Last day in St. Marten / St. Maarten

Our last day in St. Martin / St. Maarten was a bit sad simply because we weren't ready to leave. We started our day like any other day at the resort, then had a group meeting where we discussed what time we needed to check-out which was 10 am. So my sister, our friend, the pastor, his wife and I decided to go into town to do some last minute shopping.

Whilst in town, we saw a lot of things that we wanted to buy that wasn't seen before. It's rather funny how when you're in a rush you see almost everything you want. But whilst shopping, hunger struck and the decision was made to stop by the best jerk chicken place in Phillipsburg which was "The Original Jerk & Roti House" located on Back Street. After eating, the shopping continued without us noticing the time and upon realizing the time, the pastor and his wife decided that they wanted to do more shopping and asked us to give them five minutes again.

Seven minutes passed and the pastor and his wife weren't anywhere in sight, so my sister, our friend and I decided to leave because time was running out. We frantically looked for maxi to carry us back to the resort, and whilst on the way, the drawbridge was opening up again to allow boats coming in for the Heineken Regatta, so we were stuck in traffic for a while which didn't help our situation. Upon reaching the resort we were told our keycards were unregistered because we missed the check-out by two hours.

The shuttle driver had to escort us to our rooms for us to gather our stuff and once we got into our room we changed our clothes and proceeded to check-out. When we got to the airport, there was a problem being that the flight was overbooked so some individuals had to stay back. Earlier on in the day my sister and I checked in online so we didn't have that problem.

Once our luggage was taken, we ventured around the airport and took pictures, bought food and looked back at our adventure on this beautiful Caribbean island. All in all, it was a vacation well spent and if given the opportunity to go back to St. Martin / St. Maarten, I'd be back there in a heartbeat. The next place I'll be visiting will most likely be Costa Rica.

                                                               THANK YOU
For all the support and encouragement which allowed me to bring THIS CHAPTER of the blog to completion.

Swimming with the fishes

One of our goals when going to St.Martin was to try out some of the water sports that they provided. There was scuba diving, snorkeling, wave boarding, and jet skiing amongst others that we thought about doing. Whilst in St.Martin, we did everything and almost forgot what it is we really wanted to do, so on the second to last day got up early, I prepared breakfast and then headed to the lobby and arranged to go snorkeling for 1:30 pm. After making the arrangements to go snorkeling, my sister, her friend and I made our way into town to do some more shopping.

As time went, quickly realized that we needed to make our way back to the resort and gather the necessary stuff to go snorkeling. On the way back, we got stuck in traffic simply because of the drawbridge that had just opened up to allow the boats that were passing through coming in for the Heineken Regatta. As we sat there, waiting for the bridge to close we watched the time go from 12:00 to 12:30 and then 12:30 to 1:00 and then the bridge had begun to start to close.

 It was at this moment that we knew that there was a high probability that we would miss our trip to go snorkeling. Upon reaching to the resort we ran like we've never ran before to gather our stuff to make it to the harbor. Making it down to the harbor, at exactly 1:28 pm we rushed to get registered only to find out that the captain was running a little late.Once the captain arrived, we loaded the boat and made way to the snorkeling point. On the way, we met two people who were friendly and we all got along making the trip even better.

Upon reaching our destination, we geared up and went snorkeling.For those who have never snorkeled before, it is something you must absolutely put on your to-do list and is a site to behold.

After snorkeling, we made our way back to the resort, but before that, we made a brief stop at a nude beach because my sister and I jumped off the boat swam to the shore then back to the boat again. It was daring and brave to jump off the boat and swim all the way to the shore, only to swim back to the boat which was FAR from the shore but nonetheless it was an experience.

After swimming back to the boat, we kept on moving until we had reached to the drawbridge mentioned earlier on in this post. The drawbridge had opened to allow more Heineken Regatta competitors in from all parts of the world, like South Africa, Russia, Italy, Uruguay, Puerto Rico amongst many other countries. Upon reaching back to the resort, we took a group picture to remember that day and the new friends we made.

