Caribbean Treasures and Tropical Delights Cruise.

Our next adventure into the big wide world turned out to be a Caribbean Cruise. Now, people who know me would say, "A cruise, never! "  I suffer from motion sickness, garden swing seats, playing Mario Kart all trigger nausea in me. I can do kayaking and go in rowing boats but I need to keep moving, as soon as I stop rowing I feel yuck. Boats such as catamarans and speed boats in particular get me reaching for the sick bag very quickly.

I went on a swing in a park the other day and my stomach started to turn, then David got on the swing beside me and he also felt gooey so that could just be an age thing. Maybe, just maybe  the time has come to admit to ourselves we are too old for play parks.

 A cruise was never in our plans but it is amazing how things happen. After the death of our pups I think David thought we should get away to try and take our minds of it. Then a chance remark by a friend of mine saying Mexico was nice at this time of the year ,saw him trotting down to the travel agency to see what was available. While he was there they suggested Jamaica and then a special deal on a cruise. Well, we like a bargain , and honestly if you can leave booking to the very last minute you do get good bargains.

I was very apprehensive due to the sea sickness thing, as a bargain is not a bargain if you are heuching all the time, but I was reassured by the travel agent that the Caribbean at this time of the year was like a mill pond. Mmmmm, famous last words!

So it was booked on the Thursday and we flew on the Sunday.

We flew on a Dreamliner plane which apparently is new and has fancy features.  The pilot was very
excited and showed us things he could do on this new plane such as tint the windows, so that they became darker, the windows no longer have shutters on them. We could also do this with buttons by our seats.  The pilot then showed us that he could do a fancy colour changing thing which went right down the length of the plane,  very pretty but I am not sure how useful ! There was good leg room in it though and the seats were comfy. There was also a good entertainment system, films etc on a monitor in front of you but the problem was , that we have have been on so many planes recently that we have already seen most of them.

The flight passed quite quickly and we soon found ourselves on a lovely sunny piece of tarmac after disembarking from the plane. We were all lined up to go onto buses, which were parked alongside the plane, which would take us straight to the cruise ship. Our suitcases were being taken straight there so we didn't have the hassle of collecting them and they would be taken to our cabins. The bus queue gradually went down until there was just David, myself and another couple stood there. Then, lo and behold they ran out of seats, the bus doors shut and they drove off, leaving the four of us stood forlornly baking in the sun. Thankfully a holiday rep sorted us out getting two taxis to take us to the ship. Now, this may seem like we were travelling in luxury, but our taxi driver seemed to take the scenic route and kept talking to us but he was very difficult to understand, so there was a lot of non committal grunting going on, as we were not sure what the appropriate response should be!

Eventually we got to the ship but as the buses and other taxi had got there way before us we were not sure where to go, but after a wee wander around we quickly spotted a queue of people, and do what you do when you see a queue and joined it. Thankfully it was the right queue and after being processed, which sounds painful but didn't hurt at all,  we boarded the ship.

Our cabin was small but cosy and comfortable and had a small port hole window which mostly let the sunshine in. However,  we were so low in the ship, in fact we were on the lowest deck that at times the sea would totally cover the window plunging the cabin into darkness. This sounds scary but wasn't and was only momentary as the waves washed up with the movement of the boat.

David slept by the window as I didn't want to be so close to the sea, daft as I was only about a metre further in.

We were on the ship on the right in the photo, it looks quite big but was actually just a tiddler especially when we were moored beside some of the colossal cruise ships that we saw in some of the docks. It is a lovely ship though, with brilliant staff and a lovely atmosphere.

Buddy and Ollie - Bulgarian Animal Transport.

Straight back from Tunisia we got busy in the garden, we had just over a week to put a fence up, making the garden more secure for the arrival of  Buddy and Ollie, the pups we were getting from Bulgaria. It was really cold in Scotland at times we were scraping ice off the wood so we could treat it with wood preservative. We were out working with our bobble hats and gloves on  but we got it done in time and were excitedly waiting to get the call to say the pups had arrived. They were getting dropped off at a kennel in England where they had to stay for 48 hours, it was from there we were going to pick them up. 

Buddy and Ollie are pups of Stella, who belongs to our daughter in Bulgaria. Stella was actually rescued from the streets of Egypt by our daughter when she lived there and has been at her side ever 

since.  Stella had 6 pups, one stayed in Bulgaria, three were going  to a sanctuary in Holland where they were going to be rehomed, the last two were coming to Scotland, one for me and the other for my son.

When we got the phone call to collect the pups it was very last minute,even though we had asked for some warning, as we had to travel so far. This meant we had to leave at three in the morning but we were glad to get down there, as we were not overly impressed with the kennels when we got there and were happy to get them out of there and back home. 

