Blogs from Saint Martin, Central America Caribbean

Saturday 12th March, 2016. Phillipsburg, St Maarten M woke up this morning to find both her eyes 'glued' shut with muck. After bathing with warm water she managed to open the left one. The right one was not quite so co-operative. D went to see what the situation was with tender tickets for Gustavia. He took one look at the sea and said to Georgia "this isn't happening is it?" her reply was that it was unlikely but not to say anything to anyone until the official announcement. About an hour or so later the Captain came on and announced that it was too rough to tender and the stop was going to be aborted. Luckily D hadn't even bothered to queue as he already knew the score. The upside to this was that we would ... read more

Chris’ Birthday!!! St Maartens is the smallest island in the world inhabited by two countries and it was divided in 1648! Docked at 8.00am and off the ship by 9.00am! We had decided to hire a car for the day (US$85) so picked up the first one we came across outside the Port area and headed off towards Dawn Beach and Orient Bay. Somehow managed to get lost, but we did nearly run over a couple of huge iguanas, stopped and discovered a pond with about 30 or so iguanas hanging around!! Ended up back on the main road, masses of white butterflies about (looked like snow!!) and headed on north, crossing over into the French side of the island! Stopped at Baie de L’Embouchure (I think!) and climbed up to the whale watching platform to ... read more

Photos for this trip can be found through this link. Not much to say about our last day, but, of course, I won't let that stop me. There is only one photo of the day, and it was one we were waiting for all week. Even before we arrived, Ray said we would see an island or two from our Belair balcony, and so far he was really questioning his memory. Isn't it curious how much we blame on age? If a 40-year-old forgets something, his friends will suggest it's an age thing. When he's 60, he'll believe it himself. By the time he's 90, he comes to expect it. Whenever I forgot something when I was younger, I'd always suggest I remember that I did when I got older. Now, whenever I forget something, I ... read more

Photos for this trip can be found through this link. We took a rather relaxed approach to the morning, knowing that the bigger planes we wanted to catch coming into Princess Juliana Airport would arrive later in the afternoon. We stretched out our balcony breakfast, did some photos –me of France and Ray of yesterday's catch-- then spent some time getting to know Patsey, our housekeeper for the week. It's always fascinating to get to know how others live their lives, especially in such a different part of the planet that requires a different approach to life. So many similarities exist among the various differences that one would conclude that the only thing different is the sameness. After Ray spread out the two pieces of art he purchased yesterday at the Marigot Market, he decided he ... read more

Photos for this trip can be found through this link. This morning I woke up and Ray was still sleeping. I decided to make a quick gallery of our suite for his daughter Lisa who was gracious enough to share this wonderful place with us. Her normal suite is 406, but, because of the change of week we had to make, we stayed in 404. She was curious to see any differences. When I was done, I looked back out toward the ocean. Ray had been telling me that on a clearer day we'd be able to see a couple islands on the horizon, but the weather of late prevented any such visibility. Magically there it was. No, not the island, but a beautiful rainbow arching over the hill on our right. As I hurriedly setup ... read more