Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own.

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Sunrise, Coffee and Birds

I started out my early morning time drawing and reading, as usual.  I had found a french press coffee maker and I am now a convert. What a great way to brew a cup of coffee.

 

While I faced the sunrise I kept hearing little clicking noises behind me.  I turned around and didn’t see anything. But I did looked up the mountain, away from the sunrise, and saw this amazing sight.  There are some seriously amazing homes up there!

 

 

I turned around after hearing the same sound again and this time I caught the culprits in the act. It had rained the night before so the birds were busy drinking from the gourd bird bath.

 

 

They hung out on one of the succulent tree tops when they were waiting their turn.

 

 

Since it was such a sharp sunny day I wandered around to some of the areas of the cottage I hadn’t seen in the full sun and found this contrasting gem.

 

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A Morning Hike

Linda wasn’t feeling good this morning so I took off to give her some rest time and do an activity she wasn’t all that keen on doing anyway, a hike into the Virgin Island National Park.   I didn’t go nearly as far or deep as I wished I had but it was a fun exploration, nonetheless.  That just gives me a reason to go back another time, right?

As I drove into the area I thought I spotted something in the trees beside the dirt and gravel road.  Can you see it?

 

 

I started the hike at Little Lameshur Bay, just east of Salt Pond Bay, where we had been the day before. I parked at the beach and found this shot waiting for me as I got out of the car.  Perfect.

 

 

Right up from the beach was an abandoned ruins of some buildings. Some looked very old, some old with new repairs (that were still old). How old, I don’t know, but they looked great.

 

 

 

I met two hikers who had just come from where I was headed.  They were happy to be at the beach, ready to transform from hikers to swimmers!  They said the hieroglyphs were underwhelming but some other trails farther on were great.

 

 

As happened yesterday, moving from one part of St. John Island to another can bring you to another world in a flash.  I went from beach to dappled sunlight forested trail in 20 yards.

 

 

I wasn’t sure what the big thing in the tree was, but it wasn’t made by humans and sort of looked like the biggest wasp nest I had ever seen in my life (even though I didn’t see any wasps) so I didn’t hang around to poke at it and find out.  I saw a number of these throughout the day.  I found out later they are termite nests.  I didn’t see the trail of them but I was told that the trail looks like black tar across the path. I am glad I didn’t see them.

 

 

I calculated how much time I had left before I was suppose to be back at the cottage and realized a trip up the mountain wasn’t going to be feasable. I saw a sign for Europa Trail and it looked like it was headed out to a rocky point overlooking the Bay so I took it instead.  

One of the things you do not expect on a Caribbean Island is coming upon a Southwest US desert ecosystem but that is almost exactly what I found as I moved up the trail.

 

 

When I did reach the end it was an amazing view, combining something I would find in New Mexico with a Caribbean picture postcard.

 

 

I found myself WAY up high overlooking 2 bays and a big wide ocean.  I had just started a new book called ‘Wild’ about a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail along in California, Oregon and Washington.  She starts the book with her losing one of her hiking boots off a cliff.  This was fresh in my mind as I put my camera bag down to change lenses. I wasn’t just worried about the cameras but about me slipping as well.  I was VERY careful!

 

 

I took advantage of the distant view to bring out my telephoto lens and take some long distance shots.  This sailboat was 2 bays over.

 

 

On the way back I came across this awesome dead tree, split down the middle. I really wished Linda had been with me at that point so she could pose inside it.

 

 

I also came upon another deer (that is what is in the photo above that is titled, ‘Can you see it?’). This one allowed me to get much closer.

 

 

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VIERS and TEKTITE

As I drove into the Lameshur Bay area I noticed a road going off with a sign saying ‘VIERS’.  It also said ‘Visitors Welcome’ so on my way out I took a detour and went to see what it was.

 

Turns out it’s a combination Environmental Resource and Research Station as well as a camp for local youth.

 

 

The coolest part was a small museum dedicated to an amazing underwater living experiment from the 60s and 70s called TEKTITE.

 

 

 

 

It was amazing to read of it.  You can read more about Tektite here.

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Snorkeling

In the afternoon Linda was feeling better so we picked up some snorkel equipment and headed back to Lameshur Bay to do our first Snorkeling adventure.  We had a small underwater camera (that wasn’t very good) but we had fun poking the small reef area these snorkelers were exploring when I did my hike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I did poke my head up this bird was keeping watch over us.  I assumed he would alert us to any sharks or barracudas!

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 Sunset and Bistro

Finally we headed back to the comfy cottage for a late afternoon nap as the sun set.

 

 

We then headed out to another great meal. This one was at Aqua Bistro right at the bottom of the hill from where we were staying on.  I had a Ponzu Wahoo and it was delicious!

 

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Part 1 – St. Thomas
Part 2 – The Island Cottage
Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay
Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures
Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below
Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids
Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer

 

Tomorrow:  We work hard, kayaking in open water and snorkeling at an isolated beach. And I might see a mermaid.

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