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Published: December 3rd 2007
Halfway up Mt. Scenery
This shot was taken halfway up the trail. We were lucky some of the cloud cleared so we could see some of the view!I've been on Saba now for a while, and there are a lot of things I still have to do and see before I leave. I've already hiked some of the smaller trails, including Spring Bay, Sulfur Mines, Crispeen, and the Ladder. But one trail that has been on my list for a while was Mt. Scenery. You can't come to Saba without hiking it; it's like eating cereal without milk or celebrating the 4th of July without fireworks or washing clothes without detergent - well, you get the idea. It's the mother of all the Saban trails, standing at an altitude of 3,000 feet. The other neat thing about Mt. Scenery is that it's the tallest peak in the Netherlands-Antilles region of the Caribbean. So some friends and I decided to finally hike the trail and see this beautiful jungle everyone was talking about.
We began our journey at 8:00 am early in the morning since it takes a while to hike to the top, and it would be very hot during the afternoon. The temperature was fairly mild at around 75 degrees F when we started. So we went and bought lots of water to keep us hydrated
What in the World is That?
Here's some strange plant that we encountered during our hike...what is it? It definitely looks like something off the set of Jurassic Park. and a few snacks to keep from passing out during the hike.
When we finally arrived at the trail, we were kind of disappointed at first considering the beginning looked just like the rest of our surroundings - long grass, a few flowers here and there, not really anything special. However, about 10 minutes hiking up the trail, we all began to realize the leaves were getting bigger...and bigger and bigger. They were definitely bigger than us and had to be over 5 feet long. As we climbed higher, we began to see strange curled fern plants and other varieties of fern leaves. We also stumbled across a banana tree and picked some to snack on later. As we neared the top of the trail, our surroundings changed drastically. It was like the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opened her front door and everything changed from black and white to color.
The leaves were even larger than before, there were even stranger plants, and the trees were so tall we could barely see the top of them. We were inside a cloud at this point, and everything around us was covered in mist, and the pathway became slippery.
The Tower
This is the infamous "Tower" that sits on the highest peak of Mt. Scenery. It's covered with a thick cloud. It honestly look like the set of Jurassic Park. I was expecting a T-Rex to run out at some point. There were huge iguanas scampering about, snakes, and a field of butterflies. We went through a cave, but it was so muddy we had to put down some huge leaves in order to walk across and not get pulled in by the goo. On our way to the tower, we were able to see the crater of the volcano - after all, Saba is a dormant volcano.
Eventually we reached the top of the tower after a couple of hours of exploring, and it was a sight to see up close. We were used to seeing the tower from a distance, and at that point, it was only a small dot in the sky. The cloud at the top cleared up a bit temporarily, but we were able to see bits of the ocean in the background. It was so beautiful; it looked like an oil painting with the huge white clouds reflecting off of the turquoise water.
I definitely have to say that Mt. Scenery was one of my favorite hikes thus far. I loved the prehistoric
The Volcanic Crater
This was taken near the top of Mt. Scenery. In the background, you can see the remnants of a dormant volcano. The crater is too deep to see from the photo. look of the rain forest and the exotic wildlife it harbored. It was a very surreal experience, and I will most likely hike it again in the future!
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