Day 7: St Maarten

Today we make our first stop of the trip . . . yea . . . it is a great moment when the boat finally stops and you can get off to explore.

Notice how small all the people standing on the dock look!  We have never been to St Maarten so even more exciting.  I am a firm believer in taking excursions with the cruise ship . . . I always fear being late and missing the boat . . . but if on one of the ship's excursions they will wait for you!  However, they are usually crowded and more expensive so today I decided to go out on our own and booked a private tour with Bernards.  It would just be the four of us and our driver, David.  We made our way to the meeting area and within 5 minutes were on our way in a nice air conditioned van!  David had a plan for our day or we could tell him where we wanted to go . . . since he was the expert we let him just show us the entire island!  Saint Maarten is unique in that it is controlled by two countries, the Dutch and the French.  No passport checks or anything but there was an armed guard present when passing from the Dutch to French side.  They say the French side is quiet but has great food while the Dutch side is the hopping party side of the island.  I thought both sides were beautiful!  Our first stop was to meet Calvin a local sea urchin expert.  He was so fun and learned about sea urchins and even held some too . . .

  

This is Calvin . . . he thought it would be hilarious to put an urchin on my neck too . . .

We continued on while David was giving us great information and history of the island.  The next stop was all for Colin . . .

"Look Mum, I found me a pet!"

Ummmm, yeah NO!  I was not amused at all and was constantly watching over my shoulder and at my feet!  There were hundreds of iguanas running around; hundreds!

On our way we continued, when the van stopped, the guide ran into a field, and returned shortly with this . . .

. . . do you know what it is?  If you guessed a cashew fruit you would be correct!  Now I know why cashew nuts are so expensive.  We learned that the fruit (yellow part) is used to make jams.  We finally reached Orient Beach where we would spend the next hour or so hanging out and enjoying the beautiful views and crystal clear waters . . .

. . . just amazing!

Last year we were gifted a GoPro and this was our first time to use it.  I have hundreds of photos like this . . .

At least he did take a couple of someone other than himself!

I did not want to leave the beach, but the tour continued.  We were getting a bit hungry as we pulled into Marigot (French side).  We grabbed a sandwich at Sarafina's Bakery . . . an amazing French bakery in the middle of the Caribbean.  Oh and a cream puff too . . .

We then went to the market to walk off our meal and to just see what was there.  Back on the road towards our final stop.  Our guide was very interesting . . . he had a vast knowledge of the island and stories too.  He talked about how he was a driver for the non rose receiving men on the TV show The Bachelorette when the show was filmed in St Maarten!  Our final stop is on the Dutch side at Maho Beach.  Doesn't mean anything?  Well the beach is know for how low the planes are when they land at the airport . . . it almost feels as if you could reach up and touch them.  The beach on left and runway starts at the fence to right of sign . . .

It is pretty amazing and there were hundreds of people watching!   Plane approaching . . .

. . . overhead faster than I can snap a second photo . . .

. . . landed . . .

. . . people idiots actually stand on the fence grasping tightly to feel the jet rev it's engines as it prepares to take off . . . I was amazed at how strong the blast really were and we were standing off to the side!

I might add the while the beach was small it was beautiful too.  I think Colin was more interested in the beach than the planes!  

. . . and just like that we were back at the cruise ship!