Where's the Beach?

Saba IS a Caribbean island

But its NOT exactly known for it's beaches.

In fact, it only has one wondering beach.

Wondering meaning 

it is sometimes here and most of the time not...

(Although if you remember Nathan and I were lucky to enjoy it for one day in December.)

Beach-less............. that is............ until now!

They have finally made a beach at "The Cove"

White sand (imported from St. Martin) and everything!!! 

I say finally because local people tell me this has been 

"in the works" for a while.

It is almost contagious how excited the community is 

about this new development:) 

After Nathan's exam today 

we celebrated with many of his classmates:
lunch out at Saba Snack and 

our first official Saba Beach day!

In a short time, it has become quite the popular watering hole!

And yes. That dog is collecting rocks. Too cute.

Take One: Nathan "smoking" a seashell

Take Two: Nathan being Normal-ish

Great day!

It really felt good to feel the sand between my toes on Saba!

Hodge-podge

Hodge-podge:  

A confused or disorderly collection of things.

This post is a "hodge-podge" of various experiences

 throughout the last week or so:

We have been duly welcomed to  hurricane season...

The Road has been turned into a river!

See the depth of the water! 

We've hiked around the Bottom...

Paris Hill is the hike

It is a very shot hike, but I hadn't done it yet

So it was good to check it off my 'To Do' list.

There is no Eiffel Tower

But

there were lots and lots 

of very camera shy hermit crabs

 And 

Plenty of Aloe Vera

We also got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset...

Which is actually a rare occurrence.

Where we live,

Mount. Scenery completely blocks the sunset 

so we rarely have the opportunity to enjoy it!

Sunset from The Bottom.

Oh Canada...

Happy Canada Day!

Wear more sunscreen

It is HOT down here

Summer in the Caribbean is hot, hot, hot

In between studying for exams 

I have taken advantage of the sunny days 

to relax with friends at the cove and by the pool.

Anne's Goodbye Party...Picnic and swimming ='s perfection

Although it is June 

my friends and family in Canada

remind me that summer has yet to find them...

Keep faith, you guys!

On another note...

Iguana's 

one of my favorite island creatures

LOVE the sun.

(Probably even more than I do!)

Hot, sunny days you can find them sunning themselves

 in trees and along the road.

Not too long ago 

my brother asked me advice on skin/sun care

(I must be an expert after a year (ish) in the Caribbean)..haha)

Chris this is for you:

Iguana's don't wear sunscreen.

If you don't want to look like an iguana

Wear more sunscreen!

Hockey Night in the Caribbean

You can take the Canadian's out of Canada

but that doesn't change much

Except

 Where you watch the game!

During the last three playoff games

Nathan and I have joined our 

Canadian friends and Hockey fans

to watch the game.

with a projector

on the side of an apartment building

under palm trees and the stars

In my opinion it was all very cute:)

~*Savvy Saban Segments: three: Cisterns*~

Wow!
Time is flying.
I can't believe almost a month has gone by...oops
It is two months to the day until I say:
"So long, see you later," to the Caribbean.

So,
 I better share some more unique things
about my little island in the sun
Before time runs out!

Of all things Saba life has taught me

Water conservation 

is the most obvious.

There are no lakes, ponds, rivers, or steams.

The only source of fresh water
for drinking, laundry, dishes, showering, etc...
 is Rain.

The whole island functions and depends on rain water.

Each house has a cistern.

Rain Falls
Catches on the Saba Red Roofs
collects and washes down the gutter...
through a pipe

Pipe from our roof to our cistern...

and
into the cistern
for household use

That's our Cistern!

Even public buildings
demand water consciousness

These signs are EVERYwhere... it take some getting used to;)

Even though I think cisterns are a great idea
and I feel very
'Eco-Friendly'
A LOoong, hot, shower is High on my list
of must do things
as soon as I get home!

Challenge Accepted

A few weeks ago
(prior to our vacation)

Nathan and I (mostly me) were getting island fever
So we decided to try something new and
test our limits with a challenge



The challenge:

To hike
All of Saba's 2855 ft
from Sea level to the very top
(the top of Mount. Scenery)

Mt. Scenery from Spring Bay

And
that is just what we did!

It started out as a beautiful, hot, sunny day

We hiked from our cottage down the Spring Bay trail to Sea level

Of course we made sure we touched the water!

Cati along the Spring Bay Trail

The town of Windwardside 

is conveniently about half way up the mountain

We refueled with a picnic lunch in the park

The '"kids" playing in the park

Only 1064 more steps to go!

On our way up we had great views!

We are getting into the clouds now...

Windwardside from Top of Mt.Scenery

Airport (top), Hell's Gate (left), Windwardside (right)

And then the clouds really came...

And then

 it rained

and when it rains, it pours

we got soaking wet.

But

all in all, it was a 

fun-exhausting-satisfying day

Or at the very least 

I was way too tired to care about island fever!