Friday, November 26, 2010

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!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Saba. First days adventures and sights

I mentioned in the last blog post that Saba is basically a dormant volcano that is 5 sq miles (13 sq km) and 3000 ft (~950m) tall in the middle. You can imagine that getting lost would be a challenge.
"The Road" winds it's way up from the airport through Hells Gate (Or Zions Gate if you prefer) to English Quarter and Windwardside which is the main settlement. The only other significant place is "The Bottom". It houses the "University of Saba Medical School" and it is a privately owned hospital and medical school that has been in business for over 20 years. There are about 400 students at any one time and the school has international credentials.
We stayed in Windwardside at the Cottage Club Hotel  http://www.cottage-club.com/ which I found on the Saba Tourism website. Windwardside is about 3 miles from the airport and sits at about 1500 ft (480m) above the sea, and our room was one of 10 cottages and we were lucky to get one of the two that basically hang over the edge of the cliff.
Our deck and the view to the ocean. Good coffee too

View from our room looking down the hill to the ocean. It was cloudy due to the after effects of Hurricane Tomas


Windwardside Church and cemetery
Police station and Immigration office!!









Our Cottage on Saba



There is a veranda and you can stand there and look down a VERY steep hill to the rocky shore line about 1/2-3/4 mile away.
Each cottage has two double beds, a small kitchen with stove and refrigerator, and an adequate bathroom. The only limitation was the water pressure, and we soon learned that water was a very precious commodity on the island and all houses have their own cistern to collect rainwater as this is the primary source of water on the island.
We arrived in grand style in a taxi that the hotel had ordered for us and our driver Donna was to be our guide for the next few days. 4 of the rooms are occupied by the Dutch Police who are on a temporary assignment for the change in status already mentioned. saba is a "special municipality" and appears to have all the benefits of being a Dutch city. Not a bad deal.
Our hosts were Ina and Christos. She is German and he is Greek but from the north of England. They were very keen for us to get some idea of what to see on the island and also to find somewhere to eat. Not all of the places are open every day so a reservation and a strategy is a good idea, even when the places are a 5 minute walk away.
We elected to try "The Swinging Door" as they have a BBQ steak special on Sundays and it was a simple choice. No great fanfare just good simple food and a couple of beers (Presidente or Carib seems to be most popular). We talked at the bar with a local lady who was enjoying a beer and discovered that she had a restaurant "Lollipops" over nearer to The Bottom. We discovered the next morning that she also ran the local bakery (we saw her delivering bread to a couple of different locations). This appears to be typical Saba.If you take out the student population (400) there are 1100 or so permanent residents and like it or not your neighbors, and everyone else is going to know what is happening in your life. You cam call it a close knit community or oppressive depending on your take. For a visitor for a few days it certainly made it friendly!
We decided to take a walk to The Bottom on Monday and it is about 2 miles or so. We walked along the undulating road and had to be constantly vigilant of the traffic. The road has a wall on one or both sides about 12 in (30cm) tall and it was good to sit on or stand on when the traffic passed.
View from the road to The Bottom













View from the road to The Bottom












Looking back towards Windwardside. You can just see some of the houses on Booby Hill

A view of "The Road"


































Spectacular scenery and views of the ocean as well as wild goats who roam the island. There is a school complex at the summit of the hill about 1/2 way and there were school buses (short buses due to the roads)  and then over the top and down to The Bottom

School bus Saba style

The Bottom. Home of the Medical School seen lower center of the photo. Also the Admin Center for the island

Better view of Med School


We had arranged to meet Donna the Taxi in The Bottom around 1.30 for a (by necessity) short tour of the island. We wanted, among other things to go down to Wells Bay and the road down there is extremely steep and curvy, so 1st gear all the way.


There is a small beach at Wells Bay and depending on recent hurricane activity it can be very rocky (as it was for us) or a pleasant sandy beach.
Th road to Wells Bay and a view of Diamond Rock

There is a view out to Diamond Rock about 1/2 a mile off shore and about 75ft (25m) tall. There is a little BBQ grill down there and it would be a great place to go hang out and watch, what I suspect would be spectacular sunsets.









The road down. Note the rocks on the road. A constant hazard



















I am discovering that Candida has a natural affinity for water and it takes almost no excuse for her to take her shoes or boots off and jump in.

More about this later as we had a scary moment the next day.
After a brief look around the rest of The Bottom we headed down to the port area and the only place on the island where it is possible to land a boat. It is also the location of the power station for the island and I am happy to report that they are all Cat generators that provide the electrical power.

The islands one and only gas station is located here (actually someone just opened a second station on the other end of the island but we never saw it). The fuel barge was making a delivery and it has to stand off about 100 yards (95m) and there is a 6 in (15cm) hose that floats on the water that makes the delivery.
We made our way back to the hotel after a brief visit to a pretty church in The Bottom that was decorated by a local painter. The church was built in 1935 I recall.
