 

Going to Anguilla

Anguilla is the northernmost island of the Leeward Island, located about 270 km east of Puerto Rico, and just north of the island of St. Martin, in the Eastern, sharing maritime borders with Antigua and Barbuda and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Formerly a British colony and briefly united with St.Kitts and Nevis in 1967, now being a self-governing dependent of the UK. Territory consists of the main island of Anguilla and a number of uninhabited smaller islands and cays. (This information is not mine, but was taken from Nations Online )

Before we got onto the boat, we had to get our passports checked at the immigration office before we could set foot on their boat, which made sense seeing that we were entering into a totally different country. As aforesaid, we had a big group which meant that we had to wait a while to get everyone checked at the office, so in the mean time, my sister ( check out her blog @ sojournsofacaribbeantraveller.blogspot.com ) and I decided to take a few pictures to kill the time.

Whilst on the way to Anguilla, our group was so big we needed two boats,so the captains decided to race to Anguilla which was absolutely fun to experience. Reggae music blasting, people singing,screaming and the captain laughing oh what a day this was!

Once we got over to Anguilla, there was a a mix up because our transport got our times wrong so we had to sit and wait for a while before they came, but that didn't stop us from exploring the area, checking out the souvenir shops and taking pictures. From all the pictures that we've taken on this trip the pictures we've taken in Anguilla were some of the best.

Once our transportation had arrived, we got a tour of the rather small island. The driver carried us to a hotel, that being the Four seasons where he said many famous individuals like to get away from life and hideout. After the tour, we had were taken to shoal bay where we spent the rest of the day and ate food from Gwen's Reggae Bar & Grill where every Sunday there would be live entertainment and it so happened that we were there on a Sunday. So we took a dip in the extremely salty water and then came back out and got our food to eat.  

After bathing in the beach and changing back into our clothes we sat down ate and listen to reggae music enjoying the wonderful sea breeze. The music was so good that people started to dance and it was really nice to see that music could bring people who've never met before get along like they were long time friends.

Visit to Marigot

Whilst Phillipsburg is the capital for St.Maarten on the (Dutch side), Marigot is the capital for St.Martin on the (French side). Our visit to Marigot allowed us to cross the border. Whilst crossing the border, the tour guide (Mr. Coolguy) made a joke stating that individuals who didn't have their passports on hand would have to exit the bus and walk back, as they wouldn't be allowed to cross the border.

Individuals who didn't have their passports started to worry about the impending situation that would soon face them. Mr. Coolguy started to laugh and said it was a joke they pull on all tourist that take the tours. As the tour went on, we were shown historical statues and sites as well as places of interests. Mr. Coolguy also informed us there were 37 beaches in total on the island both private and public. Also informing us of the country's national drink which is guava berry liqueur

Upon our arrival to Marigot, we were granted an hour to explore the surroundings. Mr. Coolguy pointed out some places of interest, those being Fort Louis, West Indies shopping mall, local stores, the world clock and the Carnival village.

When the allotted time was up, we made our back to the Dutch side. On the way, we came across this site seen in the video. Also, Mr. Coolguy also mentioned to us that there were several "Adult Entertainment" businesses like El Capitan & Casa Blanca also stating that adult entertainment businesses were illegal on the French side and that it was only allowed on the Dutch side.

Night life in Simpson Bay

On this given night, the group decided to go for a night stroll and to get ice cream at Carousel: Bar & Gelateria, that crafts authentic Italian gelato made with ingredients imported from Italy aside from the fresh island fruits. Even boasting their signature Carousel Sundae, made with creamy chocolate, fresh island fruits, and whipped cream.There was a wide selection from classic gelatos, homemade ice cream, sandwiches, sundaes, sorbets, crepes, pastries, cakes along with thick shakes even alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages.

After leaving Carousel, we decided to walk along the road and view the night life in Simpson Bay. Along the way, we came across several Italian restaurants (Sale&Pepe), Bakeries (The Taste factory),  pizza galleria (Pizza Italy ) and numerous night clubs. Passing each one made us hungry simply because the food smelt so good it was hard to resist, despite that we kept on walking until we came upon a draw bridge where we all stood and embraced the sea breeze and watched the enormous fishes that swam under bridge. After watching those fishes for a while, we decided that we'd catch some fish and cook them, but that idea was instantly shut down as we were told that fishing from the bridge was illegal.

