The Next Chapter: Day 496 - The Baths At Virgin Gorda

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Day 496 - The Baths At Virgin Gorda

Posted by Jill Marie

The who at what?! The Baths at Virgin Gorda. Google ‘em. British Virgin Islands. It’s a very famous & picturesque beach with massive boulders scattered all over the white sand. Crystal clear, blue-green waters, sunshine – all the things necessary for a perfect Caribbean day!

It was meant to be the 4 of us, but Jaco had to work unexpectedly this morning, so we were three. We took a hydrofoil over to Virgin Gorda from Road Town, Tortola. It took us about 35 minutes to reach the island. From there we boarded a Ford truck converted into a taxi/shuttle & drove to the Baths National Park. From there we hiked down a rocky, dirt path to the actual beach. It was littered with tourists. We were in port with a Carnival ship & a Costa ship, so there were Italian, Spanish, American & British accents all around. It was weird to hear so many accents in one little place!

The beach was even more beautiful than I had imagined. I was really sad that Jaco wasn’t there with me. Maybe we can go together one day. Apparently the scuba diving is good here too.

There are caves you can walk through, but with the sheer number of bodies, I didn’t try to go through, as I wanted to enjoy the beach & take some photographs, not stand in a dark cave with slow moving passengers.

I had taken my ‘real’ camera with me today, so I got everything ready & happily snapped away. I clambered onto the rocks at the far end of the beach & eventually I managed to take a few shots without people in them.

M&D2 enjoyed themselves immensely. Today is their 5 year anniversary. I was happy they were able to come here & do something memorable together. I left them alone & tried to stay out of their way! I found them having some lunch later on & I went back to the beach to collect some sand. Mom2 & I then hit the water to look for unique shells, while Dad2 attempted to climb onto one of the big boulders.

We stopped at a little souvenir stand to get a t-shirt & visited with the man selling the clothing. He told us how he used to work in his Mom’s clothing shop & has become very adept at guessing a woman’s size. Here’s hoping he’s right!

On our way back up the path to the taxi, we spotted a few lizards & some fascinating rock formations. The rock was actually folded – like rolls of skin on a wrinkle dog. It was incredible! What a beautiful day! And it was only noon!

We waited for the last of our tour to board the taxi & while we did, we threw crumbs over the railing to the chickens down below. They were very grateful. Although there will now be some very fussy chickens on Virgin Gorda, as I gave them raw, vegan cracker crumbs!

Back at the pier, we boarded out boat to take us back to Tortola. I snuck upstairs & took photos pretty much the entire way back. They were only happy snaps, but still! Maybe Jaco & I should come & live in Tortola… Hmm…

Dad2 headed up to their room, while Mom2 followed me to our cabin. Much to my sadness, Jaco was already gone. He thought we’d return around noon. It was now 1330. He had left a note that he was going out at 1250. Darn! We’d just missed him. It later turned out that he was still onboard, but had gotten caught up at the Medical Centre.

Mom2 & I headed out to the shops. She was looking for a dress. She managed to find 2 dresses & a funky pant/top combination. She also found mugs, shirts for the kids, pants, and a few other things! We went for gelato at the best place in town – la Dolce Vita. We had grapefruit & passion fruit. Yum.

She was shopped out, so we headed back to the ship. I had a quick shower to get rid of the salt & sand stuck to me & shortly thereafter Jaco returned to the cabin from the gym. He was off to work & I wanted to dash back to a shop to pick up a souvenir I’d missed earlier.

Once back onboard, I ate some more raw lasagna, called home & tried to type a blog post or two… But I’m getting sleepy now…

Yawn… xxxxMaria