Saint Martin / Sint Maarten, Caribbean

This island is divided into 2 countries, the northern French side called Saint Martin and is part of France and the EU. The southern Dutch side called Sint Maarten and is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The island lies east of the US Virgin Islands and south of Anguilla and is one of the Leeward Islands

The capital of the French side is Marigot. Philipsburg is the capital of the Dutch part.
The Dutch side is more developed with a faster pace of life and they have renovated more after Hurricane Irma. . Vehicles left hand drive.

We docked at Philipsburg on the Dutch side -

As we got off, there was a small steel band to welcome us

I got a shared taxi with others for an island tour.

We went up a hill and into the French side -

We went down to Orient Bay. This area was devastated by hurricane Irma (Sept 2017)and the old established resort, Club Orient was ruined. We saw the nudist beach then stopped at the next beach and I went for a paddle -

Then on to Grand Case on the other side, also badly destroyed by Irma. Then down to Marigot the capital. The marinas were badly destroyed during Irma. View of Marigot -

 The tourist market -

We then went back to the Dutch side and onto the famous airport, Princess Juliana International Airport. This is located right by Maho beach and is known for planes passing overhead. In the past people used to hold onto the fence to experience the jet blast but this has now been banned. Also the KLM 747 no longer flies here. It has been replaced by a smaller Airbus - the A330.

There are still videos on youtube showing large planes landing and taking off, such as here and here.
The beach was absolutely packed with holidaymakers. We had 20 min here and were lucky enough to see 4 or 5 planes coming in. Seeing this was a highlight for me.

Made our way back to the ship but the traffic was terrible, especially in the one way street in Philipsburg. View over Philipsburg -

British Virgin Islands, Tortola

The British Virgin Islands was the next stop after the Dominican Republic. The British Virgin Islands were discovered by Columbus in 1493.

The BVI are under the British flag but use the US$ due to proximity and trade with the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

There are 60 islands in the BVI, most are volcanic. We went to Tortola, which is the largest and most populated. It is home to offshore companies and financial services are a major part of the economy. Road Town is the capital of Tortola , located on the south coast of the island. Much of Road Town was destroyed by hurricane Irma, including the banks and schools. There are many banks in Road Town. Road Town -

We drove around the town, which is really small, and the went up Ridge Road and looked over Guana Island and Beef island. Further out is Virgin Gorda Island which is the 3rd largest of the BVI. Nearby are Mosquito Island and Necker Island which are both owned by Richard Branson.

Virgin Gorda Island -

2 more cruise ships on another side of the island -

Further on we had a view over Road Town -

Our ship looks like it is parked in someone's garden!

Then up to a  higher view point at a restaurant, paid $1 to go to the open upper floor -

Then down to Cane Garden Bay 

We stopped at the Callwood distillery, for rum tasting, though I didn’t taste. 

After that, it was time to return to Road Town and the ship

Dominican Republic

I was looking for a holiday in the sun, and had decided on the Caribbean. Was debating which island to choose, when I received an email offering 70% off a Caribbean cruise. Having always said I would never do a cruise, when I read the email and saw the price, I changed my mind and made a booking within a couple of hours. This was less than 3 weeks before departure.

I was quite excited as I made lots of preparations but was also wondering if I would like it, as this would be my first ever cruise. It was a fly cruise, on a charter flight from Gatwick with Virgin Atlantic. We flew to Montego Bay in Jamaica.

On landing we were taken through security which consisted of a man in a corridor, then boarded coaches that took us through Montego Bay to the cruise ship, the Magellan.

Our first port of call was La Romano in the Dominican Republic.It took about 36 hours to reach from Jamaica.

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, with Haiti occupying the western part. The DR got independence from Haiti in 1844. The capital is Santo Domingo. We docked at the port of La Romana on the Rio Salado, on the SE of the island.

From La Romano, we went to Altos de Chavon which is in the secure enclave of Caso de Campo. This is a huge area of luxury villas and golf courses with its own international airport. Altos de Chavon is the replica of a 16th century Mediterranean village with an Italian designer and Dominican architect. The whole village is ‘cobble stones’ and it was all very pretty and arty, but obviously not ‘real’. The church was built in 1979

Higuero or gourd tree -

The amphitheatre is used for concerts -

A nice view over the Chavon River. Lots of turkey vultures flying around

Then onto the Cuevas de las Maravillas, Cave of Wonders, see separate blog.

On the way back to the ship, I sampled the mama juana, but didn't like it enough to buy any.

Local shops on the way back to the ship

There is a sugar cane factory close to the cruise terminal

sugar cane train -

The port authorities had hung the Union Jack upside down, so I showed them the correct way

Our next port of call after Dominican Republic was British Virgin Islands.

First day of meteorological spring 2019

March 1 2019 was a dull day, a Friday, with average temperature of about 10 C. This followed a February that was one of the warmest on record, as the last week reached record highs, with 21.2 C at Kew (Sky report).

It was so nice I went to Crystal Palace park and was able to roll up my sleeves and bask in the sun. Even the Sphinx was sunbathing

The fishing pond looked like a mirror -

New daffodils amongst old leaves -

The good weather broke on Feb 28 and Mar 1 was the first day of meteorological spring. Whereas the first day of spring in astronomical terms is Mar 20. And the forecast for the weekend, Mar 2-3 is bad, with heavy rain and the arrival of storm Freya.

Feb 2019 moon and plane

The supermoon was full on 19 Feb. The next evening it appeared as big.

I was lucky enough to catch a plane flying over the moon!!!

 At times there were interesting red colours in the clouds around the moon

Feb 2019 supermoon snow moon

Last month we saw the eclipse of the supermoon. This month, 19 Feb, was a super moon, aka the snow moon (the February full moon is called the snow moon). So it is the second supermoon of 2019. But the February full moon is special as it will appear as the largest full moon until 2026.

I watched the moon rise but it was right behind a large tree. I went out and walked down the road hoping for a better view but there was nothing. So I went back and waited for the moon to clear the tree top. The moon rose around 5.20 pm after quite a sunny day.

The moon appears so large because it is at its lunar perigee, its shortest distance from the Earth, making it appear 14 % and 30 % brighter than at its lunar apogee, its furthest point.

Unfortunately as soon as the moon cleared the tree, it became partially hidden by clouds and didn't seem so large -

It is the first full moon of Chinese New Year which was on Feb 5, year of the pig. Today, the 19th is Chap Goh Mei, the end of Chinese New Year.

There will be another supermoon on Mar 21, the last for 2019.