Tortola is a wonderful destination in our freeper cruise itinerary. It's a beautiful little islet, a real change from some of the more bustling ports we'll visit.
Tortola ("land of turtle doves") is only 21 square miles with a total population of around 19,000. It's situated about 60 miles east of Puerto Rico. Its capital city is Road Town, where we'll dock.
Road Town's scenic setting and sheltered yacht-filled harbor is wonderful to see from your balcony as the Zuiderdam glides into this port.
The life-style here is laid-back, a way of life evolved over the last 400 years by English, Dutch, French and Spanish adventurers, followed by plantation owners and 20th century settlers.
Savvy shoppers can find bargains in perfume, jewelry, wine and Wedgewood china in the homey-looking stores dotting Road Town's main street. However, the shops are best known for their unique local crafts. Look for one-of-a-kind antiques, silk-screened fabrics, intricate ship models, and watercolors by Tortolan artists.
This is what I really love about some of these islands.... eyecatching native crafts. I don't buy much, mostly looking, but occasionally I find those certain one or two unusual, bargain artifacts that can make a room in my house look like the "afters" on the TV room-makeover programs!
In Road Town, if you want a change from the ship's lunch, you can get palate-pleasing West Indian specialties in a choice of cheerful pastel-painted restaurants. How about some fresh lobster, conch, turtle, spicy goat or curries of every description?
Fresh lobster, woo hoo, but I think I'll pass on the spicy goat, thank you.
How about dropping in at an authentic English pub for a cold one (or would it be a warm one?) The main street Pub serves Pusser's Rum, the traditional drink of the British Navy for 300 years. It also serves a popular, icy cold, fresh-fruity, local concoction known as the "Painkiller".
Tortola, as well as the rest of the 60 islands comprising the BVIs, is under well-accepted British control. A Governor who is the representative of Her Majesty the Queen, plus a popularily-elected legislature, administers the affairs of the BVI island chain. The islands are clean and well-ordered.
Most of the BVIs have succeeded in sageguarding their special charm from the inroads of mass tourism. Escapists discover many wonders in this ancient archipelago, from sanctuaries for exotic flora and fauna to fabulous fishing, snorkling and dive sites.
Tortola is the place to view and photograph/video idyllic sites and vistas, to unwind, to wriggle your toes in the sand, and to absorb the tranquil pleasures of sunshine and sapphire seas.
Some places to visit and things to do in Tortola while we're there.....Botanic Gardens, beautiful four-acre garden includes a lush array of indigenous and exotic tropical plants.....Virgin Island Folk Museum, many fascinating artifacts from Tortola's colorful past......A chartered-bus tour through the island, over the rolling hills, up the lush mountains, past the white sand beaches, eye-popping vistas.
Some of the bus tours stop at a beach like White Bay (pictured above) so passengers can delight in an hour's swim in the warm, crystal clear water in the middle of their drive. Some tours stop for shopping at unique shops. Most of them stop at scenic lookouts so you can revel in Kodak moments.
And all tour buses stop at some local, colorful watering-hole along the way so that passengers can enjoy a complimentary tropical drinky-poo under an outdoor thatched roof as they contemplate the sun, sky, sea paradise surrounding them.
Leni
Just received a bulletin from Holland America that they're extending the time period for their balcony and upgrade promotion.
This means if you book an inexpensive inside cabin, you'll be upgraded to an outside with ocean view. If you book an outside, you'll be upgraded to an ocean view with your own private balcony.
Hey!....all this upgradin' goin' on for no extra charge!
HA is also extending its shipboard credit grant. This means 2 cruisers in an inside cabin will each receive $25 deposited in their shipboard running-account to spend in the ship's fine shops and boutiques, to apply to their final tab, or for any other costs on board such as a massage, a hair cut, cocktails, etc.
If you book in any category of outside cabin, you and your cabin mate will each receive $100 or ($50 each) applied on-board credit . Not too bad!
Phone our lovely honorary freeper mermaid Wanda right away at 1-800-890-7583 to register while nicely-located cabins are still available.
You might want to ask her to book you in a balcony stateroom on "Freeper Row" where all the action will be as we go visiting in and out of each other's cabins all day and all night long.....oh, dear!
Leni