The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 4/25 - Page 25 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Very interesting tour! I am reminded again of our time on Anguilla. We visited Wallblake House, an original plantation house, built in 1787 and the oldest structure on the island.
I bet that was fascinating. Now I say that, I hope that's still standing, as Anguilla was hit badly by the hurricane. I think the population is either back or about to go back, as they were all evacuated. I want to say that something like 80% of buildings on the island were either demolished or damaged.
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Tuesday 16 January – part six: cocoa dancing and donkeys!
We were taken to a part of the Morne Coubaril Estate where we were shown how coconuts are opened up and the fact that every bit of the coconut is used in some way or another. I want to say it’s called the “food of life” because of that, but I wouldn’t swear to that.
The view from here was quite something…
We were also shown the story of chocolate production, including fermentation, bean drying (as we got to this point, ironically it started to tip with rain outside!) and the “dance” that they do on top of the beans to pulp them down and polish them, which was really quite something. It was a very odd movement and I really wish I’d taken photos of it.
While we were in here, the rain really came down. They call it liquid sunshine and, in fairness, the sun was still shining, but for about five minutes, it was a real downpour.
I personally loved all the plants we saw here. Our guide did name all of them, but I couldn’t retain that information.
As we walked around, we saw a couple of hummingbirds, something I never thought I’d see in the wild. Talk about a special moment.
But heck, there was more to come… we kept hearing a noise that people said was a dinosaur. No, it was a cow, and perhaps a not-very-happy cow by the noise it was making…
Mark spotted a donkey in the distance…
… but then we got to see one close-up! I was a bit concerned with how he got the donkey moved, pulling on the leash around its neck, but in fairness, his hooves and coat looked to be in good condition and he was fed sugar cane after he’d finished, so I think he was looked after Ok. This was demonstrating the mule-driven sugar cane mill.
I bet that was fascinating. Now I say that, I hope that's still standing, as Anguilla was hit badly by the hurricane. I think the population is either back or about to go back, as they were all evacuated. I want to say that something like 80% of buildings on the island were either demolished or damaged.
I never thought of that! I will ask our pastor (who is also my boss). He goes to Anguilla every year in January, and this year was no different.
The coconut demonstration sounded very interesting! And how nice that a donkey was part of the tour! Did you know in advance?
I never thought of that! I will ask our pastor (who is also my boss). He goes to Anguilla every year in January, and this year was no different.
Oh please do. There was a BBC documentary on Anguilla and how it was rebuilding. I don't think you'll be able to access it outside the UK, but if you can, it's a fascinating watch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...-the-hurricane
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The coconut demonstration sounded very interesting! And how nice that a donkey was part of the tour! Did you know in advance?
I had no idea (honest!) so that was a very pleasant surprise...
In that zoomed in shot of the beautiful view, I can see the road going up/down! My first thought is that would be terrible in the snow!
I didn't know they grew cocoa there too! Those downpours happened every day of our honeymoon there. Absolute downpour. There was no escaping it!
Glad you got to see a cow and a donkey on the tour too!
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Tanya
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This tour just went up a notch with sightings of both a cow and donkeys. The flowers are beautiful, too! Many years ago I attended a conference in St. Pete's Beach where our resort was blessed with many beautiful flowering plants. One of the gardener's saw me taking photos and was very kind to come over and tell me what each plant was. Unfortunately, I only had my camera and failed to safely store all those names in my brain. It was a sweet effort on his part though.
This tour just went up a notch with sightings of both a cow and donkeys.
Anytime a cow or donkey is involved in a tour, it's a winner for me!
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The flowers are beautiful, too! Many years ago I attended a conference in St. Pete's Beach where our resort was blessed with many beautiful flowering plants. One of the gardener's saw me taking photos and was very kind to come over and tell me what each plant was. Unfortunately, I only had my camera and failed to safely store all those names in my brain. It was a sweet effort on his part though.
Some amazing views you saw! The tour sounds good so far with the plantation visit and quite interesting during the chocolate tour. Glad you were able to see different boys of yours, which must have been a shock to you! Especially, the donkey.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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Some amazing views you saw! The tour sounds good so far with the plantation visit and quite interesting during the chocolate tour. Glad you were able to see different boys of yours, which must have been a shock to you! Especially, the donkey.
Yes it was. I don't know why, but I never expected to see cows or donkeys in the Caribbean. Silly really, as I know the Donkey Sanctuary does a lot of work with some of the Caribbean islands.
