Saba- Back to Basics

Getting back into a groove on Saba. After traveling around a few islands, I defiantly miss the beaches, but the pool helps with that. I enjoy Saba’s uniqueness, I like feeling safe. It is back to basics. The simple life is hard. I wake up really early (6am) because it gets hot so fast, until the sun is over the other side of mount scenery it stays pretty warm. Yesterday, I decided I should make a lot of bread products from scratch, so I bought flour and baked bread, hamburger buns, and cinnamon rolls for a treat. I also planted a vegetable garden, so hopefully if it takes off I will have fresh veggies. This was hard work, we got the dirt from the side of the road and filled a whole bunch of buckets and bags with soil. There was a whole bunch of empty pots in a storage room here, so I was able to use them to plant tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, herbs, etc…Well see if any grow! Today is all about hurricane preparation. We heard about a storm watch yesterday so we bought extra water and food just in case. Every window has shutters and they are all getting closed in preparation. People here are defiantly taking it in a more serious tone than what I’m used to. (Although at the supermarket a lot of people were buying booze and cigarettes).  Every house we can see has its shutters closed and/ or windows boarded. The boats are out of the water and all flights are cancelled until Tuesday. We feel very fortunate we are not still on the road, stuck in transit like all most of Nathans classmates. Most likely we will get high winds and a lot of rain and lose power at some point but we're prepared! I hate to say it but I like the anticipation and hype of storms~Although it is dark in here with the shutters closed..eek! It is interesting experiencing the preparation of a storm in another culture. They are turning off the electricity to the island at 8pm tonight, the storm is not predicted to arrive until twelve hours later at 8am. this is a very strange concept to me but it's all part of the experience. we have our flashlights ready, a bucket of water for the bathroom... (Good thing I know about that stuff from going to the cabin in Framboise). All my seedlings are brought inside for the day so they don't get washed away, so I think were ready:)

Island Hopping 2010

Puerto Rico Aug 14-Aug 19

Day one:

Our early departure from Saba had me feeling a little bit nervous when I saw the small fishing boat our 2hour journey was to be on. Everyone was warning me regarding sea sickness and it wasn’t until I saw the boat that I realized why... It is small and smelled. 

As it was early and I was over tired from staying out late with friends the night before. I almost felt sick before I got on the boat. However, the boat was a wonderful experience. 

We were able to sit on top of the boat outside. It was sunny the whole way, we saw beautiful views of the island as we traveled around it. The highlight was seeing dolphins play and jump around the boat. They are magnificent animals. 

Arrival in St. martin made me realize as much as I appreciate Saba’s beauty...I love the beach!

 We arrived in San Juan after a short flight on a very questionable plane. Our hosts were at the airport to pick us up. They were more than hospitable. On our way to our apartment they gave us a little tour to help us get oriented with the area. We dropped our bags off and we were on our way into Old San Juan for a food and cultural tour. We got to sample lots of different Puerto Rican food and drinks. Shared a pina colada in the place where legend has it they were first created. I think my favorite food was mofongo, it’s made of fried plantains and stuffed with various meats and veggies.  We also ate a delicious dessert and café choleche. Our tour guide Leslie also gave us an interesting tour of the Old San Juan area, with lots of interesting facts about the city, pointing out interesting architectural details. The tour ended and she gave us some advice on where to go for a quick drink etc…across the street from the beautiful hotel EL Convento, is a local and tourest bar called El Batey. It is very unique inside, hole in the wall kind of place.

 We met some really nice Puerto Rican people, who were ever so glad we weren’t Americans so they could continue talking about  Americans- Puerto Rican politics.  We had some local beer, called a cab and amazingly found our way back to our temporary home.

Day Two:

Our apartment rental has a little kitchenette, so we headed out to the grocery store and bought some breakfast and picnic fares. I always find the grocery store an interesting place to visit as you look at what people in that culture buy for food. It defiantly had a American meets Spanish-Mexican feel. Then we were off to the beautiful and long ocean park beach. We spent all morning until after lunch at the beach. After a long morning at the beach we were very tired and took a little siesta  before making our way back to old San Juan. In old San Juan we found  the only microbrewery in Puerto Rico, (Nathan was very excited about this). Then we went back to Barrachinas for some delicious Puerto Rican food and pina coladas, yum!

