St Thomas' carnival festivities started in earnest yesterday at ..... 4am!! J'ouvert is the traditional start to carnival and this is the first time we have been able to join the celebrating masses on the streets! We forgot our earplugs so by the end of the morning our ears were ringing from the loud music but it was great fun. We're really glad we made the effort, even though we had to walk half way there before we managed to hitch a lift!.... and we also managed to avoid getting totally covered in paint. We thought people were just spraying water until our shirts got splattered with purple splodges!! The dancing, twerking and gyrating had to be seen to be believed. There must have been some sore bodies last night as well as sore heads .. drinking rum at 5am was something we couldn't have done, even in our younger days!