles on deck and explored the boat, drinking beers until the sun began to set and it was dinner time. Dinner, served in the dining room at a fixed time and at one sitting (with barely enough room for everyone aboard) came in the form of tomato soup followed by grilled mahi-mahi (a kind of dolphin-like fish) served with stir fried peppers. This was quite tasty stuff. There is a reasonable selection of drinks aboard, covering most popular Caribbean beers, various wines and the usual suspects in terms of stronger drinks plus many a variety of local rums of various colours and strengths. We spent a little time on deck looking at the night sky and then retired for the night.
© Copyright 1999 Richard and Samantha Harrison