Day Three:

Beach day all the way= wonderful

Day Four:

Ready, set, go. We rented a car to see more of the island. 

First stop El Yunge rainforest. 

It is beautiful, we hiked all of the trails located from the main entrance, saw spectacular views from the two peaks, although at times it was very foggy…it is a rain forest after all. 

At then end of a good days hike we walked to Las Minos fall and swam or sat mostly under the waterfall, it was very refreshing!

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Day Six:

I had it in my head that I wanted to see the Camuy Caves of Puerto Rico. 

However, I read many bad reviews of people who were disappointed with the experience because it can become very, very busy and fill up for the day quite early. It is an hour and a half drive from San Juan. I really thought, Nathan especially, would like to see these caves. They are composed of the worlds third largest subterranean river system...

So we had a very early morning and left San Juan at just after 6am. (we’ve mostly been getting up at 6am anyways). Nathan, I could tell, was skeptical of the whole getting up early thing, but he was a trooper. We arrived at the Caves before the gates opened and were the second car in line. As it turned out, the tour didn’t start until 9am, and everyone who arrived before that time was able to go on the first tour. But I feel it was worth it. The people who worked at the caves said that day was unusually slow. It is the off season in Puerto Rico, so that would have helped, but I wasn’t driving a thee hour round trip without seeing the caves. 

The caves were spectacular!

The tour itself was pretty good , although I can see how the organization of the place would lead to many disappointed people on a busy day. We had a great time. 

After the caves the plan was to drive in the opposite direction and find the lesser known, pretty much locals only: Las Paylas, natural waterside. 

It has brief mention in the guide books, but no directions. We spent more than enough time either stuck in traffic or lost on a wrong turn, the road signs are not very good or consistent in Puerto Rico, especially off the beaten path. The drive itself was much of the time very beautiful and we got to see some interesting roads. 

Some how though we found it. 

It was very intimidating the water rushed down the water fall and on first impression you could kind of see the shape of a waterfall but it looked painful. I had read review that assured me it wasn’t. we were all alone at first. Lucky some locals came and we were able to watch them so we had some fun! 

The next part of our adventure was not too far away in the town of  Fajardo. 

We took a kayak tour at night to see the bioluminescent bay. 

In this bay, and there are a few more around the world microorganism surface in the night and when you move the water it appears to glow. 

Very cool, kayaking at night was also fun and adventurous feeling. Each boat had a green glow-stick on the front and a red on the back to you could see the person in front of you. Very enjoyable experience. Great way to end our time in Puerto Rico. Next time I visit I would like to drive further south and to the west to see other parts of the island, but all in all it was a great vacation. We should have rented the car the day sooner, although the beach was beautiful and we don’t have any in Saba so I guess it was a good balance and Nathan really needed to recharge his battery...

Next stop Virgin islands...

Camuy Caves

Las paylas the natural waterslide

My turn...It was a lot of fun, even if I look really scared;)

Kayak's before our Bio Bay tour

Day 7

Off to St. Thomas and water island we go. 

We took a short flight from San Juan into Charlotte Amalie the capital of St. Thomas and were greeted on arrival to some free coconut rum. 

In a taxi, we stopped at a local grocery store and got food and supplies and before we knew it we were on the ferry to water island. Where our eco friendly campground was found.  

The owner of the campground was there on are arrival and he took us on a short tour and told us the in’s and outs of the island. I’ll sum them up and say there are no rules or authorities on water island and the beach is a short walk away. 90 people  live there year round. 

As it is as off season we basically had the beach to ourselves except for an occasional local and day trip tours. 

On are arrival we settled into our cozy little cottage/tent and it was quiet nice. We sat on our cute little balcony and had a cold drink before getting ready for the beach. 

