St. John

This is really an amazing picture. I was sitting on the beach and it started to rain. These people from Germany were in the water and called to me that there were two rainbows. I ran out into the water covering my camera. I saw the rainbows (which I love) and snapped two pictures. When I uploaded them I noticed that I had caught the picture with two birds flying in between the rainbows. How cool is that!

Here I am at Francis Bay hanging out with my new friends from Boston. The water was so clear and pristine. I loved the boats, water, colors, and just absolute beauty surrounding me!

My message says "Merry Christmas Mom and Family." When I went to Paris many years ago a friend and I took a picture with a sign that said "We love Paris and mom too." So I first did the mom part and realized I should probably include my whole family. It's really hard to erase in the sand as you can't write well afterwards so this is what came out. ;)

This is Trunk Bay the first day that I arrived. It is even more spectacular in person!!!

I LOVED St. John! It really is paradise! I took a ferry over to St. John and then an open air taxi to Maho Bay where I was staying. The open air taxi's are kind of like trucks with bench seats that face forward. There are about five benches in the back so they can really load up.

I couldn't check in when I arrive so I left my stuff and headed to Waterlemon Bay. I was told that the snorkeling wasn't good that day because they were having high surf so all the sand was churned up. I didn't take any of my snorkeling stuff with me. It's about a half hour walk and I met some people who were around my age and were staying at Maho Bay. It was so nice that I met them. They were staying until Sunday and I was leaving Saturday. We ended up hanging out a bit every day. It was so nice to have them! They went snorkeling so I was very disappointed I didn't have my gear. I headed on and went over to Coral Bay. It was a very hilly hike and just a beautiful day for it! I went to "Skinny Legs Bar" (cute name) and did a little shopping. I met this man while I was walking over to the bar and I asked him which was to go to get to Coral Bay. He kind of looked at me funny and said "This is it." :) I realized I had asked the wrong question.

I walked over to the other side of Coral Bay and decided not to have their nine dollar sandwhiches. I walked outside and there was my new friends (Amy, James, Anna, Jared, and ...) They had snorkeled a little while and then followed me. We had a little picinic together on the rocks near the water and then headed back to Maho Bay. We caught their dollar bus and then walked the rest of the way. (Great exercise!)

I checked in and found that I had a tent cottage very near the water. I was so excited! One thing I do need to say about Maho Bay is that there are A LOT of stairs. It's basically all of these walkways out of wood (it looks like a boardwalk) and stairs. They have tried to build around vegitation and make it very eco friendly. The tent cottages are built on platforms (that are another boardwalk with gaps inbetween so bugs can climb in) and are permanent. They have electricity, but no refrigeration or water. They did have coolers and water jugs for us to get water. It's all screened in and had shades to lower at night.

I lugged all of my luggage down to my tent cottage (that I will now refer to as my cabin). I think it was about ten flights of stairs and I had to make three trips. I put my stuff down and opened up my luggage to get out my shower stuff and left my luggage open. I went to the community restrooms/showers to find that they there were only cold showers. Brrrrr!!!! When I got back to my cabin there were cockroaches running all over and in my luggage. It totally freaked me out!!! I was already a little spooked because the waves were so loud outside, but there was no other noise and it was so dark and there really weren't any people around me.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep that night. I got up and four and packed all of my stuff, cleaned the cabin as instructed, and went to the check-in area to ask for a new room when they opened at 7:30. They were very accomodating and kind. In stages they gave me a map with all the tent cottages that were open. I went up and down so many stairs that the next day my calves were killing! I exercise on a regular basis too. I decided on a tent cottage way away from the water as that is what kept me up. It was just so loud and irregular as it crashed at different times-not constant. I keep jumping as it would startle me. (Yes, even with my earplugs.) My cabin ended up being by my friends.

The next day I snorkeled with some new people I met-a couple from Chicago. We snorked at Salt Pond. I have been so spoiled from Fiji as nothing has been as good. It's been a big disappointment. I am learning to just enjoy what I do get to see.:)

The next day (partly because of my sore calves) I went to the most famous beach in St. John-Trunk Bay and just enjoyed the beach. It was so beautiful! Afterwards I went into town. I hiched a ride with some nice people (mother and son) at the beach. (It's so fun--you can hitch rides here and it's safe.) As they dropped me off and I was walking towards the shopping area I hear my name. I thought--no one knows me here. I look around and my friend Amy from Maho was there. It was so funny to find someone I knew.

The one thing I purchased that is worth mentioning is a sailboat sail bag. It's made out of sails from sail boats that have sailed around the world.

This blog is getting way too long! So..to sum up...St. John was spectacular! I went to some other beaches and snorkeled some more. I met some very nice people from Massechusetts and we eneded up talking for hours. It was just so fun and enjoyable! I really want to go back and stay there for longer. I loved staying at Maho Bay (except for the bugs!!!!!) because I met tons of people and just had so much fun.