Bermuda

 10 April 2024 - Tropical Day in Bermuda

Finally a day which does not require a jacket! Beautiful day to spend sometime on this island.  Russ went on a snorkeling tour (because it is hard to do that in Chicago), and I wandered around the area. Definitely geared towards water sports, bars and restaurants with a sprinkling of tourists stores.  Still, it was nice to explore a pretty area on a warm, sunny day.

Built by the British in the early 1800s to ensure British Empire domination in the area (after being kicked out of the U.S.), the Dockyard is now repurposed for tourism. This was the starting point for the British Navy’s sack of Washington, D.C.

Our ship is huge! It can carry close to 4500 passengers and is sold out.  It wasn’t too bad getting on and off, they have the process honed well. Lots of water slides and rope courses on the upper decks, but the weather hasn’t been conducive to using them.

Another cruise ship moored behind us.  I think we are the only two visiting the area today.

Old (circa early 1800s) storage buildings. 

One of the larger buildings in the dockyards, the watchtower, has been converted to a shopping mall.  Local artisans were selling all sorts of very nice stuff.

The limestone for the buildings was quarried originally by slaves, then convicts.

Some of the local wildlife.

First time I’ve seen palm trees in a while.

Don’t know what kind of tree this is, perhaps some kind of date tree?

Originally a barracks for the British Marines in the 1800s, this became the Casement Prison, Bermuda’s prison until the 90s.  It is in the process of restoration by the museum.

The waters around the island are a beautiful shade of blue, but Russ reported that the temperature was cold, not Hawaii warm.

Fuel and oil storage tanks in background.  A small boat marine in the front.

The Bermuda Maritime Museum, opened in 1975 by Queen Elizabeth.

Coral reefs surround the islands. The shallow waters caused many shipwrecks. Bermuda is the shipwreck capital of the world with around 300 shipwrecks.

The scuba boat moored over a shipwreck and the group was able to snorkel up close with the fishes.

Russ got a little too close with a jelly fish.  He kind of forgot that they travel in groups and he was staring at one up close and personal when a nearby jelly ran into him.

There were a fair number of tropical fish in the area. The boat had a glass bottom so those who didn’t want to be in the water could still enjoy viewing the shipwreck.

A view of our ship from the snorkeling boat. When we leave Bermuda, we have four days at sea before making land again in the Azores.