So it begins

Rain in the rainforest

Published Date : March 28, 2012

I met my parents in the dining room for breakfast this morning.  The omelettes have a well-deserved reputation on this ship.  Fantastic! 

We had moderate seas last night, but things had smoothed out enough for the crew to open up the bow of the ship this morning.  So after breakfast, my parents and I headed for the bow. A few people were doing the cheesy flying scene photo from the movie, Titanic.  The rest of us enjoyed the sunshine and views as we sailed into San Juan past Fort San Felipe del Morro. 

There was already another cruise ship in port when we docked, but they were just leaving as we pulled in.  I booked an excursion to El Yunque National Forest, but had an hour and a half to explore before it departed.

Again, I was one of the first ones off the ship so there was no wait.  There is a definite European feel to Old San Juan with its narrow streets, Spanish balconies and cobblestone roads.  It was a beautiful warm sunny day – perfect for exploring!

My first stop was the fort we had sailed past.  I love touring historical sites and would have preferred to go inside and explore it thoroughly.  However, I wasn’t sure I would have enough time to do that before my rainforest trip, so I had to enjoy it from the outside.  From the fort I meandered back towards the ship, zig-zagging my way down any street that caught my fancy.  I passed several government buildings interspersed among the apartment buildings and townhouses.  Eventually I found my way to Castillo de San Cristobal, another major fort in San Juan.  In fact, San Cristobal was the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World.  Once again, I wished I could have gone inside to explore, but there just wasn’t enough time.  My first impressions of San Juan are definitely good – this is a place I could easily come back to!

Back at port, I went to the waiting area for my excursion.  So far, it seems my plan of choosing active excursions to avoid the crowds has paid off.  There were only 18 of us doing this hike.  Originally there were more, but our guide, Louis, quickly persuaded some of the older and less mobile guests to switch to the bus tour of the rainforest instead.

Loaded onto a small bus, we drove an hour and a half into the mountains outside San Juan to El Yunque, The Anvil.  Louis gave us a great overview of the history of San Juan and some key facts about the people and industry there.  Once into the mountains, he was a fountain of information, pointing out different types of flora and fauna – everything from mahogany trees to ginger to coqui frogs.

As we had been warned, the rainforest was wet!  It started to rain not long after we arrived and didn’t let up the entire time we were there.  We were each given a small backpack with water and a snack before leaving the bus.  Once on the trail, our group quickly spread out as many people rushed ahead without waiting for Louis and got mixed in with another tour group that was there.  I adjusted my pace until I found myself alone on the trail in between the two groups.  Perfect!

Beneath the canopy, it sounded like I was walking in a tent as the rain was mostly caught by the leaves and branches above me.  The tiny coqui frogs were incredibly loud.  A couple of times I thought I may be able to find one, but every time I got close, a group of people would catch up to me and scare them away.  Apart from the frogs, there were doves and parrots calling back and forth as well.  The canopy was too dense to ever catch more than a glimpse of them though.  The only wildlife I did manage to see was a couple of small lizards as I walked.

Our destination for this hike was La Mina Waterfall.  In good conditions it’s possible to swim in the pool at the base of the falls.  With all the rain, however, the falls had turned into a raging torrent.  It would have been suicide to try to set foot in that water!   I reunited with my group at the falls then started the return trek to the parking lot.  Wearing only a cotton, hooded sweatshirt, I was soaked by the time we made it back to the bus, but I didn’t mind it in the least.  I always love being in nature, regardless of the conditions. 

We made a brief photo stop at Cascada La Coca, La Coca Falls, on our way out of the National Forest.  Then it was back on the bus once more.  Returning to our cruise ship, I was surprised to hear so many people in the group complaining about the excursion.  “It was too far away.”  “It was too wet.”  Seriously?   I guess some people will always find something to complain about!

Back on board, after a hot shower, I met up with my parents again for dinner.  Tonight is a barbecue buffet on the Lido deck.  As per usual, the food was fantastic!  Discussing our days, my parents were disappointed with theirs.  They had signed up for a guided walking tour of Old San Juan and found the tour to be lacking.  Their guide didn’t seem to know anything beyond where the expensive hotels were located.  He also assumed that all the guests were American while still managing to insult most of the Americans.  Apparently, I saw more on my own self-guided walk than they did.  They still enjoyed the city though.  Like me, they would definitely be interested in coming back.

Tomorrow we’re on to our next port of call: Philipsburg, Sint Maarten!

One island, two countries

Published Date : March 29, 2012

A storm rolled through last night, making for a fairly rough night in my cabin at the bow of the ship.  It wasn’t enough to be uncomfortable, but there was enough movement that it woke me a few times during the night.   I was up early again, out on the promenade deck as we docked in Philipsburg, St Maarten.  I watched the sunrise and enjoyed an unobstructed view of the harbour before another 3 cruise ships docked beside us. 

I met my parents for breakfast again and planned out our day.  We’re all doing the same bus tour around the island today.  It wouldn’t have been my first choice of activity for the day, but I wanted to spend at least one day with my mum and dad while we were all together.  We had the morning free to explore the town and went our own ways, deciding to meet up again for the tour later.

It was an uncomfortable morning for me.  I managed to get a nice sunburn on my arms yesterday and wanted to keep them covered for the day.  None of my long sleeved tops were light enough for tropical temperatures though.  As I wandered the town, I kept my eyes open for a nice light shirt, but no luck.  I’ll just have to deal with being hot all day!

I managed to walk most of Philipsburg and found it to be much like other poor places I’ve been.  The tourist areas give a show of wealth and prosperity, but two blocks away you see the real city that the locals live in.  The town itself was quite rundown with an obvious gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Back to the cruise terminal with its purpose-built outdoor shopping mall, I had time for a quick liquid lunch (mmmm margaritas!) before meeting up with my parents for our bus tour.  In total there were about 300 people going on this excursion.  Yikes!!  We ended up being the last people on board the third bus and were relegated to the last seats that were scattered around the bus.

Our first stop was a viewpoint overlooking Cay Bay.   Leaving Dutch St Maarten behind, we crossed over to the French side of the island and its capitol, Marigot.  We had an hour in town to explore or grab a lunch.  The currency on this side of the island was the Euro, and it was noticeably more expensive than the Dutch side.  Not willing to pay the exorbitant prices for a meal, we settled on a couple of pieces of fried chicken from a street vendor.  The streets were heavily congested and full of people.  I found it almost claustrophobic.  It was very picturesque though with Fort Louis overlooking the town on one side and the harbour on the other.

Returning to our bus, we continued our drive around the island.  There were no more stops, just drive-by commentary.  The interior of the island was just as beautiful as the coast, with the occasional iguana lying on the roadside or nestled in the trees and bushes.   We hit heavy congestion returning to Philipsburg and made it back to the ship with only twenty minutes to spare before departure.

I wanted to like St Maarten/St Martin, but I just don’t think I can do it.  The island itself is beautiful and the people were friendly and welcoming.  Part of the problem is the congestion.  Granted there were 15,000 tourists on the island that day, a 20% increase to the population, but from what I understood talking to the locals, it’s always like that.  There are just too many cars and people on a tiny spec of land.  On top of that, there’s the issue of it being split into two countries.  There are two legal systems, two phone systems, two of everything really, and it makes life needlessly complicated for the people who live there.

Final opinion:  I’m glad I had the chance to visit the island, but I don’t think I’ll ever go out of my way to come back again.