We also discovered that credit cards are not taken at all places (like the Swinging Door) but also discovered to my concern that the bank (note singular) in Windwardside was not functioning as the main branch in Curacao was flooded. So down to the last few $$ cash and no means of replenishing !!. We were able to work it out but nobody seemed stressed by it. When I had tried to pay for dinner the previous evening with the card and was told they did not take them they then said "No worries, just bring us the money tomorrow" Cool. I bet they know all the people at the airport and on the ferry and you will not make it out of the place without paying !!
We also stopped in to the grocery store and bought a few items and I was surprised that things were not as expensive as I had imagined they would be. Gas is about $3.00 a gallon.
We chilled out for a while and had dinner at Brigadoons. Good food once it arrived. There was a mix up between us getting a drinks order in and them then forgetting to come get our dinner order.
Dinner at Brigadoons. I think that is still the menu in front of me!

Oh well, we were on "island time" by then.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Caribbean trip. First stop Saba (eventually).

I/we had not intended to go to the Caribbean, but an opportunity arose and there seemed to be EVERY reason to do it and no reason not to.
You may recall (as an avid blog follower I am sure) that I met a friend of mine, Jen Grant in Auckland NZ in early March. She had been in NZ for a week or so and was in Auckland to catch a plane to Australia and I had just arrived from Japan. We were in the same town on the other side of the world for about 12 hours and had dinner and ice cream before she left for the airport.
I (and several others) got an email in September from Jen that she was planning to leave her job with Bank f America in Charlotte NC and relocate to St Croix US Virgin Islands for about 6 months anyway to see how she liked it. The email mentioned that visitors were welcome and we had a free place to stay. That was temptation enough, so we started to plan the trip. I am geographically fairly competent, but am unfamiliar with the Caribbean as I tend to associate it with resorts, cruises and more organized vacations than I have become accustomed to!
As I continued my research I realized that St Croix was not too far from St (Sint) Maarten, Saba and St Barths. All of these islands have "interesting" airports, and are on my bucket list of places to visit. The end result was that we spent 3 days on Saba, 2 days on St Barths, a day on St Maarten and then flew to spend 4 days with Jen on St Croix before returning home.
We flew to St Maarten from Raleigh via Miami, and then connected to a local (Winair) flight to Saba. The aircraft out of Miami had a mechanical delay and we were 2 hours late getting to SXM (St Maarten) so our connection (to the last flight of the day) was tight to say the least!
It is at this point that we discover the rather strange system of government in these parts. Until 10/10/2010 St Maarten was a part of the Dutch Antilles along with several other places and there was a regional administrative office in Curacao. On 10/10 Aruba, Curacao, and St Maarten became "independent" and Saba, Bonaire and St Eustacia effectively became a more direct part of Holland. Mix this with the fact that the island of St Maarten is 1/2 Dutch and 1/2 French and you have an interesting adminitrative and governmental challenge, particularly with regard to immigration and Customs.
We cleared immigration in to St Maarten, checked in and rechecked our bags with Winair (for a 12 minute flight) and then had to go back through immigration and security to get the flight to Saba. Still with me!. It was bizarre that the lady who checked us in to St Maarten was the same one who checked us out 15 minutes later! We made the flight, but only just and headed off to board our little 19 seat Twin Otter (Canadian built and a great little aircraft). This is the same type that I flew to Barra Scotland (the beach landing. Not in the blog anywhere but a previous "interesting" airport.
My initial plan was to make a day trip to Saba as I was mostly interested in the airport, the landing and the takeoff. The more I looked the better I liked the look of the place and we decided to spend a few days there and are really happy that we did.
Saba, http://www.sabatourism.com/ is about 5 square mile (13 sq km) and the highest point is about 3000 ft (877m) so all the roads are steep and narrow.
The airport is shoehorned on to a ledge on the NE side of the island. The runway is VERY short at 1300 ft (390m) and sits about 150 ft (48m) up from the ocean. To put that in perspective a typical jet runway is at least 6500 ft (1950m). There is about 150 ft of under run and over run at both ends but Saba is the shortest runway in the world with commercial service. It requires special pilot certification and regular recurrent training, as you can imagine.


Saba airport from about 1200 ft above and about 2 miles away. Note steep drop off at both ends.
Winair Twin Otter. 19 seats and two pilots.
Twin Otter using all of the available runway for takeoff.
Twin Otter just getting airborne. Just in time!
View from the side and below as another Twin Otter rotates for departure. Close to the end of the runway!
 You get the idea.
The approach is not normal because there is a large rock in the way, so there is a last second alignment with the runway. Reverse thrust (props in beta range for the cognoscenti) and it is all done.
Arrival in Saba is via yet another (albiet simpler) Immigration from a single officier in a booth the size of a toll booth on a highway!
We were met as promised by a taxi for the steep climb to our hotel.
More on saba itself in the next post. It is an incredible place basically unknown to most of the world including us until this point.




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Blog slacker. Several new posts due

Well, I was actually home for a while between leaving Idaho mid September and starting a new trip to the Caribbean October 31st. I actually had a long weekend in Atlanta to see the family in September but had almost become a homebody...WHAT. No way
Anyway, we have been back a week or so and today is the first rainy day with a chance to catch up on blogging and let those who are interested know what is happening in my life.
First thing would be the "We" in the travel context. As you will know I have done most of my 2010 travel solo, but recently met a wonderful lady who is originally from Brasil and has a wonderful sense of family and an appetite for adventure and adventurous travel. Please meet Candida!
Candida on St Barths island. Caribbean














I will explain why we went and where we went in the next few posts.