From here on I used the ship's tours because I had no familiarity with
St. Martin, Curacao or Aruba. Some of the tours were better than
others. My most disliked tour was the first one we took in St.
Martin.
I could NOT send any emails after St. Thomas. The internet cafe guy
couldn't figure out why this would be so (I hadn't changed anything),
and neither could a computer guy who was hanging around there. The
computer guy tried to explain to me that I absolutely could not send
emails the way that I had been doing it. Also I talked to him and his
parents until late, so I didn't get to bed until about midnight. I
finally sent the email above from the internet website. (which means
copying everything over to a new location). I don't like to do that.
Anyway -
On Saturday night, CNN mentioned that we should set our clocks back to
standard time, and so Bob did that. But there was no mention of it in
the ship's bulletin, and I knew we would be in the Atlantic Time Zone,
so I didn't set MY watch back. We were scheduled to come in to
Philipsburg on the Dutch side at 7 am, and were to be on the dock for
the first tour at 8:35.
So Bob was thinking that it was 6:30 am, and he could sleep longer,
and I thought it was 7:30 and we should get up and have breakfast. We
could see from the bow camera that the ship had docked - she had
seemed to back into the slip.
The ships clock on the screen said 6:30, but I called the front desk,
and they confirmed that it was really 7:30. So Bob got dressed, and
we went up for breakfast. They didn't have any spoons or any glasses,
although there was still some food. This ship doesn't seem to have
much in the way of spoons, and half the time I can only get a
round-bowled soup type spoon, which doesn't work well for eating a cup
of yogurt. The rest of the time they are the size that I would use as
a serving spoon - really big.
I went out on the deck after breakfast and took some photos. There
was a water taxi from the cruise ship docks (the A.C. Wathey Cruise
and Cargo Facility according to the sign out front) to the town (there
was a rotating sign which said it was $5.00). There were shops and
places to eat right next to the pier. There's also an information
area, and a taxi/bus stand. I wanted to try the water taxi, but never
got the chance.
Link starts here =>
http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A6A4CC1BF0C&cb=PW
<== Link ends here for 120 of the 192 pictures we took.
On the other side of the dock from us was DESTINY a Windjammer - it
had a male figurehead which Bob thought was unusual. Behind them was
the HAL Volendam, and behind us was a Royal Caribbean ship with a
climbing wall on the top stern deck, although I don't know which ship
it was as I couldn't see the name. Possibly Empress of the Seas since
they were in St. Thomas with us yesterday.
We got off the ship a little before 8:25. The tour (which was called
Discover St. Martin) was to be 2.5 hours and we were to meet at 8:35.
I felt this was a horrible tour, and definitely not worth the money.
We lined up two by two, but finally I had to sit down because after I
stand for any length of time my back starts to really hurt, so I went
over and joined a lady on a bollard until one of the dock people
chased us off - they said we couldn't sit there. I thought it was a
substantial iron thing which wouldn't have been hurt by someone
sitting on it, but Bob said if the line snapped it would take out
anyone who was there. I'm sure that would be dangerous, but I'm not
sure that the entire area of the recoil danger was limited to the one
or two feet around the bollard.
Finally about 9 we were frog-marched along the dock in the sun to
where the buses were. There were two buses full. They could certainly
have loaded one of the buses long before 9.
We sat on the right side of the bus, and this was the best side to be
on because most stuff was on the right side. As we drove out past the
boatyard we saw a CSY Walkover (a sailboat like ours) up on the hard.
We passed some low income housing and about 9:15 we crossed over to
the French side. The driver/guide teased us by telling us we needed
our passports.
He also told us the story about how they divided the island - a
Frenchman and a Dutchman started out walking in opposite directions on
the shore and when they met again - the line between the start and
finish was where the island was divided. The guide said that the
Frenchman drank wine and the Dutchman drank gin so the Frenchman
walked farther, but added that the Dutch got the most valuable part.
He also said that gambling wasn't allowed on the French side, so all
the casinos are on the Dutch side, but that the French allow
cockfighting which the Dutch don't. He indicated that crooks could do
some criminal activity on one side of the border and that the cops
couldn't chase them across the line which wouldn't be what I would
have thought of as a recommendation.
The guide talked about 'gingerbread houses', most of which seemed to
be houses with fancy concrete block (not what I think of as
gingerbread. Some of them did have wooden gingerbread type
decoration.
We passed by the Old House (the oldest house on the island which was
closed because it was Sunday) which had an engine in the front. Just
past Oyster Pond (near Oriental Beach) we stopped to allow people to
shop at a little roadside stand. It was supposed to be a 10 minute
stop, but it was longer because some people didn't get back to the
buses. I decided not to get off.
From the bus I watched while cyclists went pelting suicidally down the
hill and then pedaled laboriously back up. Bob got off and took some
pictures. I was having a problem with my digital camera which I
attributed to a low battery, and I had not brought the extra battery
so I couldn't change batteries. The picture either appeared to be
tinged with pink, or to be excessively green.
