For some odd reason...the taxis and some of the restaurants blast Country music. Not any Country music..but the vintage 1970's cry in your beer kind o'country music. Rafe knew all the words and sang along, as I sat wondering where the hell was the calypso? Even the ferry taking us to St John blared the same music.
We rented a Jeep. Thank goodness. You'd think growing up in West Virginia that you would be immune to being scared by twisty turny hilltop roads. Ok, Imagine if you will, a roadway designed by Dr. Seuss. Pl ace it in a tropical setting. Shave off about a foot off of each side. Now, lay this tangled heap of asphalt up over hillsides and beautiful tree lined cliffs. I chose to focus on the blacktop.
I marveled at the smoothness of the road. No potholes, or even road kill or fur was stuck on the pavement. I didn't see one Opossum, polecat, regular cat, or snake splayed out across the road. We did see some tiny little deer a few evenings lingering around the cottages and towards the beach.
Several evenings we noticed the dog-sized deer milling around . They were fairly tame, and did not run off, but did keep their distance. After dinner, we could stroll down to the beach for an evening swim. The beach was always empty. I do remember thinking..."hmmmm...perhaps there's a reason no one else is here....are we gonna be dinner for something???". Anyway, It didn't stop us. Once we discovered that we were rolling around with bio luminescent plankton, we were hooked. Just waving your hand around underwater would produce a lightning bug effect....only really small flickers of light..
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We grilled out or cooked on the propane cookstove just about every evening. We found a great place to buy fresh fish caught earlier that morning. One of the best meals Rafe fixed was swordfish and a hugh lobster tail that we split. We also had some local vegetable and fruits that worked nicely together. Mango was in season....but I noticed it at WalMart when we returned home..and it looked exactly the same at the market in Cruz Bay. Hummpf.
. Would I camp on the beach again? Maybe ---but not for 7 days.
You have to make peace with 'grit and sand' and God knows what else in the bed.
Unheated showers are quite bracing and near unbearable until about day 3...when you walk around clammy and salty and you just WANT fresh water to rinse you off. I have a better understanding about perhaps why the whole Rastafarian thing is so popular down there...You try brushing out your hair after days of salt and half rinsed out shampoo and other assorted treats.... I was ready to buy one of those handy over-sized rasta berets. Perhaps a rainbow one, with a tiny tassel. I used a WHOLE trial sized conditioner tube the night before we left so I could 'civilize my hair.
The sand was powder soft. The closest thing to a snake I saw was a millipede. The water was as clear and warm as a soaking tub full of water...
If you can make peace with all of the above....cook your own grub....shower outside whilst clad in your birthday suit and flip flops....dine alongside of citronella soaked air.....walk no more than 90 steps to the shore....then you to would enjoy camping on the beach....a tropical beach!
This was a great trip. The water was crystal clear and full of sea creatures that you could easily see, watch, and even photograph. Yes the showers were cold but very refreshing, the tropical nights filled with VERY LOUD crickets, tree frogs, birds... but every minute was great especially if you were well protected with bug spray. The rain showers were short but intense and the thunder storms over the ocean were fantastic. The sun setting in the ocean was awesome.
ReplyDeletePS The pics are great!!!
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