Caribbean - the perfect climate?

mtbchip <mtbchip@cox.net> wrote in news:BCC7B779.1EB3B%mtbchip@cox.net:

> TCI have not had a landfall of a major storm in years. They see the
> storms
> march by to the north where they batter the out islands of the
> Bahamas.
>
> As far as cost to eat....... Well, it varies like anywhere else. Your
> assumption is like thinking all restaurants in USA are Ruth's Chris
> Steak house. Not the case. Your typical meal per person would be
> $18-25 pp, and that is a nice meal at Tiki Hut or Shark Bite in Turtle
> cove (Provo). TCI is one fine place to go esp if you dive. Boring
> topside. But that is NOT what I seek, but other do.
>
> Grace Bay is one fine place to be!


the pictures do look amazing of those islands.

I have looked at many villas for sale there in the past year or two.

I do worry about the hurricanes tho....the annual insurance is very high
for homes.

But my main worry is that the Turks and Caicos are so low in the water. If
the sea rises much more, those islands will lose a lot of land.

Rosalie B. <gmbeasley@> wrote in

> I've always just eaten everything provided and never even bothered to
> drink bottled water except in Cozumel and Belize. And in both places
> I ate fresh vegetables and had ice in my drink and had no problem with
> being sick. I have never been to St. Lucia, though, so maybe it is
> different there.

maybe just my stomach.



>>The family tucked into their meal and the sound of breaking bones was
>>constantly heard during the meal. The locals waste nothing...and the
>>chicken bones were crunched and eaten.
>>
> Sounds like your friends were unnecessarily squicked out. It is
> perfectly OK to eat animal innards of various kinds - what do you
> think sausage is made of?


I think that they were unwise to even take up the offer.

Different folks have different ideas.

I have found, personally speaking, that caribbean food isn't that
appealing.

Rosalie B. <gmbeasley@> wrote

> There's a BIG difference from not appealing and unsafe. I don't
> generally find rubbarb that appealing and ditto okra which I think is
> slimey, but sometimes I've eaten okra (usually in a dish with
> something else) and it's fine. I don't like a ploughman's lunch
> because I don't like the pickled stuff. Sounds good in theory, but I
> just don't like it.

I am the same as you....the pickled stuff in the ploughman's lunch doesn't
work for me. It seems out of place.


> I've eaten at Cuban restaurants a couple of times and I am not
> particularly fond of most of the food I had there. Sometimes the
> black beans have an unfortunate effect, although generally I love
> beans. Spanish desserts (like flan) are not my favorites.

the caribbean is such a mixture of cuisines...french, english, dutch, etc.

And throw in the odd american fast food outlet!

But overall, I like fairly simple things - a good salad is hard to beat.

Tomato must be my favourite thing on any plate.

You seem to know about bugs, so here's my question.
When we go to Tobago, I often get bitten from feet to knees by some creature
with a mild sting -- I feel a mild sensation, but much less than that with a
mosquito bite. I get largish, itching, red welts that last for several days.
These bites don't occur on the beach, but generally in the evening. Last time,
I think I traced the onslaught to a restaurant under a thatched roof but not on
the beach (but it's happened at other outdoor places). My husband, however, did
not get one bite. I usually remember to apply bug spray to my legs before I go
out in the evening, but occasionally I forget.
Anyone know what's biting me?


<< Subject: Re: Caribbean - the perfect climate?
From: Ken Tough ken@objectech.co.uk >>


<< The biting midge, genus Culicoides, is also called 'sand fly' in
some parts of the world [caribbean relevance!] and "no-see-um" in
N.America. There wouldn't be a bug so hard to see and so annoying
in its bite, which didn't live in the Canadian backwoods too.

--
Ken Tough
>>

DDupin <ddupin@> wrote:

>You seem to know about bugs, so here's my question.
>When we go to Tobago, I often get bitten from feet to knees by some creature
>with a mild sting -- I feel a mild sensation, but much less than that with a
>mosquito bite. I get largish, itching, red welts that last for several days.
>These bites don't occur on the beach, but generally in the evening. Last time,
>I think I traced the onslaught to a restaurant under a thatched roof but not on
>the beach (but it's happened at other outdoor places). My husband, however, did
>not get one bite. I usually remember to apply bug spray to my legs before I go
>out in the evening, but occasionally I forget.
>Anyone know what's biting me?

No doubt that's sand fleas. They don't necessarily only live
on the beach, but will be around damp patches, and dawn is an
excellent time to come away looking like a pizza. They are only
ever a problem at dawn and dusk, so avoid dank areas then and
you will be okay.

--
Ken Tough

Rhythmwize <Rhythmwize_member@newsguy.com> wrote:

>There have been problems with earthquakes. A massive earthquake hit Port Royal
>Jamaica in 1692 killing 2000 people and there have been others. Any volcanic
>island, read lush green islands with mountains, represents a region with a
>potential for earthquakes.

There are tectonic earthquakes associated with any fault, like the
caribbean plate, but they are not specifically related to active
volcanoes. You wouldn't even notice the tremors that come from
the volcano itself. The only earthquake I noticed on Montserrat
was one originating somewhere off Kick'em Jenny (down by Grenada),
a (regional) tectonic one.

--
Ken Tough

On Wed, 19 May 2004 09:33:39 +0200, Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk>
wrote:

>Heh. Ask 10,000 Montserrations. A safe distance is one which has
>a mountain between you and the volcano. In the case of Montserrat,
>that means about 5km+ from the peak. In the eastern caribbean, that
>also usually means the north end of the islands, since the volcanoes
>tend to move south during the geologic life of the island.

Move south as in physically or as in lava flow?

On Wed, 19 May 2004 09:43:30 +0200, Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk>
wrote:

>Swimming in a pool in the middle of a torrential hurricane rain
>is exhilerating.

So is .

Cruising Chrissy <doublebreasted@m> wrote:

>Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote:

>>Heh. Ask 10,000 Montserrations. A safe distance is one which has
>>a mountain between you and the volcano. In the case of Montserrat,
>>that means about 5km+ from the peak. In the eastern caribbean, that
>>also usually means the north end of the islands, since the volcanoes
>>tend to move south during the geologic life of the island.
>
>Move south as in physically or as in lava flow?

Well, a volcano doesn't pick up socks & move, but usually the
islands are a chain of peaks. The ones in the north are old
extinct volcanoes, and the active volcano will be the most
southerly. Works in Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica at least.
I think the same for St.Lucia, not sure.

--
Ken Tough

On Thu, 20 May 2004 10:04:57 +0200, Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk>
wrote:

>Well, a volcano doesn't pick up socks & move, but usually the
>islands are a chain of peaks. The ones in the north are old
>extinct volcanoes, and the active volcano will be the most
>southerly. Works in Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica at least.
>I think the same for St.Lucia, not sure.

Toughie, why is this so? Why the southerly migration of active
volcanoes?