After getting our hopes crushed, we kept on walking until coming across a particular building that caught all of us by surprise, simply because it was right out in the open on the MAIN ROAD showing in all it's glory. That's right, an adult entertainment business right in the open at the same time a couple of locals came walking in our direction, so we asked about business and they said, "There are adult businesses all over on the Dutch side and it was legal in every way, and that after a while you get use to it". 

That was shocking to us, none the less we kept on walking until the majority of the group heard about a free concert that was beginning at 11 pm in Maho Bay and decided to go. My sister and I opted to walk back and pick up dinner on the way to the resort, stopping at Lee's Roadside Bar & Grill

 

Shopping in Phillipsburg pt.2 ( St. Maarten- Dutch Side)

Our second visit into Phillipsburg was more interesting than our first visit, simply because this time there were no time limits placed on us, so we were free to do as we pleased. Although we had been shopping in Phillipsburg previously, we decided we'd go back in each store we previously ventured in and take our time viewing what the stores had to offer.

Deciding to venture onto front street, to see what it had to offer and what was affordable because as previously mentioned in "Shopping in Phillipsburg pt. 1 " front street is for those who have money to spend freely without hesitation. Upon walking through front street and looking at each store, we happened to hear waves crashing and was wondering where exactly it was coming from, so we became curious and decided to follow the sound and we did which led us to this lovely beach.

The beach was absolutely beautiful and we were amazed that such a beautiful beach could be in the TOWN area. Upon asking around for the name of the beach, we were told it's name Great Bay Beach. We were simply amazed to the fact that there was a beach in the capital of the Dutch side of the island. As the day went on our bags got heavier and heavier with each store visited, but despite that, excitement had us going. At this point in time, finding a souvenir store was our objective which we did find buying some souvenirs as well as taking a few pictures.











After leaving the souvenir store, we walked around town finding the court house on the Dutch side, which at first looks like a regular house. Also learning about the historic courthouse which was built in 1793, being renovated several times over the years from being used as a jail, a fire station and post office, but is solely used today as a court of law.

Shopping in Phillipsburg pt.1 ( St. Maarten- Dutch Side)

Whilst on our way to town, we were told by the bus driver that there are two main areas for shopping on the Dutch side being front street and back street located within close proximity of each other hence their namesake.

We were given a time limit of 4 o'clock and a general area to meet up to get the Maho bus back to the resort. We began by shopping on back street and we were amazed by the prices that were offered to us, once we told the store owners that we were Trinidadians they reduced their prices simply out of kindness. To our amazement, there were several Trinidadians working in some of the stores and even suggested several stores for us to visit. Shopping on back street was absolutely wonderful and wish I could go back to do all my shopping.
My sister and I (visit her blog @Sojournsofacaribbeantraveller.blogspot.com) ventured into a Converse store to view the shoes and one caught her eyes. Upon viewing the shoes she decided to price it, which cost 60US and upon hearing the price, she said it's ok and we began to walk out the store.The owner began to bargain until he dropped the price to 50US and she bought it. The reason for mentioning this experience is to showcase that store owners would lower their prices (for tourists) just for the purpose of a sale and still be genuinely kind towards their customers.

The pictures above shows the top of back street, it probably doesn't look like much in the pictures but viewing these streets in person is something totally different. Next, we'll move onto front street in all its glory.Back street is for individuals who are on a budget, whilst front street is for those who have money to spend freely without hesitation. On front street, one can find literally any and everything you could possibly think of or want but at a steep price. For example, stores like Victoria Secret, Bvlgari, Pandora and Kay jewelers. 

 These are just a few pictures of front street. As we walked through just for the sake of walking to see what it was all about, the time drew closer for us to leave, but on the way back to the designated meeting area, we happened to come across some live entertainment and decided to take a video of the wonderful rendition of Ed Sheeran's song-Thinking out loud.