vacation

a few random photos from my last vacation...

Malmok Beach, Aruba.  This is near the northern part of the island, a favorite spot for kite and wind surfers.

1000 steps, Bonaire--a wonderful place to scuba or snorkel (I snorkeled.)  It not quite a 1000 steps down to the beach, more like 70.  It's coming back up with tons of gear that makes it seem like 1000!  The world that awaits below the sea is a wonder!

the beach at the bottom of 1000 steps

back to Aruba's southern end at Baby Beach, so named because the water is very calm

ahh...nothing like watching the sun sink into the water at the end of the day!  If you look closely you will see a pelican floating in the water just below and to the right of the sun.

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny is so much fun!  This week our assignment is letter "V."  Come see others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!


photos by me © 2015    all rights reserved

nautical

Sint Maarten, NA, Caribbean during the Heineken Regatta race

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is  "N."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!  


 
photo by me  © 2014   all rights reserved

beautiful view: Happy Bay

Last week I posted a photo of umbrellas behind a rock on Happy Bay.  This week I'm showing you more views of this beautiful beach.

To get to Happy Bay (Anse Heureuse) on the French side of St. Martin, one must first go to Friars' Bay.  At the far end of this beach, there is a path through the trees and over a few rocks.  It's about a 10 minute fairly easy hike.  

almost there.  But first go through this gate:

Say hello to the cow and bull.

(See the horns?!)


arrived!

Look closely at the middle of the far right and you will see the blue and white striped umbrellas.  The rock cairns are in front of them.
I believe that people simply enjoy stacking rocks, so when they come to the beach and see them available they begin.  Someone else sees a cairn and makes one, too.    
             

Piles of rocks are exposed on the beach and in the water at one end of this crescent of golden white sand.

LINKS:
Uncommon Caribbean 
a few photos
Rum Therapy more photos showing the beautiful beach as well as parts of the path 

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "V." Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!  









photos by me  © 2014  all rights reserved  (Some are iPhone.)

quiet

a quiet beach somewhere on St. Maarten

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "Q." Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! 


 

photo by me  © 2009   all rights reserved

Hell (Grand Cayman)

Welcome to Hell...Hell, Grand Cayman, that is!

How did Hell get its name?  That is the question of which legends are made.  

photo © by Sreejithk2000  

There is a large field of unique limestone formations (ironshore) in this small town.  Over a period of many years, coral, shells, and other skeletons of sea life were solidified by limestone and salt deposits into this formidable landscape.  Some say this is what Hell would look like.   Some say if you throw a pebble into the formations, you can hear it rattling all the way down to Hell.
 

This is the gift shop.  Nearby is the post office where you can send "postcards from Hell."

Don't park here!

LINKS: 
◊  Hell's Gifts and Souvenirs
◊  a little blurb on Hell and Grand Cayman by Richard Bangs (Huffington Post)
◊  2.25 minute video by Shane O.  (travel channel)  View the entire area and hear the devil himself, Ivan Farrington, speak about one of the legends.

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter  is "H."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! 



photos by me  © 2011     all rights reserved

umbrellas

 The perfect place to be on a cold snowy winter day!

Sint Maarten, Netherland Antilles/Saint Martin, French West Indies

LINKS to past posts on St Maarten:

(mostly for my benefit, but if you wish to see only a few more photos, click on any of the links marked with ◄)

ONE  maps of the island + a couple photos 

TWO  sunset

◄ THREE  Baie Longue/Long Beach

FOUR  bird  

◄ FIVE  Cupecoy

SIX Pointe de Bluffe

SEVEN Sunset over Cupecoy 

EIGHT  Sint Maarten (planes flying over beach) 

NINE sunset

◄ TEN Sail Away (#1)

ELEVEN  Sint Maarten kitties 

◄ TWELVE  island

◄ THIRTEEN  Sail Away (#2)

This is a fun weekly meme, under the direction of Jenny Matlock.  This week, our letter is "U."  Come and join HERE.  You will be amazed at all the bloggy goodness to be found!  

photos by me © 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010



PS:  I am on vacation.  (Yes, somewhere warm!)  I will visit you upon my return.

island

of Sint Maarten, Netherland Antilles/Saint Martin, French West Indies

Pointe de Bluff

entrance to Baie Lounge

Pelican Bay

St. Maarten, a Caribbean island, is the smallest landmass shared by two independent countries--The Netherlands in the South, France in the North.

This is a fun weekly meme, under the direction of Jenny Matlock.  This week, our letter is "I."  Come and join HERE.  You will be amazed at all the bloggy goodness to be found!  Here is Ms. Matlock's submission.



photos by me (except map) © 2007 and 2008,  all rights reserved

Sail Away (#1)

Cupecoy Beach in Sint Maarten, Netherland Antilles 

I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

 

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. 

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

 

~John Masefield

other Cupecoy posts:

Sunset over Cupecoy
St. Maarten (Cupecoy) 
St. Maarten (sunset)

photo by me © 2010

sunset: SkyWatch Friday

on a Caribbean island

It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream. ~Bern Williams

 

Come join this awesome meme SkyWatch Friday and link up!  SkyWatch Friday is hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.

PS:  I found the above quote on Sylvia's blog.
I urge you to go visit for a real treat! 

photo by me © 2010

St Maarten (the maps)

I'm off on a much needed vacation! So I will be personally awol for a week. When I get back, I'll have much catching up to do, but in the meantime, here I am!

Sint Maarten/Saint Martin is a beautiful island in the Caribbean, half Dutch, half French. It has many gorgeous beaches, some very secluded, some rockin'. I will be staying on the Dutch side in the south on Pelican Key. I was here last year in February (and several times prior as well), so I will be posting photos from those visits.

There is a beach bar here called Sunset Bar. You can see it here on the left. This is a great place to wait for your plane to leave after you've checked in.




St Maarten is famous for planes flying right over Maho beach into the airport. They seem to come dangerously close.











photos by me © 2007 and  2008