We took a break on the island and met this guy named Frank. He was very nice and he asked if anyone wanted to go in the boat and have a beer. Laurie jumped at the chance and Chuck and I snorkeled.
The boat was anchored right there. Frank had a friend, John, and they asked if we wanted to go for a ride. We decided to go so we could see the island from the water. We had a nice ride and they took us all around the other side to Salt Pond. We had heard the snorkeling was good there. Frank and John had to go back to St. Thomas to get the boat back.
Chuck, Laurie, and I spent the afternoon snorkeling at Salt Pond and got out about 3:30. I didn't know how we were going to get back but luckily there was a bus which we didn't have to wait too long for. To tell you how nice some people are, we were waiting for the bus and a couple with kids in a Wrangler Jeep were going to come back after they dropped the kids off and take us to Cinnamon Bay.
The bus only took us to the Cinnamon Bay Trail. We had to walk down the trail for about a half hour.
I showered and ate, and met Laurie and Chuck at the ampitheater. They had a slide show on the trees and plants on the island. It was an hour presentation and very good. The ranger giving the show was funny. It was very enjoyable.
Laurie went back to the site and Chuck and I went to the beach and checked out the stars.
January 20, 2004
Today we checked out Cruz Bay. There wasn't a bus that comes by here so we had to either hitch, take a taxi, or run up the Cinnamon BayTrail to catch the bus. We decided to run up the hill which wasn't quite a run because it was steep. By the time I got to the top, I was out of breath and had sweat pouring down my face.
We waited a few minutes for the bus and said, why not try to hitch. A nice guy picked us up. He is a dentist from NY. He rotates working between NY and here. We got dropped off at Cruz Bay. We just walked around and stopped at the popular place called Woody's. We had pina coladas and strawberry margaritas (virgin) and shark bites. The shark bites were little pieces of shark (mako) that were cooked in a cajun sauce. They were hot and I couldn't really taste the flavor much.
We then tried to hitch back with some difficulty. A man with a pickup finally stopped and we hopped in the back.
We ate at the restaurant there. It was late and they ran out of a couple of meals, but they still had something to feed us. We ran into David and Judy and had a nice chat. We met a couple of friends that they had made. Everyone is just so friendly and laid back. It is nice.
January 21, 2004
The water finally calmed down. We were able to rent kayaks and go out with our snorkel gear. It was the first time I kayaked. It was fairly easy. The kayaks were a little different as they were open. It made it easy to get into the water from the kayak. I just would kind of roll out. We kayaked to the farther island and snorkeled just about all around it. I still didn't see any sea turtles, but I enjoyed seeing all the fish and plant life.
We kayaked back. We had to get the kayak back by a certain time. I had a hard time keeping the kayak going straight. The wind and waves seemed to be pushing me away. I finally made it back.
For the rest of the afternoon I sat on the beach and used the floats on the water. There was hardly anyone out there and the water was peaceful. I could see schools of minnows jumping out of the water. The sun shimmered against their scales. Every once in awhile you would see a larger fish jump out chasing after the minnows. The pelicans seemed to be competing for them also.
Laurie ran into a guy that she knew from home. John and his friend Henri were staying at Maho Bay, but snorkeling here. They decided to come back here for dinner so we could eat together. Laurie also asked Bruce to join us. It was very nice.
After dinner Chuck and I enjoyed a walk on the beach and finding some more constellations.
January 22, 2004
We didn't have big plans today so we decided to walk to Maho Bay. It is another camping resort in the park. The majority of St. John's is a National Park. It was bought by the Rockerfellows in 1957 to be used as a park.
There are little cabin like places there and they seem very homey. They have a sitting area, kitchen area equipped with a camp gas stove and cooler. There is also a deck. There are boardwalks between the places. The biggest draw back is that there are many stairs to the beach. I liked the place, but it is also more expensive. I do feel though, that Cinnamon Bay is a much more friendly atmosphere.
From Maho Bay we tried to find this walk with boardwalk through the mangroves. We couldn't find it. So we turned around. It was very hot out. Laurie decided to head back to camp. Chuck and I decided to head to Annaberg ruins. This is another sugar mill ruin. Chuch had been here many years ago and he wanted to see how much it had changed.
We walked back and went directly to the beach to cool down. The water was very nice and had picked up some wave activity.
I cooked dinner for Chuck and myself. I told him he could eat better food at the restaurant instead of Lipton dinners. He was sweet and told me he would rather have the nice company with the Lipton dinner.
There was a program after dinner. It was a monologue about what life was like in St. John's many years ago and about Mya Keating. This woman had left St. Johns at the age 14 to go to nursing school in Alabama. It related to the times when they used many of the tree's leaves, bark, and fruit for medicinal purposes.
