Tag Archives: Saint Martin

A Walk in Maho

American University of the Caribbean, AUC, Caribbean, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Maho’s a nice part of Saint Martin, and one I’ve never really appreciated. Shopping centers, the casino, sky bars– not a lot to love, in my opinion, especially when it’s pretty much a fake little tourist village that looks nothing like the rest of the island. Actually, though, it’s a pretty nice to place to spend an afternoon. I took a trip through Maho with my dog today, and I enjoyed the simple pleasures I found.


airplane
Maho Village

Other than the huge resort Sonesta, Maho is mostly residential. I’m not sure why you’d call it a village when it’s really a lot of condos, but it’s a pretty nice place to live. Very safe and secure, with a lot of guards and a lot of gates. The one thing that I don’t love is all the big, barking dogs behind those gates. Kito and I decided to leave the resident dogs to their own business and check out the rest of Maho.

Maho Shopping

There’s one main road in Saint Martin, and it runs through Maho. Both sides of the street are lined with spacious sidewalks and places to shop or eat. The boutiques are fun to browse through. There are some nice little souvenir shops with low-priced t-shirts, so it’s a good place to look around if you’re not up for Philipsburg. The clothing stores are beyond my budget, but it doesn’t hurt to window shop.

taco

Maho Eating

There are a lot of places to eat in Maho. A local fave is the pizza shop behind the casino, but I have to admit that I’ve never been there. Three Amigos isn’t bad, but you’ll have better luck at Maho’s best kept secret, Taco Macho. You can find it in the Alegria complex past Sunset Beach. We’ve enjoyed Moomba on a special occasion, although it’s a little pricey. Fig & Bananas is very popular with the wine and tapas crowd, so if that’s your jam, you really can’t go wrong. We’ve also had pizza at Rialto, which is good for a quick lunch. The most popular spot in the area is definitely Sunset Beach Bar, a top tourist destination where you can watch the sun set over the ocean and see planes fly just above your head. Our number one favorite is Gio’s, the gelato place on the corner. Try the cheesecake. It’s delicious.

maho beach

Maho Beach

To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s called Maho Beach or Sunset Beach, but either way it’s a great place to go. During tourist season from October to May, artificial sand expands the beach to accommodate the hundreds of people who wait for airplanes to blow them away. Yes, Maho Beach is that beach– the one where you can get blasted by a 747 jet or stand a few hundred feet below and landing plane.

Today, Kito and I walked to Maho Beach. I’m not really into the whole jet blast thing, but I do love seeing the planes come in for landing at Princess Juliana Airport. Plus, it was a dry day today, so Saba stood out sharply against a clear blue sky in the distance. I love that view. Kito just loves getting attention from all the tourists. Maho Beach is actually an incredibly friendly place to go. I just walked down and sat on the retaining wall with my dog, and lots of people stopped to talk. A few people gave me a quick smile and paused to pet the dog, and one little Dutch girl who was selling watermelon at her lemonade stand gave me a slice for free, just because. Or maybe because I looked homeless. Hopefully not. A tourist from the Netherlands sat down beside me and we talked about our dogs for a while. She’s an agility trainer and her dogs compete in Belgium all the time. We watched the planes for a while before Kito started getting hot and wanted to go home.

If you have time to walk around Maho, why not take an hour or two to do it? There’s a lot of other great things to see on the island, but Maho’s not half bad.

maho
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How to Travel to Anguilla from Saint Martin

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Across the sea from Saint Martin, a thin green line is visible on the horizon. This is Anguilla, Saint Martin’s closest neighbor. Today, I spent some time on the beach near Blowing Point Terminal on Anguilla enjoying the clear blue waters of the British West Indies. Here’s a bit about Anguilla and how to travel there from Saint Martin.

anguilla selfie

About Angiulla

Anguilla is a very flat, very dry (for the tropics) island that is about the same size at Saint Martin. It’s a lot longer and narrower than Saint Martin, and it has only a fraction of its population. At 35 square miles, it only has about 15,000 residents.

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How to get there

To get to Anguilla from St. Martin, you have to take the ferry from Marigot, the capital of the French side. The first ferry leaves at 8:15 AM. It costs $5 at the gate for port tax and another $20 on the boat. I have often wondered what they do to you in you don’t have the $20. Throw you to the sharks? I’d rather not find out.

blowing point

Getting around

As soon as you step off the ferry, you’ll be bombarded by taxi drivers and rental agents. There is no public bus system on the island, so you’ll have to rent a car or take the taxi. A taxi to Shoal Bay Beach at the other end of Anguilla is about $18 per person. I believe a car rental is somewhere around $50-$100 per day. Taxi drivers really take care of their customers, by the way.

