ONE SHORT CARIBBEAN DAY

Work is work. We know that..but if you want to relax and enjoy the travel and all the different scenes then leave yourself enough time in between stops, journeys and islands. Yes, it's called island-hopping and you can literally make even 2, 3, 4, 5 as many stops as you wish in one day, but, why not stop and smell the roses along the way?

LIAT Luggage

You must have heard that old LIAT (Luggage In Another Terminal) joke. Well, it has happened to me and, no doubt, to many others also. But that was then; this is now?This time I arrived on time and so did my luggage, on time and in the same plane, on all LIAT journeys.
Caribbean travel can be fun, if you're not on serious business and with a tight schedule... as happened to me on other journeys in the recent past.
It was 2007 - The plan - jump off a plane in Barbados at 9a.m., scoot into a waiting, pre-arranged taxi; whizz off to the other side of the island for one early morning meeting and then squeeze in another mid-morning in Bridgetown on the way back to the airport - mid-day check-in for a 2p.m. flight to St. Lucia. Sounds tight? Well it was not even tight until my suitcase did not arrive with me. As you can imagine more than precious moments were lost while being reassured that it was on its way and would arrive to meet me in time to travel on to my next destination.
Needless to say it was a very nervous passenger who arrived back at the airport at id-day to check in and find out if my luggage awaited me. And it did. Luckily, that time. So remember, don't expect that your luggage is always ready to take off when you are.

Caribbean Tour - 2010

"We Jammin" - Getting Ready for Carnival

Trinis are getting ready for carnival. You can feel it in the air and see the preparations going on - they're knocking, banging, hammeing, putting up, fencing,tents, booths, stages. The Savannah is being walked all lover by exercisers preparing body and mind for the biggest jump-up festival....and, of course, Beyonce to top it all off.

CARIBBEAN TRAVEL - NO FEAR!....AND NO TIME FOR FEAR

Just imagine - 12 rows of double seats. You stand at the front of the plane and see very clearly everyone who is in there with no problem.......and especially when there are only 6, 8 or 10 passengers travelling - quite often the case.
The LIAT Dash 8 is certainly not the smallest plane I have travelled in but none-the-less it can be a bit scary at first.
When the situation occurred for the first time in the past I stood at the front of the cabin and thought "Hmm. This is the first class, so where are the rest of the seats?
You get used to it really fast, however, when you are taking two and three flights in the same day. After a while you're walking across the tarmac with great ease and literally bouncing up that short flight of steps.
Even the initial determination of not flying after dark quickly goes through the window when you have no other choice. The idea also of not flying for too long in such a plane has to be forgotten. When you have no choice, the hour and 20 minutes for example from Antigua to St. Vincent just has to be accepted. With some flights being oh so short there's hardly a minute to blink, or think, too hard. Average flying time between islands is as short as 25 minutes.
And, guess what, LIAT's reputation to "Leave Island Any Time" is nearly a thing of the past. All flights "Left Island On Time" and in some cases arrived earlier than expected. In one particular case it both left and arrived earlier than expected almost leaving me drinking tea and socialising with friends in the upstairs cafeteria. It was one mad dash through immigration, security and to the departure gate to jump in just before the doors closed.