The beach, called honeymoon beach, was picturesque, white sand, palm trees, absolutely beautiful. After our swim we made supper at the campground and took a walk down to the beach to enjoy the sunset. This is probably the most relaxing place on earth, people mostly drive golf carts on the narrow roads of water island. 

It’s a very simple place.

Sunset at Honeymoon Beach, Water Island

Day time at Honeymoon Beach, Water island

Day 8

A good old fashion beach day with some successful snorkeling, we saw a few sting rays. 

One was a spotted eagle ray and it was beautiful and huge, the tail was super long! 

Heidi’s Honeymoon grill is the place to eat, (as in the only place on the whole island) and famous for the Caribbean’s best burger. So naturally we took a break from making lunch and had one. They were huge!

 Later after more swimming and snorkeling, reading and soaking up the sun we found our way to the other hot spot on the beach, Joes beach bar. Delicious Lime in d’a coconut frozen drinks were my friends. We spent quiet a while chatting to Joe and his wife Michelle, who moved here from Michigan, interesting story! We spent so much time there they even fed us super for free! 

All day we met a few of the local and everyone was talking about going to St. Thomas Sunday for the annual chili cook off at brewers bay beach. We heard so much about it all day we were defiantly game. They gave us the scoop and we were super excited to go. 

The sun set we chillaxed in our cabin and called it a night. 

In fact, I think I woke up “in the middle of the night” and found it was only 10:45pm.

 Vacation is so hard;)

View from inside our tent/ cottage

Day 9

So we got up ate breakfast, packed our bags and we were ready, set, chili cook off time…

We walked down to the boat only to find out that it was Satuday not Sunday and the chili cook off was tomorrow-oops, were on vacation time. 

With some advice from the locals we decided to head over to st. Thomas anyways and check out the city, Charlotte Amalie. They recommended this as nothing would be open on Sunday. So it all worked out.

 Charlotte Amalie is a different place, at least the downtown, waterfront area which we visited. It a duty free island so some people drop some pretty big cash at the shops, it seems. The people who work there, work hard to grab your attention. Everyone was trying to bribe us into there store with the offer of free drinks and lunch, etc, etc. Just for walking in. it’s a crazy world. Although we didn’t take advantage of people too much on this account, you could tell they would give us as many as we wanted. Water, beer, rum, pin colada, you name it, they just want you in there store. 

It’s possible, although I left the store that I may have a  small little Christmas gift, but I have to wait and see… 

It was an experience, but we were happy to get away from the vultures...

Back to our little paradise in the sun.

Beach time!

Our spot...there was no competition

Day 10

Chili cook off this time for real! 

We are pumped, a nice man helped us figure out how to get to Brewers Bay by bus, so it saved us taxi fare. We arrived and it is a party on the beach, Brewers bay is another beautiful sandy beach. Its hot, with a live bands and about 60 different chili stands to try. 

The cost is 1$ for three chili sample, and two dollars for drinks. We bought ten dollars in each. We tried so many different chili variety’s, even between the two of us we couldn’t use all our chili tickets up before it was time to go, so we gave them away. 

The thing about water island is the last boat on Sunday leaves at 5pm. It was such a fun, great atmosphere!

 During our time at the chili fest which was sponsored by Coors light, we went into a tent for a bean bad toss for a free t shirt. I walked in first so I tossed and won a t-shirt. I was going to get Nathan one, but the girl said they had real women’s shirts. Nathan was next to win a shirt so I got myself one. But He lost! 

It was so funny, I almost died. They other people in the tent also realized how funny it was. They suggested that perhaps I could win him a shirt another time~hehe

Chili cook off! Sporting my new t-shirt;)

Day 11

Back to honeymoon beach. 

Our last day. 

We decided to have Heidis grill again. 

We chilled most of the morning, read our books, stayed in the shade. 

Our big event was snorkeling out to the sunken ship. 

With a 40” hull. It was so eerie, spooky, creepy. 