Then we drove through Grand Case with their multitude of restaurants,
but did not stop. We passed a lighthouse next to the road on the left
side of the bus, but I didn't get a picture, and even if I'd been
aware that it was coming, it would have been too close to the bus to
take a picture of. (I have a thing about lighthouses.) We got to
Marigot (the French capitol) about 10:15, and they told us we had a 45
minute stop here.
I was beginning to get a bit anxious, because we were due to start on
the second tour at 12:05. I had counted on a 2.5 hour tour that
started at 8:35 to be finished by 11:05 giving us just about enough
time for lunch and to freshen up (and incidentally get the other
camera battery) and get some more water. But if we didn't leave here
until 11 (assuming that people would get back to the bus on time), we
certainly wouldn't make it back by 11:05.
I walked into the Gare Maritime where you could get a boat to the
other nearby islands, and then walked around the market a bit and so
did Bob. I was tempted to buy a couple of little white sundresses
for our granddaughters, but I couldn't find any that were large
enough. All the regular shops were closed because it was Sunday.
Then I got back on the bus and asked the tour guide about the time
schedule. He lied and said we would be back in 10 minutes - plenty of
time, that it wasn't a big island.
The man behind us on the bus thought Marigot was a dump, and I wasn't
very impressed either. We finally got underway - the buses backed out
of the parking lot - and got to the French/Dutch border crossing point
at 11:15 (it is NOT a big island). They showed us the desalinization
plants (one for each side of the island).
BUT, they had another shopping stop of 10 minutes at another tourist
trap type roadside place (apparently they felt that since the stores
in Marigot weren't open that we had to stop somewhere else) where I'm
sure they got a kickback on what was bought, and then stopped in
Philipsburg (where the stores were open - hello) to let people off
before they went back to the docks. We didn't get back until 12:05.
I was QUITE annoyed that this 2.5 hour tour actually took 3.5 hours.
Of course half an hour was waiting for people to get off the boat. I
did catch a picture of the CSY on the fly so to speak on the way back
to the boat.
This was our first experience where the bus stopped at security for us
all to show them our boarding cards before they would let the bus go
into the port/dock area. I kind of wonder what they do for the water
taxi.
Bob told me to wait there in the boarding area, and he took the
tickets and walked down to the ship. Pretty soon he came back with a
little group, and we again got on another bus. By 12:15 we were
passing the boatyard again where I got two more pictures of the CSY,
one of which is reasonably good. (number 70 in the picture list)
This tour was called the Natural Wonders Tour, and it was to be 3.5
hours.
The first place we went (at 12:30) was to the St. Maarten Park, which
turned out to be a zoo somewhat like the one in Belize. It apparently
was started by someone who had or acquired a male baboon (neutered) as
an alternative to having him displayed in downtown Philipsburg. This
person started the zoo, which now has various former pets, and some
endangered species breeding programs.
The baboon is still there and he has a female in the cage with him -
she was in season, but of course he couldn't do anything about it.
The guide said the female was quite proud of her red bottom (which
showed that she was in season) and would stick it onto the cage bars
to show it off. But sometimes the male would make her stop that.
A nice blond girl took us on a tour. There were some green parrots at
the entrance and then we saw some blue macaws and scarlet macaws.
Then there was a pool of red earred sliders and on the opposite side
some red footed tortoises, which they think were introduced as a food
source by the Arawak Indians. The guide picked up a large male
tortoise and showed us how the lower carapace was concave which I
suspect is to facilitate mating. She also showed us a baby which was
about 3 weeks old. She said they separated the babies and put them in
a separate area until they got bigger.
They had some peccaries which she explained were more related to deer
even though they smelled like pigs. There was a large area mostly
with water birds - ducks, swans and ibis including some beautiful
scarlet ibis. The brown pelican is the national bird.
Next were the white faced Capuchin Monkeys. There were three -
father,
mother and son. The son had found that he got attention if he threw
things at the visitors, so the father started doing that too. The
guide said they threw food and gravel, but nothing nasty. The mother
sat over in the corner with her back to them.
There were some raccoons which had probably originally been pets -
they were asleep in the trees and almost looked dead, although the
guide assured us that they were not. There were various iguanas which
may have originally been pets and other lizards, and they also had a
reptile exhibit. There were also a lot of chickens and at least one
peacock running around loose.
One animal that I didn't get a picture of was the Rhea which of course
are not native to Sint Maarten. There was a large spectacled owl, and
inside a large dark area there were some fruit bats, most of which
were asleep. The bats are native to the islands - there are 3 species
here, one fruit, one insect and one that eats small animals. They can
only really keep the fruit bats.
The Vervet monkeys were imported as pets by the slave traders in the
1600s so they've been on the island a long time. They also had two
ocelots (a mother and son). There was a bush dog from South America
too.
We saw two kinds of toucans, masked lovebirds from East Africa and
Eclectus Parrots from Australia where the males are bright green and
the females are bright red and purple. Originally they were thought
to be 2 different species. And there was a white cockatoo.
The park then gave us lemonade or fruit punch (free), and a chance to
buy souvenirs and go to the bathroom. I bought a bottle of water
which cost only $1 although it costs $3 on the boat. So my thirst was
quenched at least.