We then had to start the long journey back, thankfully the dogs were so tired and well behaved that they soon settled down in the car. Seeing as they hardly knew us,  having only met me and David for one week at Christmas the dogs were incredible which made the journey back so much easier. 

Our son was also in the car and both dogs soon cuddled in and fell asleep by him. 

We were so pleased to eventually have the pups as we had waited so long, we had bought new pet beds, toys, collars, bowls and couldn't wait to take them to the beach close to our house as they had never seen the sea before. 

Then it all went wrong. 

As we travelled through Edinburgh we got a phone call from our daughter in Bulgaria telling us that one of her other pups, who had gone to Holland was seriously ill and we should keep a careful eye on our pups and take to the vet if needed. 

The three pups that were going to Holland left our daughter  a month before our pups and were supposed to go straight to Holland. When they didn't arrive in Holland the person there told our daughter who in turn contacted the transport company to find out what was going on. Apparently they didn't have the right size of crates for the pups so they couldn't be transported until they got them. Our daughter offered to pick up the pups as she didn't want to them be stressed but was told that due to their age the pups would stay in the transporters house and would leave as soon as the crates arrived. This did not happen, the pups were kept for a month and in fact met up with my two pups, their litter mates, on their journey. 

This could have been quite nice with the pups getting a chance to see each other again, sadly though during this month the three Holland pups had become infected, testing positive for both parvovirus and distemper. 

As soon as the pups were dropped off in Holland the person there knew they were ill and took them to the vet, who put one straight on a drip. Sadly very quickly all three were put down over the next few days. 

Buddy (above) was ill on the first day we had him so we made an emergency appointment for him at our vet and he was put on antibiotics straight away, as was Ollie as a precaution. Although the pups had a few perky moments which saw them enjoying their new home, they quickly became more ill particularly Buddy who after a few days was admitted to the vet to be put on a drip. Sadly this did not work and two days later he also was put down. 

Buddy and Ollie enjoyed the window seat, nice, warm, comfy and also let them be nosey. 

Buddy was put down a week after we got him on  St Valentines Day, February the 14th. Ollie meanwhile had also been getting treated with antibiotics and steroids but he rapidly went downhill and a week later also had to be put down. 

Ironically, our daughter had transported the pups to Holland and Britain as she thought they would have happier, healthier lives and yet the only pup who survives is still in Bulgaria. Stella, the mum is also fit and well. The pups had been vaccinated against both parvovirus and distemper but for some reason this did not work. 

We did contact the transport company about this, mainly to warn them that not only somewhere and somehow the dogs had become infected in their care but also to ensure they cleaned the crates,bowls and transport they had used. 

The company never got back to us even though we emailed them at two addresses and sent them a message on Facebook. The only response we have seen is that their Facebook page went mysteriously down for a short while, it then came back with different wording which was not as impressive as when my daughter had booked it. They also still had photos on their page showing our pups and another successful journey! 

This has been a very sad and distressing time for us but hopefully others can learn from our experience. 

Friguia Animal Park and Zulu night - Tunisia

Our final trip in Tunisia was to the Friguia Animal Park with a combined cultural dance event and evening meal. 

We are a bit wary about going to animal places abroad now , after some of the things that we have seen  on our travels but felt heartened by the fact we were told that this animal park was helping with the conservation of animals. We also really wanted to go to the Zulu dance night and you couldn't do that without going to the animal place. 

When we arrived at the park we were giving just over an hour to walk around it which I thought wouldn't be enough, so set off with gusto determined I would see as much as I could in the time allotted. I didn't need to worry though as we had ample time with most of the group loitering at the end just waiting to go to the Zulu night. We even had enough time for David to go looking for a geocache  which was close by.

The park had the normal animals you would see. The pens and enclosures were clean but quite small and some of the animals had very  little shelter or vegetation to prowl through, hide in or to get shade from. 

David making friends with one of the sculptures. 

There were several tigers and lions. The white tiger above was just pacing along his fence but there was another tiger on the other side that it was keeping an eye on. In one of the big cat enclosures, in which there was only one cat being kept, I saw a keeper wandering around going up really close to the cat and seemed to be annoying it. He would tap it on the paw with his foot or bang it's empty food bowl in front of it, I wondered what he was up to and realised he was trying to get its attention so he could take a photo of it. Then I saw that he was charging tourists to take photos with their cameras, he actually wasn't happy with the money one tourist gave him saying it wasn't enough. Needless to say I didn't take him up on the offer. I wasn't impressed but I do realise that workers abroad often do not get paid very much. 

There were several porcupines in this area, it is the first time me and David can remember actually seeing porcupines in real life. 