Tuesday 16 January – part seven: visiting the world’s only drive-in volcano
After the Morne Coubaril Estate, we headed out of there. Our next stop was Sulphur Springs, the world’s only drive-in volcano, so-called because it was possible for many years to park a car in between the bubbling springs of mud for some time. However these days, that’s not the case any longer. The volcano collapsed more than 40,000 years ago and now only produces only the sulphur. This, along with the Pitons and the marine park, which we didn’t visit today, were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
Here I was very impressed with our tour. A lot of people were walking up from the entrance. Not us! We drove all the way up and were literally dropped off right by our guide.
People can come here to bathe in the mud springs, which are 38°C/100°F. They’re located at the bottom end of the complex. When the water goes into the area you can see here, it’s pretty much at boiling point. It reminded us both of Yellowstone and Iceland…
Mud bubbling up!
During the Victorian era, they even built a bath house complex, but sadly it fell into disrepair over the years. You can still some of one of the complexes…
I found this guy at the exit…
We then made our way back towards Castries, passing through the villages we’d seen earlier on our way here…
Working on that bridge!
As we drove back, we headed into this – another “tropical sunshine” downpour…
We saw lots more cows by the roadside, but this was the only one I was able to photograph…
Someone asked how they don’t walk out into the road and Stormy explained that they’re all tethered. Hmmm…. Not sure how I feel about that.
I managed to snag a coupe of shots of the British road signs I’d been admiring as we drove along..
We also went through the only couple of tunnels on the island. Having been round more hairpin bends than I care to remember, I think they need a few more here.
Soon we were back in Castries and stuck in traffic, which seems to be a symptom of all the cities in the Caribbean we’ve visited so far.
When we were dropped off, we headed into the duty free shops and I ended up buying a red hibiscus dress, as I’d seen quite a few of them and our tour guide had been wearing the same material in a shirt. I wasn’t sure the shirt worked, as it was a men’s one, so I went for the dress. It was supposed to be $40 and trust me they wouldn’t have sold it for that, but it was half price, which worked out.
We then went to find a Christmas ornament and it was about this time we had another “liquid sunshine” downpour and I mean downpour – like soak you to the skin type thing! Oh well, we just dealt with it and went from shop to shop looking for something, ending up back at the place we started. Ugh!
What made us more mad though were the people running from shop to shop as undercover as they could in their swimming stuff! I’m sorry guys, you’re dressed for the rain!
We headed back to the ship, now absolutely drenched, and headed to guest services to see if we’d be passing the Pitons on our way out and, if so, would it still be light? We were told it was unlikely and, if so, it probably would be dark. Ok, that answers that then. We were chatting with Shino from Japan and we were there ages, telling her how much we loved her country and Tokyo DisneySea. She told us they don’t get any discount on rooms or park tickets, as it’s the only Disney park still operated as a franchise. Interesting…
Mark suggested heading up to the Cove Café, as we fancied a little something before dinner and they have cakes in there.
We both got Toblerontinis, made up of Godiva chocolate liquor, Frangelico, Bailey’s, Kahlua and honey. This stuff is good, but it was a bit of a challenge to get it, shall we say? The bar tender got a new bottle of the Godiva chocolate liquor out, then we heard a smash and she’d dropped it. It was in a box, but it had gone, so she had to start all over again. We got there in the end…
We sat there for a while chatting, but decided to finish our drinks in the room, as I wanted to kick off my trainers (tennis shoes) and didn’t think the people in here would thank me if I did it in the Cove Café.
Fantastic tour! I don't even remember there being a volcano. I guess it wasn't on my list of priorities 20 years ago!
Oh those downpours - yes! Except in the summer, it lasted a few hours. Made it a great time for an afternoon nap though.
Mmmm, your visit to Cove Cafe looks delicious. I probably would be spending a lot of time there.
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Interesting pictures of the volcano. I don't know about bathing in sulfur water.
the island is really pretty and what I 'd think to tropical island would look like.
I'm glad you got to see cows and a donkey.
Liz
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Talk about a special moment. 
I was a bit concerned with how he got the donkey moved, pulling on the leash around its neck, but in fairness, his hooves and coat looked to be in good condition and he was fed sugar cane after he’d finished, so I think he was looked after Ok. This was demonstrating the mule-driven sugar cane mill. 
Those downpours happened every day of our honeymoon there. Absolute downpour. 
There was no escaping it!
The flowers are beautiful, too! 
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