Most of the rest of the tour the guide pointed out various plants on
St. Maarten. She also passed various plant parts and pictures around
so we could see them sort of like a 7th grade field trip. There are
two main kinds of cactus which are quite evident, the Pipe Organ (C.
Peruvianus) and Turk's Cap. There is also a tree (A. Lebbeck) which
has long seed pods which they call Mother-in-Law's tongue and a tree
called the cotton tree which has long white fibers with the seeds.
She talked about the various kinds on mangroves (black, white, red and
button), and the coconuts and traveler's palms, but she didn't say
much about the sea g.s. The national flower is a vine with a nice
flower on it, but the guide said not to plant it too close to your
house or it would cover it from view in about two weeks.
We stopped again about 2:00 near Ilet Pinel and Ilet Tintamarre, but
this time it wasn't a place to shop, but just to look at the ocean.
We saw some boys playing cricket, and again the guide pointed out the
two desalination plants, one for each side of the island. The second
tour's guide said that there was a considerable eastern influence in
the island with many shop keepers of Indian descent.
She stopped again after we passed Simpson Bay just to get out and look
at the scenery, and she also let some folks off in Philipsburg who
wanted to stay and shop. I really liked and would recommend this
tour, and Bob tipped the guide which he didn't do for the first tour.
We got back to the boat about 3:15 and crawled back to our room. I
took a shower, and Bob went to the Yacht Club and brought me back a
cookie and a piece of pound cake for lunch. He had ice cream.
We were to leave port at 6, and we went for dinner a little after
5:30. We were at a table with a very nice waitress, but I didn't have
much in common with the people sitting next to us. I have like almost
everyone I've met, but this lady seemed to be on the cruise only to
shop.
For an appetizer I had concord g.s and they had all been cut in
half (the guy next to me said he wouldn't want to be the guy with that
job) which had a delicious sauce. Then I had a very fancy (small)
salad and Bob had split pea soup. I decided to have a steak tonight
as I didn't feel too adventurous. The other options were veal
scaloppine, grilled wahoo, red currant glazed port chop, roast leg of
lamb with polenta stew or Indian vegetable curry. The steak came with
about a 3" piece of corn on the cob (which was very sweet), a double
baked potato and some grilled vegetables. Bob had Apple in a jacket
puff pastry with raisins and marzipan vanilla bean sauce for dessert,
and I just had ice cream.
I was finally successful at sending some email just before we went up
to play progressive team trivia. We have been doing pretty well, but
this is a tournament and we didn't start doing it until the middle of
the week. This time we got 15/20 right. We missed the location of
Whistler's Mother (Louvre), the date of death of Florence Nightingale
(1910), the number of Oscars won by "The Color Purple" (0), and the
name of the first ship without a propeller. I never heard of it.
They wouldn't accept the Ark. We also missed the name of the country
that calls electricity "Hydro" - I didn't think it would possibly be
Canada, because that would give the Canadians such an advantage but
that's what it was.
Between the two of us we took 192 pictures in St. Martin plus some
film pictures because my digital camera was having some problems in
St. Martin which I can't completely correct with the software.
October 31st (Halloween) - I'm hoping that this day at sea will allow
me to catch up a little bit. We are to be in Curacao tomorrow and in
Aruba the next day.
We had a late breakfast, and a late lunch. There are carved pumpkins
all over the ship. It is a little rougher and it rained this morning.
I noticed that the photographer used a palm tree backdrop for some of
the portraits, and they way the ladies are posed, the palm fronts
appear to be coming out of their heads. It looks like they are
wearing hats with big plumes.
I was sitting in the atrium doing email when the photographer was
setting up for the Halloween pictures, and pointed that out to him. I
asked if he did that on purpose or as a joke, and he said no, he
wouldn't joke. Then he looked at me and said "You think that way".
At dinner I had peach compote, Bouillabaisse (which was mostly
mussels), and coq-au-vin, with the Raspberry cheese cake parfait for
dessert. The cheese cake parfait, and the coq au vin were part of the
Cooking Light (Tm) selections. That apparently is a magazine which
specializes in those types of recipes.
Then after dinner, we went to see Geraldine Doyle the Irish
comedienne. She calls her husband (and straight man) "Horizontal".
It was hilarious. The kids on board all dressed up (as did some of the
adults) and went trick or treating. A little 90 year old lady got a
black wig and wore bell bottoms and went as Cher without the surgery.
She won the costume prize The cruise director was GI Joe.
Afterwards we had the trivia and we had the best score of anyone there
- 14 out of 20 correct. We missed the country nearest to Cape Horn
although I tried to tell them that the cape that was nearest to South
Africa was Cape of Good Hope. They also asked what artificial organ a
specific man had invented and it was the kidney although almost
everyone said heart, and one of the players who was a doctor said that
the kidney dialysis machine (which was what the guy invented) wasn't
an artificial organ- it was a machine.
grandma Rosalie
S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html |
115560. St. Maarten (October 30 - Sunday) and October 31st at sea
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