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What to do

To be honest, I’m not the expert on Anguilla. Here’s what I know, though. The best beach is Shoal Bay Beach. It’s a mile-long strip of white, powdery sand near a beautiful reef. There are other beaches, too, but it you have to pick one then stick with Shoal Bay. You can also charter a boat to Sandy Island or Prickly Pear Cay, a couple of Cays on the back side of Anguilla. If you decide to go to the capital, The Valley, you’ll find a few points of interest, like the museum and some local food.
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The cheapest trip ever

Sometimes, it’s just nice to get off Saint Martin and do something different. If you want a super cheap day in Anguilla, walk a few hundred yards from the ferry to the beach right beside the Blowing Point terminal. There’s a thin but beautiful strip of sand right there, and you can relax while the crystal-clear water laps at your feet. The view of Saint Martin is something I could look at all day. After all this time on SXM, seeing it from Anguilla is like looking at the earth from the moon.  Your total cost will be $53, and you can even get a snack– there’s a sea grape tree at the edge of the beach. The fruit is  ripe at the end of wet season. If your SXM visa is expiring and you need to get a new stamp, this is the way to go.

sea grapes

As much as I enjoy Anguilla, I’m always happy to go back to my home sweet home. Looking at Saint Martin from afar reminds me how beautiful the island is and how much I love it. From Anguilla, all you can see of Saint Martin is how “the chains of mountains green variously in sunlight sheen.”  It’s an alluring sight that calls me home. O! I love thy paradise, nature’s beauty very nice.

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Driving With Your Brights On, and Other Things That Confuse Me about Sint Maarten

Caribbean, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No two cultures are alike, and you will inevitably be perplexed by any new culture you visit. I’ve been on Sint Maarten for a year (that statement in and of itself deserves a post), and I still don’t really get a lot of the things that go on here.

  1. Driving with your brights on. Headlights are cool, and they’re also perfectly sufficient for seeing where you’re going. I don’t understand why everybody uses their brights here– are they trying to blind the people in front of them? It gets hard to drive after dark without developing a migraine.
  2. Not Swimming. I haven’t met a lot of people from here who like to swim in the ocean. Actually, a lot of them never learned to swim. I find it ironic that the most beautiful reef is within a few yards of the shore, and yet people don’t go in to look at it. I grew up in the desert, and everybody knew how to swim. We dig expensive swimming pools so we can swim in the summer, because we don’t have anywhere else to do it!
  3. Lack of Garage Sales. In the States, we love us some garage sales. And in my old neighborhood, we’d wait all year for that one weekend that our neighborhood association would allow us to hold one. Here, nobody cares what you put out in your front yard, but people apparently don’t sell their stuff there. I think maybe the technology caught up to the island before the garage sale trend, because people list all their old stuff on Facebook classifieds groups.
  4. Accidents. I saw an accident once where a motorcyclist was thrown over the hood of my car when it hit another car. Both of them just recovered and went on their way. I guess that’s pretty typical. Nobody wants to deal with accidents here.
  5. Scary Motorcycling. Motorcyclists pretty much always drive on the center line. I’m really curious what happens when two bikers going opposite directions meet. How do they know if someone’s coming the other way?

If anyone has an explanation to these things, tell me in the comments!

walking near the ocean

One Year Down

American University of the Caribbean, AUC, Caribbean, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, Spouses Organization, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well, we have lived on this island for a whole year now! Ben’s finished his first year of medical school and is now in the his second year, which makes him an “MS2.” With the new year comes new developments and new transitions in sight.

Johnsons

Over the summer, I took a five-week backpack trip to New York, Canada, and Arizona. While I was gone, our lease expired and Ben moved us to a new place about a mile and a half away from our old apartment. I can’t even describe how wonderful this change has been! Not only do I have a washing machine in the apartment, but we traded a black mold infestation for incredible views. We have views of both sides of Saint Martin as well as Anguilla, and the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, Simpson Bay Lagoon, and Mullet Pond. I wake up every day, open the curtains and think, what did I do to deserve this?

rainbow

There are also new hopes for the coming school year. Ben has been invited to participate in a research project on zika, which is important to our island, where zika is a concern. We are in the process of becoming foster parents on the island, and we have an empty bedroom waiting for whoever God chooses to place with us. My writing business has been picking up, too, and I am hoping to get enough credibility to submit articles to more print publications. Kito just hopes to have lots of lazy afternoons watching people from the balcony, and time with her puppy friends.

