Somehow I forgot!! The last Carribean post. St Croix with Jen

I am not sure I have an excuse but as I opened my blog to post from Brazil I realized that I never finished my Carribean posts. Apologies.
We flew from Sint Maarten to St Croix on the Saturday morning after (eventually) an excellent dinner and breakfast at our small and adequate hotel very close to the airport.
Upon landing we (again) went thru Immigration, US immigration this time, we thought for the last time.
My friend Jen, who I had last seen in Auckland NZ at the beginning of March had decided to quit her job in Charlotte and move to St Croix "because she had always wanted to live there" and had moved down about 3 weeks earlier. The island was not what I had anticipated in that it was way less developed and touristy than I had imagined, and from my view point that is great.
The island is about 30 miles wide and Fredriksted (where Jen lives) is on the western coast. She has a small but very comfortable apartment and can sit on her balcony and see (and hear) the ocean. Not bad!!
Fredriksted is the second largest town, but not large in any sense and is the sort of sleepy Carribean town you might imagine. There is an occasional stop by a cruise ship and all hands turn out to sell what ever crafts and goodies they have. Otherwise the town has an active scuba diving community with several schools and a variety of dive trips available.
Jen had purchased a Jeep a couple of days earlier so we had transportation and took a drive around the northwest side of the island some of which was on roads defiantly suited to Jeeps rather than cars! We ended up at one of the beach side bars and met up with some of Jen's friends and shared a few beers and some stories. There had been a lion fish fishing competition and we were there for the adjudication and prize giving.
Lion fish are a huge, and little known threat to the natural species on these waters. The story goes that there were some lionf ish in an aquarium in south Florida when hurricane Andrew struck in 1991 and they escaped into the sea and have proceeded to multiply and eat most any other species with the exception of grouper and a couple of others I cannot recall.
The lion fish are certainly exotic to look at but voracious predators.

We had the opportunity to sample some of the local cafes and bars, and it seemed that everyone knew each other. The guys that ran the coffee shop were refugees from the Illinois winters and we met several others who had made a conscious lifestyle choice to kick back and live a less stressed life. Good on them I say! 

Breakfast on Jen's balcony

It was also time for some laundry and Jen told us that the local Laundromat was at the hotel about 200 yards away.

I headed down there, put my laundry in and lay on a lounger with a book while Jen and Candida chatted. There was a group of young people there with a mix of American, British and South African accents. They were having some sort of a company meeting and were leaving that day. 

 

We chatted and one guy (and his Japanese girlfriend) came to speak with Candida. He spoke Portuguese very well and had visited Brazil on many occasions. Frankly they all looked like they had enjoyed themselves the previous evening and were preparing themselves for the long (longer for some) flights ahead.

On Monday Candida and I borrowed Jen’s Jeep and left around 5.30am to go to Point Udal that is the most easterly point in the USA. The US Virgin Islands are considered a part of the United States (when it suits the government I believe) but they do not have states rights, and do not (I think) participate in Federal elections. I need to check this.

Anyway we headed out in the dark and with the benefit of Jen’s GPS we arrived just before sunrise around 6.15. Were it not cloudy it would have been spectacular, but it was an interesting place anyway and we enjoyed the experience. 

View to the west from Point Udall

Pt Udall looking east. Next stop is West Africa!

 We went on to Christiansted, which is the other (and largest) town on the island and arrived as the town was waking up and had a good breakfast.

There is a float plane service from Christiansted to some of the other islands and we had a cup of coffee and watched the activity as people dressed for business arrived at the seaplane base and boarded the various flights. We were amused to see a rooster walking around like he owned the place. 

The Boss!!

Ready to taxi. Note Canadian reg on aircraft.

Love the idea of a Departure tent rather than a gate!!

We walked around the town and visited the fort, which had initially been built by the Danish who were the first westerners on the island. The Commandant certainly lived well with his family but I suspect the average soldier was not as comfortable, and probably had to wear a uniform designed in Europe for much colder weather and that they sweated a lot!!

