How to hide your valuables while traveling

I use some techniques to hide my passport, credit cards and cash when visiting some places when I travel. These items can allow you to visit risky places without the fear of losing your important valuables. Most tourists spots are Okay but there are some places that you may be unsure about like here in St Lucia, where you have the potential to be held up at gunpoint or perhaps pickpocketed. You want to look like you are not carrying anything and not be a target.

If you do nothing else, you should at least have a passport holder that hangs around your neck that can also hold your credit cards.

A belt that allows you to store folded paper money is a good way of carrying a lot of cash.

Leather wrist and ankle bracelets can easily be hidden underneath socks or long sleeve shirts and at the same time will allow fairly convenient access to your cash.

NEVER enter passwords when using public WiFi networks. It is too easy to download software to see the keyboard clicks of others on the same network. Make sure that you have different passwords for every different website you login on and don't use part of your email address for the password.

I'm off today to catch another minibus, this time to Soufriere.

Castries, St Lucia

Today a bit the bullet and caught one of the many minibuses going into the capital city about an hour's drive north of here in Marigot Bay. I just took a little bit of cash and my camera with me and kept to the center of the city. I took lots of photos and here is a short video of my experience.

Marigot Bay, St Lucia

I'm in a Marina called Capella here in Marigot Bay where some beautiful boats are kept year round in this hurricane hole including one of my neighbors, Drumbeat.

It is easy to see how a British admiral once hid his fleet from the French here by tucking themselves inside the bay and tying palm fronds to their masts to camouflage them.

There is a resort attached to this marina that has some beautiful facilities that I can use during my visit.

Meanwhile today I hope to get a bus into the capital, Castries safely.

Arrived at Marigot Bay, St Lucia

Well I have arrived at a beautiful spot but I am not currently very appreciative, because I didn't sleep very much last night and all I want to do is get some sleep.
I did manage to catch a tuna yesterday for the first time in about six months.

It was a bit of a fluke actually. I had fished all day and was just starting to pull my line in at dusk when the fish grabbed the lure.

Barbados to St Lucia

You can follow my track real time at
http://share.delorme.com/PeterRyan

It should take me less than a day to get there because it is only 100 miles and the winds are steady at about 15 knots.

Goodbye Barbados. It has been fun!

Bathsheba

I had heard about a neat beach on the west coast called Bathsheba and resolved to visit there. I was on my way to the bus station when a friendly taxi driver named Steve struck up a conversation with me.

He offered to take me and my bike there and back for $40 so I agreed. On the way there we discovered what Barbadians do on Sunday when everything is closed. They are mad keen on 2 sports here, soccer and cricket and any reputable barfly will know how the Chelsea football club is doing. Even the immigration official, checking me out of the country was following the Bangladesh vs NZ game in Hamilton!

We saw miles of sugar cane plantations.

Paw paw (papaya) trees

And lots of breadfruit trees.

Bathsheba was an awesome beach and we stopped for lunch over the road at a bar where Mick Jagger had been in 1973.

My shoes were worn out after all my walking so I had a street cobbler repair them for $10.

OK so here are some photos of the beach that I had travelled so far to see.

The rocks had all worn away at the bottom.

GORGEOUS beach

So as I mentioned above, I have checked out of the country. Next stop St Lucia, and Marigot Bay specifically which is turning out to be a logistics nightmare. I was going to go to Rodney Bay but it is out of the way and not where all the action is, but I will move there if need be. I am a bit apprehensive about visiting St Lucia because of security concerns. I really want to see the country, but only if I can do it safely. People there are desperately poor and a combination of a drug problem, access to guns, and an ineffective police force, has meant that cruiser's are sometimes robbed or shot at gunpoint. There are specific things that I want to see there. There are gros and petit pitons, which are huge mountains near a big city called Soufriere near the SW side of the 23 mile long, 12 mile wide island. Not only are there security concerns, but getting around can be challenging. I got a a $160US quote for visiting the Pitons by taxi from Marigot Bay, mainly because of the very hilly terrain. Ouch! Besides the mountains to climb, there are sulphur springs, bat caves as well as the city to see. Three miles north of where I will be staying is the capital city, Castries, which again is a cesspool of crime and violence. At this point you might be saying to yourself, why bother? Well the fact is that St Lucia, has some very interesting history. Both France and England swapped ownership, 14 times with battles centered oftentimes over slavery. So I will see. I am going there with an open mind. If I can get around safely and see the country, not as a tourist, but through the eyes of a local, I will be happy. If not, I will move on.

Errol Barrow Day

Today is the birthday of a former Prime Minister so just about everything is closed. This is Bridgetown's main Street that was bustling yesterday.

Restaurants are open and gas stations and this Cheapside Market but little else including hardware stores and groceries.

My objective today was to find a gymnasium or fitness center and work out for a couple of hours. If I can find a YMCA they usually have a pool that I can swim laps. Well unfortunately in this category, Barbados comes up short. I did find a place on Google maps a couple of miles away so I set out on my bike to check it out. I did come across this Boabab tree on my way there.

These trees will make you feel religious. This one is a mere 1000 years and there is supposedly one in South Africa that is over 6,000 years old. They have surmised that a seed floated all the way across the Atlantic from Africa to germinate this baby.
So I got to my destination but was disappointed.

Never mind. I got a good work out biking uphill to it so that was enough for me. Back to the boat for a nap, shower and a good book. It's a tough life but somebody has to do it.