The trip started out rather ominous, with too much wind, some rain, and the requisite dinghy mishap. I won't go into the dinghy problems; it did get resolved, and in the meantime gave us a couple days of exercise, rowing ashore. During part of the four days on St. Martin we rented a car and I gave the kids a tour of the island. The Butterfly Farm was a good place to start, thanks to Mike's suggestion! The sun was out at that time, and so were the butterflies. I saw butterflies that I had never seen before. We also walked around Marigot, on the French side, a couple times, and explored the grounds of the old fort. We anchored off Grand Case for this part of the trip.
On Tuesday we headed out to Saba, with fair weather initially. The seas got a bit lumpy though, and we were all glad to make it into the lee of Saba and pick up a mooring. Saba is a rather dramatic, small, cone shaped island (Dutch). It was, like most other Caribbean islands, a volcano. Many years ago though, its dome collapsed. So, when you hike the mountain you do not see a caldera, as it is not active at all. It is all covered with thick tropical rain forest-like vegetation, some open fields of tall grasses and trees, and then on the windy side, a more arid clime and less vegetation. Mike and I love Saba, despite its fairly unprotected mooring field. Getting ashore can be a real (wet) adventure, but the hiking and the friendliness of the people are unsurpassed. We rented a car for a day to be able to show the kids the entire island, and then spent a couple days hiking, and diving.
Rachel and I went diving with Mike (BIG Mike, from Saba Deep Dive Shop) for two beautiful dives one morning. I had always wanted to dive Diamond Rock, a tall pinnacle that juts up above the water off the coast. We did a shallower dive (40-60ft.) first that was really awesome in the HUGE variety of sea life and beautiful coral. Then Diamond Rock, which was great for the dramatic wall of corals. I am really almost more impressed with the shallower dive. It was truly a wonderful underwater garden, but any chance I get to breath underwater is awesome!
The hiking on Saba is the other main attraction. The vegetation is always amazing. The LARGENESS of some of the plants takes my breath away. The huge exotic looking tree ferns seem prehistoric. Saba is always on my list of places to return to for more, as I never get to all the trails there are! The trails are fairly well maintained by the well organized trail association. I have always wanted to take Rachel and Rob and Hayden hiking on Saba, and now I finally have! We criss-crossed the island, seeing all sides, and even getting a view of Statia in the distance on a clear day. There were lots of flowering plants, and the banana plants were in bloom. I was sorry we kept missing lunch time at the Eco-Lodge, but Scout's balcony was a great respite and good food.
Of course the weather changed, and when it was time for our trip back to St. Martin of course it was lumpy, again. Thanks to the guys who stayed up all night, Rachel and I managed to sleep through the worst of it. Hayden never seemed bothered by the seas. And when we got back to St. Martin, we gave him a couple sessions of beach time, as Saba does not have any sandy beaches! It is all rock and steep shorelines.
Although the weather could have been better, the company and the meals were wonderful. Rob brought us delicious meats from D'Artagnan, so we ate like kings and queens. I loved showing them Saba, and just having them aboard Island Flyer. Hayden never once complained with all the hiking. Mike was a very gracious host to us all! And at least Rob got one dry dinghy ride at the very end!