Downtown Christiansted

Downtown Christiansted

Friendly fellow on a gun turret at the fort

Christiansted Fort

Obviously the sign did not apply to him!!

Jen had initially announced that she was leaving her Charlotte job, but was asked to stay on for a while and that she could work remotely from her balcony. I think the bank were keen not to lose her talents and needed her expertise. I have to say she looked relaxed with her laptop on the balcony, but think she probably got more work done because of fewer interruptions other than guests like us!!

It was raining on and off during our whole visit as we felt the after effects of Hurricane Tomas. Tuesday proved to be a wetter than normal day and we mostly hung out and took a walk along the beach from Jen’s place and did a little shopping. We were able to find a few things to make Jen’s life a little easier (like it is tough!!) and had fun doing it. The day culminated with Beach Bingo” with friends at a bar about 8 miles away.

Overall we had a wonderful time and I would not have gone to St Croix if Jen had not been there. Our paths cross in different parts of the world (dinner in Auckland NZ, home stay in St Croix!!) and I am privileged to have her as a friend. Candida loves her as much as I do!!

Sint Maarten and the sights of Maho beach

Friday morning saw us catching the ferry that goes from Gustavia St Barths to St (Sint) Maarten. A pleasant 45 minute ride with some wave action and  we were again at...Immigration!!. All very quick and then a cab ride to our hotel. We were getting a little concerned as it was about a 30 min ride and of course no meter!. Anyway it turned out to be very reasonable.
We had booked the hotel from Saba at the recommendation of Donna the Taxi. We had looked at the Maho Beach hotel and it was expensive but the "Royal Turtle Inn" was way more reasonable and located on Simpson Bay and not far from Maho Beach.
What is the attraction on Maho Beach, topless European women and guys in Speedos? Not really! Once again it is ...airplanes.

The airport at St Maarten is short by international jet standards at around 7000 ft and the easterly approach (normally used) is over the ocean, then over Maho Beach (about 50 ft (15m) wide and a road (maybe 30 ft (9m) and then the threshold of the runway. There is a bar off to the side and watching the planes land is a popular past time for locals and visitors. The bar even has a sign that details the expected arrival times for the major carriers. So you can sit at a nice beach bar with a cold beer and watch airplanes all day. What is not to like about that!!

I think we arrived around 12.30 and had walked from our hotel, maybe a mile or so. Just enough to work up a decent thirst!


There are lots of comings and goings of the small aircraft like the ones we flew to Saba and St Barths, and some regional carriers. There are large signs that warn people about jet blast, particularly from departing aircraft and we saw several people who were apparently invincible who stood (at least for a while) behind departing aircraft. Not too clever.

LIAT Dash 8 landing. I would say he had this just right.

 

Us with Maho Beach in the background

US Airways A319. A tad low but OK. Note the sign warning of the jet blast

Air France A340 departing non stop for Paris

 

The aircraft is VERY close to the road and takes all of the runway as it is relatively short

American 757 from Miami "on slope"

  Earlier I had seen a DHL Cessna Caravan make what looked like a deliberately low approach to give the crowd a thrill, but he did not come close to the 727 freighter that landed soon after the American 757. Fortunately I got a shot and Candida got one a second or so later

I think his wheels are maybe 10 ft over the heads of the people and he cleared the fence by about 5ft!!

And he was down. Spectacular!! Not smart but spectacular

We wandered back to the hotel before dark and after an attempt to get dinner at a local restaurant we gave up and came back to the bar and restaurant at the hotel. The food was excellent and not too expensive, so we had a nice evening even if we were awakend early by the inevitable roosters!!
Our room was adequate and the place was very small, maybe 8 rooms, but the dinner and breakfast the next morning was excellent and we had a good view of Simpson's Bay