Labrador and bull dog
Kito and her new friend, Beau

We only have about eight months left on Sint Maarten, and to be honest, I hope it goes slow. It’s hard to think about leaving this place forever. I’m starting to really figure this island out. I’m just learning how an American can legally work, and it doesn’t seem so impossible anymore, if only we were here for longer. Which makes me realize that staying and supporting ourselves could be realistic. I’ve made so many good friends and built a wonderful life on this island. I’ve integrated myself enough that this place really feels like home.

reading

This is how I felt when we left Arizona, though. We had such a great thing going there: the promise of careers, great community, and a sense of just starting to figure ourselves out. And then we picked up and left. I guess that comes with a transient lifestyle. You have to keep starting over and ripping yourself out just when you begin to settle in. I could be sad about it, or I could be thankful for the eight months I have left here. I guess that all I can do it enjoy it and let my roots grow deep anyway.

girls group

I have to keep blooming where I’m transplanted.

Who knows where we’ll be for Ben’s MS3 year? I bet it will be just as wonderful as Arizona or Sint Maarten. I bet we’ll make great friends there and become a part of the community we live in. We probably won’t have ocean views, but there will be other things to love. So I’m not going to worry too much about what happens next year. I’m going to enjoy the next eight months we are here and the three months of Arizona after that. This year is going to be a great year, and I’m going to get everything I can out of it.
flag lady

Little League: SXM vs. Ontario

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When a little league team from the Sint Maarten, Dutch Caribbean (SXM) visits Canada, what do they do? They play hard, of course. I’m so proud of our team, The Daily Herald. They consisted of five 14 or 15-year-olds, five 9 to 11-year-olds, and a six year old. They faced a team of 14 and 15-year-olds without a single qualm, and they dominated on the field. Someday, you might see some of these in the major leagues! Here’s Little King, on of our 10-year-olds, reporting on his team’s game. 

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Today we went to a baseball game, The Daily Herald vs. Blue Jays- St. Catherines.

teams

1st batter: Triston. Walk.

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Triston up at bat

2nd batter, Little King, walked.

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Puppy had no fear. He even made it to first base.

3rd batter Tre hit a single.

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Adonis after scoring a run

4th batter Big King hit the two runs batted in.

“I got two first base, two second base, third, and we won.” Adonis, 12

catching
Skijlaar ready at first

When we got three outs, Triston was the starting pitcher. Little King was the catcher.

“I went 2 for 2 with 2 singles.” -Tre, 14

pitching
Lewis on the mound

 

The ball one could have passed, but I blocked it.

“I was left outfield and the team that we played never hit a pop fly so I didn’t do much.” Theo, 14

catcher
Little King catching

A boy hit the ball. Herald make an error. He ran to second base after the next batter came to bat.

“We had so much fun.” Triston, 9

little league
Big King in the infield

The boy on second, he stoled 3rd. I got the ball and I throw one time.

stealing base
Zack watches his teammate slide into home

We win St. Catherines Blue Jays 11-7.

running

SXM proud.

little league team

Yes, these boys certainly did make SXM proud! Way to represent your country, team. It’s not so much that they won– it’s the hard work they put in and the courage it takes to go up against bigger kids. It’s the good sportsmanship, the encouragement, and the confidence. This team makes me proud all the time! I’m thankful for them and glad I get to be one of their coaches. 

Read Tre’s article on camping

Read Theo’s article on Safari Niagara

Read Tristan’s article on Harriet Tubman

Read Lewis’ article on the Welland Canal Locks

Read Adonis’ article on the Ontario Science Centre

Read Skijlaar’s article on Niagara Falls fireworks and magic

Read Big King’s article on Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist boat ride

 

Emancipation Day!

American University of the Caribbean, Caribbean, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today is a huge national holiday on the island. It is Emancipation Day! On July 1, Sint Maarten celebrates the official end of slavery in the Dutch Caribbean.

Ironically, this is not the date of the true end of slavery. Slavery on the island ended in sometime in 1848, while the date we celebrate is July 1, 1863. Why is this? It’s actually a pretty interesting story.

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In 1863, the French government abolished slavery. This meant that the northern half of Saint Martin gave freedom to their slaves, but the slaves on the southern Dutch side were still in bondage. Naturally, this caused the Dutch slaves to run across the border for freedom. Because this caused a massive disruption in the Dutch side’s productions, the Dutch slaveholders all agreed to release their slaves and pay them wages. Fifteen years later, the Dutch government officially decreed emancipation for all slaves in the Dutch Caribbean, which is what we celebrate today.

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There is a lot of fascinating history about slaves on Sint Maarten that is, unfortunately, not widely known or taught in history books. I only know bits and snatches about brave people making a break for freedom, maroons living in caves and eluding detection for years, and secret conversations in the very salt pond I drive past every day. If you have a chance, it’s worth looking up. I’d love to write historical fiction on some of these people someday, or read somebody else’s. If you any  good sources, please let me know in the comments.
Caribbean on Sale