St. Maarten is an interesting island for several reasons. First, it is one of the few islands in the world to contain two different countries. Half of the island is French, the other half is Dutch. According to the taxi driver, the local schools teach five different languages, including the ever-present patois. He spoke a total of seven different languages, giving him an advantage over all of us.
The other reason this island is interesting is that it is a true desert island. There are no rain forests here, rather, the island is covered by cactus. The driver told us that it does frequently rain, but the rain only lasts a few minutes. It is enough to keep the island green, but not enough for a rain forest.
We took the Duck tour on St. Maarten. This unwieldy looking vehicle, found in many ports, is part bus and part boat. After drivng around the island for a while, we entered Stimson Bay and threaded our way through the yachts. On our way back to the ship, we had views of several nice beaches, one of them almost deserted.
After returning to ship and dropping off our youngest daughter, we boarded a water taxi and took the oldest daughter shopping in downtown Philipsburg.
The streets were narrow, bargains were plentiful, and the people very friendly. While the temperature was a pleasant 86 degrees, the relentless sun made it feel much hotter.
It was good to get back to the ship to have cold iced tea. Several passengers were a bit late returning to the ship, but fortunately the ship waited for them. They received an ovation from onlookers on the Carnival Valor, parked next to us.
Copyright © 2008 by Dana Cline
Last updated on 7/8/2008
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