Onward to St Barths

Morning came soon enough and we had to be at the airport by 6.45 for check in and the inevitable Immigration!
All went smoothly and we were in St Maarten before 8am to a mostly deserted airports and a connection at 9.45 (in place of the original 11.00)
Again the flight was about 10 or 12 minutes over blue water and passing many small islands. I think the pilot climbed to 2500 ft. On this occasion there were 4 passengers and I managed to get the front center seat that placed my view out of the windshield between the two pilots.
Saba is said to be one of the most challenging airports, but frankly from a passenger perspective unless you KNEW this you might be unlikely to notice. This cannot be said of St Barths which I rate as among THE most exciting landings I have observed to date.
The runway ends with a public beach and then a bay, and at the approach end there is a hill about 300 ft (90m) tall that terminates where the runway begins. The good news is that the runway is over twice as long as Saba. I estimate that the pilot approaches at about 8-10 degrees. To put it in perspective a normal jet approach is 3 degrees. He basically dives at the runway and flares at the last moment lands and crams on the brakes and reverse thrust. It is all quite controlled and normal for them, they may do it several times a day, but it was a fantastic experience for me. I went back the next day for a couple of hours to watch them from the ground and gained a different perspective.

A Cessna Caravan over the traffic island

Looking down the runway from the hillside

A Winair Twin Otter shows the descent angle

Occasionally someone does not make it in style, and the results can be seen in the image below. I think it is the same aircraft featured in the video link St Barths botched landing

Aircraft with blue tail and collapsed left main gear

Once again Immigration, this time French, and now we are in the Eurozone, and it shows. We grabbed a cab to the hotel, which like most things here was not very far, except for the traffic and ongoing street reconstruction that basically routed half of the island traffic past our hotel on what would normally be a quiet side street. We decided to go down to the beach a couple of hundred yards away, and also just look around and had lunch at a very nice  French bakery that opens way early for breakfast and closes at 1.30 for the day. We swam in the bay and our initial location was ill advised (by us) as there was coral only a few yards out and we were in to it before we knew it. We retreated and moved down the beach for a while and later in the afternoon made our way back to the hotel,passing the local cemetery (a sight to behold) and  relaxed by the pool and removed coral splinters from our feet (or at least most of them!) A good lesson early on.

Graves all decorated with (plastic) flowers

We discovered that not having a car on St Barths is a distinct limitation, so we booked one for the following morning. A combination of that and the traffic limited our dinner options. We discussed this with Melane who had welcomed us to the Hotel Normandie when we arrived and seemed to serve breakfast, run the front desk and clean the rooms all with excellent humor!

Melane. She seemed to do it all

Petit dejuneur a l'hotel

Outside the hotel

She mentioned several places and briefly mentioned "Le Portugal" literally just around the corner and a hang out for the Portuguese workers who do seasonal work on construction sites on the island. So kinda basic but once they figured out that Candid was Portuguese speaking everything changed. I do not think the lady who is part owner saw many women in the place anyway and was delighted to talk and eventually made us some dinner in spite of the fact that they do not serve food other than at lunch time!!. Food was basic but very good and reasonable (for St Barths) and a way better experience than some fancy place in my mind.

Le Portugal. Good food!!

We spent the next day with the car. Candida indulged me once again and we watched airplanes for a while and then just wandered around the island for the rest of the day.

St Barths coastline

Nice location for homes

We found the sister shop from the bakery at the other end of the island and had lunch there and found some good vantage points for views and saw a couple of oddball vehicles including a couple of different vintage Land Rovers, and I was able to explain the history and significance of these vehicles both from the 60s is my guess. We also saw an all electric vehicle complete with baby seat!!, and a Mini Moke a variant of the original Mini. My guess is somewhere mid 60s for a vintage.

60s vintage Land Rover

Late 50s or very early 60s version (narrow headlights) Also had a plate from Jersey Channel Islands

A Mini Moke. VERY basic transportation

Small all electric vehicle with child seat!!

It is a beautiful island but so much more the "tourist destination" and place of island homes for the wealthy, and not so much "our style" like Saba!!