A meerkat sunning himself , just out of shot of this camera another meerkat was pacing up and down the wall directly beneath desperately trying to interact with the tourists looking over. 

This is David rooting around for the geocache, how on earth we haven't been arrested yet I do not know! We must look really dodgy. At this point we were actually being watched by a bus load of tourists who had finished in the animal park and were desperately trying to keep warm within the bus.

Eventually it was time for the dancing and our evening meal.  The Zulu dancers were fantastic, full of enthusiasm, life and really made you feel like you wanted to join in. They came out several times during the evening and each routine was as good as the other.

There was another dance group there who were demonstrating other Tunisian style of dancing,including belly dancing. Oh my lord, they were dire. Each dance was basically the same and consisted of them walking aimlessly round in circles. Sometimes to make it different they would wave a handkerchief randomly to the music and sometimes even change direction in their walking ! The dancers themselves didn't look impressed and seemed embarrassed to be there. Honestly,  my dad could do better and he has dodgy knees, wouldn't want to see him in a belly dancing outfit though.

The lady above is dancing with several pots on her head, don't be too impressed they stack very conveniently on top of each other. It is probably still quite tricky and I couldn't do it but  not as impressive as it looks. 

The meal however was quite good although the portions were small, especially the chicken. 

The hotel we stayed at was all inclusive, it was the first time me and David had done this and we were impressed with the food and drink that was on offer. However they would insist on giving David his coke in a wine glass, that wasn't enough to wet his whistle! 

El Jem - Tunisia

While in Tunisia we also went on a tour to El Jem, this town has some of the most amazing Roman ruins and mosaics, including the amphitheatre in which the film Gladiator was based.

The bus ride there was very good with the guide being very informative, telling us about Tunisian traditions, agriculture, education, employment, wildlife in fact anything that popped into his head as we travelled along the road. He would just see something as we went by and that would set him off, he was very good though. He also told us about the olive trees, just as our previous guide did, but stressed how important they are to Tunisian people, with many trees being family heirlooms passed down from one generation to another. 

Before we went to the amphitheatre we went to the museum which is built on the site of an old villa. The most interesting pieces in here were the mosaics which showed the goddess of Africa, these are the first mosaics of her that have been found. 

A lot of the museum is actually outside and is the original foundations and remains of the Roman town, showing a road and houses. 

On the short drive from the museum to the amphitheatre we passed many men who were wearing long brown or black woollen coats. We were told that these also are family heirlooms, being very expensive and are cared for from one generation to the next. 

Once in the amphitheatre we were shown and told about its many features and got a chance to explore. We saw all the tunnels and enclosures under the amphitheatre , which the animals,gladiators and other participants  involved in the games used. 

The building is quite safe to walk around so you can climb very high up to the cheap seats and also wander around the many tunnels under the ground. 

As you can see there is a great height to the building which allowed lots of seating for the large audiences they attracted. 

The photo below was taken from the posh seats were the senators and important people would have sat. As you can see it had an excellent view of the arena. The whiter seats on the right were also classed as posh seats! 

We had a good time exploring there but it was freezing. We only had our walking sandals on so our feet were like blocks of ice by the time we returned to the bus. The place is well worth a visit though and we would recommend this rather than  a visit to Carthage. 

Berber Village

As part of our bus tour we went on a very scenic tour of the countryside in Tunisia, the landscape was lovely and we passed many storks nesting , I did try and get photos of them but I just couldn't time it right as we sped passed them on the bus. The government there have made special platforms on poles running beside the electric wires to stop them actually using the electricity poles to nest on. 

One of our stops was at a traditional, beautiful berber village which was mainly painted in blue and white. The bus parked in the main car park which was lined with market stalls, these were also coloured blue and white. 

This is the Main Street of the village which was lined with shops and houses. Some of the houses were open to the public, the tour guide took us in one and it was amazing, beautifully adorned with many intricate tiles. 

Going through the front entrance you enter into a small courtyard which leads into other rooms. One of the sections of the house was for prayer. The picture below shows the area where the family would wash their feet before going to prayer. On the left hand side at the back you can see stairs which lead up to the prayer room. 

This is the prayer room which as you can see is covered in lots of tiles which make up a bigger picture. The ceramic hand above the window is called the hand of Hammas, or Fatima's hand, this is supposed to bring good luck to the family and ward off evil spirits. 

This is the steps leading to the prayer room which are just as ornate as the rooms. 

The house we were in was obviously of a high standard and must have belonged to a wealthy, influential family. It is now a museum with access to all rooms which are set up with traditional furniture, artefacts and dummies wearing authentic clothes. There was access to the roof which is flat and showed lovely views across the area. On leaving the house we had free time to wander around the village.