By: Sarah Symons
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Sarah Symons was born in the Swansea Valley, South Wales and grew up in Shrewsbury. She then moved to Aylesbury and started her career as medical secretary at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. He continued her secretarial career at the BBC and other major companies and attended the House of Lords while private secretary to Lord Greenwood of Rossendale, an ex-cabinet minister. While in London, she became involved with the London Welsh and became Secretary of the London Glamorgan Society for a short while.
Sarah eventually returned to South Wales and now lives in Swansea, where she enjoys writing and travelling. She also loves photography and likes to illustrate her books whenever she can.
"A Caribbean Christmas" by Sarah Symons is a non fiction book based on the travels of the author on a cruise through the Caribbean at Christmas time on the P&O cruise ship 'Arcadia'. You are taken on a journey down the Caribbean Sea before being transported through the Panama Canal to visit the coast of Guatemala and Costa Rica ending at the glamorous Mexican resort of Acapulco.
I liked the author's natural writing style in conveying her thoughts and emotions in the book which included many true historical, political and geographical facts. You can sense her joy in recalling her memories of the trip and her beautiful descriptions of the islands, their cultures, plant and animal life were truly exceptional and really gave you a feel of gorgeous sunshine, warmth and beautiful blue seas.
There are also some very beautiful photos, taken by the author herself accompanying the chapters, which were useful in helping picture each area visited and included the natural habitat, local people and tourist attractions etc that I found very interesting.
I enjoyed reading about Christmas Day at sea and how it was celebrated, so different from the run of the mill routine we have at home in the U.K.
The way the author described her travels on the cruise ship made you feel you were actually travelling with her and I was impressed at how she conveyed it all so precisely. It was also good to be introduced to the actual ship early on and the procedures etc when tourists embark on their journey including the first night aboard.
My son is in the Merchant Navy so the chapter on the construction and the navigation of the Panama Canal particularly interested me and overall I found the book entertaining, informative and very interesting. I learned some fascinating facts too, including the history of the sugar cane and Rum in Barbados and that Grenada is also called the Spice Island but then there's so many facts and snippets of information to keep educating you page after page.
This book is perfect for those who love cruising or have an interest in the area of Caribbean and I have no hesitation in recommending this well written and informative book.
4 stars
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