Saba Day two

So we are really enjoying this place and have already adjusted to the more relaxed schedule if you can call it that. We went back to the bank and still no ATM or even banking operations, but nobody seemed concerned.
I was concerned that my rather silly obsession with strange airports and watching airplanes would interfere with our relationship,but Candida is tolerating it well (maybe akin to indulging a small child!) and I now believe is actually enjoying it as well. Most would be "why would you want to do THAT?".
We have already decided that Saba is somewhere we will come back to so the pressure to "do" everything is not there.
 The island offers a variety of hikes of different duration and degrees of difficulty including some that require a guide, and several that are much easier.
We decide to take some time and walk down the road to the airport as I had spotted several good locations for views of the whole airport and the approaches. We decided to have Donna the Taxi drop us off at a church on "The Road" that offers a spectacular view of the whole airport and then walk down the road through Hells Gate and down past the airport to Cove Bay and some rock pools close by.

This is the view from the church approx 1200 ft above the airport

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we now know we could have easily walked the whole thing as it was only a mile or so to the church. So we started from there and gradually worked our way downhill.

Some views off the side of the road as we walked down

Several of these reminded me of Scotland or Ireland

GOCA hat make another worldwide appearance

Cove Bay and St Eustacia in the distance

Candida enjoys the view

I may have mentioned but a huge amount of the decision making about events and any planning is centered around hurricanes and limiting their impact. There is an ongoing project to place all of the power lines and phone lines underground so we saw several places where they were busy with concrete saws. One of the interim measures is that as a hurricane approaches they cut off all power to the island until the storm passes. This means that any power lines that come down are not live and dangerous and clean up is faster with full power being restored in a couple of days where in the past is has been a week or more. Once all the power is underground this will be quicker again. Smart thinking.
We found a couple of places to just sit on the wall by the road and watch local life including dogs doing their duty by barking at us to earn their keep, but none of them seemed like they were completely engaged in their en devours and after a while they went back and laid down to rest!

We finally made your way down to the airport and then down to the trail that goes out to the rock pools and Cove Bay. From the airport this is no great trek, maybe 1/2 mile or so.
Walking down to the Rock pools I saw this ancient relic. For those who are interested it is an Eder built 212FT (Fast travel) a German built wheeled excavator and a predecessor of the models I worked with in the late 90s

We walked out to the pools and the water was quite strong and focused in to several narrow areas.

The dolphin/mermaid or whatever she is who I call Candida could not resist (see previous posts and was soon climbing down and getting as close to the water as she could.  Of course close means right in it as you can see in the next few images

I bet she is saying "look at these big waves!"

This was just before she was nearly washed out by a big wave. Jeeez!!

Safe and sound, much to my relief!

I was genuinely scared at one point when a larger than normal wave came in and knocked her off her feet and into the rock pool before starting to suck the water (and her) back out. She grabbed the rock just in time but I think I can forgo my scheduled stress test as my heart seems to be strong enough to take that. I wondered though.
We made our way back and down to Cove Bay for a little while and then back up to the airport, which conveniently had a bar!! I was certainly ready for a beer at that point and we met up again with Donna for an eventual ride back home.

The airport Bar. Main terminal entrance is on the left!!

The other purpose of the airport trip was to try and reschedule our connection the following day to St Barths via St Maarten. We originally had a 10.00 departure with a 40 min layover (bear in mind that both flights are scheduled for about 10 or 12 minutes!) but Winair had canceled our 10.00 departure and we were on the 7.35am with a 4 hour layover. The Winair guy at the airport said everything else was booked up and we would have to live with what we had. So we accepted that.
Later that evening in the Swinging Door I was paying the bill and the guy came over and said. Hey Are you the guy going to St Barths in the morning? I confirmed and he said he had been able to get us on the earlier flight. No phone call, no text, no email but a message delivered personally. I like it!!

Could be a warm Scotland!!

Rock Pools from above

I guess we miscalculated and did not realize that both of the "nice" restaurants in Windwardside close on Tuesdays, so were back to the very adequate Swinging Door for a final dinner of Chicken and ribs from the grill. Good and tasty they were too. We had an early start the next day so not a late night.
I really hope Saba stays as unexplored and unexploited as it is today. I have talked to very few people who have heard of it other than scuba divers. I love it that way. As I mentioned the original plan was a day trip, and look at what we would have missed!
St Barths is next!