No Damage to St. Maarten!

Today made up for everything that yesterday was not, and that included ambience, interest, safety, dry knickers and a small, 20 person tour on an air-conditioned bus carefully guided by "Oscar the Friendly Grouch."  Not only was Oscar funny, he was also careful, personable, and extremely generous with the large cooler full of soft drinks, beer and rum punch.   In his lilting Caribbean accent he explained that he was contractually obligated to return with the cooler on empty so of course we all did our best to ensure he didn't get fired.

St. Maarten is both beautiful and fascinating, with half being owned by the Dutch and the other by the French.   With the exception of different passports and tax systems, they two halves of the island enjoy a solid friendship and thanks to the cultural blend, you can hear the music of Dutch, French, Spanish, English or Papiamento all around you.  We dined on coconut shrimp/garlic shrimp/curried goat at "Sandy's", on the French side, a wonderful lunch made even merrier by the mojitos that were jammed with island lime and mint.

Have you ever Googled "Airport, St. Maarten"?   Give it a whirl and have a look at the beach we stopped at - the huge jets arrive screamingly low, just barely clearing the beach and then literally touching down just across the road.   This thrilling event is repeated frequently throughout the day and attracts thousands to the beach (especially the beach bar).   It was stomach-dropping.

Best of all though were the butterflies.   We noted them flitting around the second we landed on the Island, and they were ever-present no matter where we were.  Oscar said there is a particular pink flower that attracts them, and as it was in bloom there were literally thousands and thousands of butterflies everywhere.  Iguanas perched from treetops and on fence posts looking seriously regal in every color - green, orange, firey red.   And meandering along the roadways were herds of goats, looking for all the world like a bunch of bearded schoolkids out for a regimented walk.  

Shopping is great - and duty free.  I've stocked up my perfume and managed to find whole nutmeg and cinnamon, no doubt imported from Grenada but who cares, it's all Caribbean.

We are literally sailing into the sunset right now, leaving the beautiful harbour behind us.   Now there are two days at sea before returning to Ft. Lauderdale and a few more days in Florida.   We all agreed that we definitely saved the best until the last with beautiful St. Maarten's.