All that was left of the ship was the bones of the hull, it was now covered in sea plants with fish swimming about it. It was pretty scary, for no reason, other than the fact that, I was having the hardest time not letting the jaws theme song into my head. 

Nathan was also really creeped out. In fact he even admit, he was overall more scared than me. 

It was defiantly a highlight, it really made me wish I had an underwater camera. But the memory of it will be etched into my mind forever, I’m sure. It was so fun!

 The other part that made it so spooky, is that it isn’t a well known snorkel spot where lots of people go.  We found out about it through another tourist who was talking to some locals, he had never seen it but described to us where he thought it was. 

 We were on an adventure and were truly rewarded for out efforts.  It was pretty far from the beach but it actually wasn’t very far from land, as the beach was in the form of a cove.

Beach Bums

Day 12

We took the Road Town fast ferry to Tortola. 

It was quiet choppy, with the waves splashing high over the boat at times. But it did settle down eventually and it was only a 55minute ferry ride. 

Tortola is very mountainous, with windy roads. We made it to Myett’s garden inn in Cane Garden Bay, Tortola. The sand here is the most beautiful we have seen yet. It is so  fine and soft. This beach would be a happening spot in season. Every place on the beach as we walked long it has hundreds of beach chairs. Lucky for us it’s off season and besides a few locals and people in boats, we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves.  

While on the beach we were informed about a Full moon Party at  the Bomba shack on a nearby beach. The Bomba shack it made of all things which have washed up onto the beach. It has a sand floor. This party in which people wish each other happy full moon. It attracts all kinds of people, every demographic. They have live music. It’s quite an interesting environment. The well known specialty of the famous full moon party is the mushroom tea, which you can have for free if, as they say, you follow the smoke...

 Nathan went to check it out and there is a kinda code. They ask “are you my brother?” you reply “yeah, I’m your brother” (if you want tea). Repeat, just to be sure. 

They ask if you have a mug, because you need a travel mug or something so it wont melt the cup. 

This was all observation only. In fact at first we had a mixed drink at the bar but decided that it was perhaps a bad idea, so everything else we got came in a sealed bottle which we watched them open., just in case. 

There seemed to be a lot of ‘codes’ which we didn’t know the ins and outs of. It was, by all respects, a pretty tame party with dancing and people having a relaxed night out. We left just before midnight, so it probably got a little crazier when we left. It was a unique experience which I’m glad we attended. It just seemed like such a strange coincidence that we would be there for a full moon.

It's a Full Moon...Right place, right time

Randomness of the Bomba shack

Happy Full Moon!

Day 13

Our last full day away, we’re getting the most out of this beach before we go back to Saba. It unfortunately started to rain around 4 o’clock so our beach time was cut a little short. But we didn’t really mind. In fact it worked out great for me. My feet needed some TLC and I got a pedicure, it was a splurge so worth it though:) 

Dinner and some key lime pie to some up our island hopping adventure. 

Back to Saba tomorrow with a few days to get settled into a groove before Nathan starts school.

Tortola

Tortola... Cheers to a great vacation! P.S. a guy climbed a palm tree to get us these:)

My island in the Sun: Day One

I have never had such a delightful travelling experience.

 The whole way from Halifax to St. Marten was a delight. I met some really amazing people, who gave lots of advice on island life and understood the perfect amount of in flight talking. 

On arrival in St. Marten I met new neighbors/friends which was delightful. The next flight, was the smallest plane I ever saw, reminded me on a dinky toy. Despite this I was strangely at ease. (Ok so when it started it did sound like a lawn mower). However, the flight itself was nothing but picturesque, extremely smooth! 

Saba is unique.

I think I am going to like it here. 

Our apartment, is from what I've seen so far a nice place and will suit our basic needs. The people I have met so far are really nice. The view is to die for and the pool has a light in it, so we tried it out last night and it's perfect! Happy to say that the critters of the island have taken it easy on me, as they let me enjoy and adjust my first night without them, so that was nice. 

I am going to get to work unpacking, cleaning, exploring. I am really happy with the experience so far and think Nathan and i will be really happy in our new world together:)