22 May 2011

April Break Part II - SABA Day 1

Mt Scenery - only clouds in the sky were right on the summit all day

Leaving St Maarten   
Coming in alongside the mountain in Saba
During the break we spent an overnight on the neighboring island of Saba. We can see this island on most days from where we live, so we definitely wanted to check it out. Saba is known for its hiking and diving, with some of the top dive sites in the world. This trip we focused on the hiking as I am not yet scuba certified, though we plan to return for diving soon.

We decided to take the plane over instead of the ferry. We've been told it's worth the extra money for the experience and it definitely was!  As you can see from the pictures, the runway is very short and has cliffs into the water at both edges, so the breaks definitely need to work. After landing safely we checked into our hotel and dropped our stuff off. The hotel is about half way up the island. We decided to summit that day. We made a few detours to other lookout points along the way and had some amazing views. Unfortunately the summit was covered in a cloud, so we couldn't see anything by the time we got there. It was still cool though and kind of eery. After having a snack at the summit we headed back down. The whole trip took about 3 hours (added time for a sprained ankle). We then spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, resting the ankle, taking full advatange of hot showers and cable tv!! It really is the little things at this point. So that was day one. Look for day two soon! Enjoy the many pictures.
Saba's Cliffs

Coming in for the landing, quite the experience!
Lots of different flowers
Much more tropical then St Maarten
Huge leaves all over the hike

Rock walls with moss all over too

View from half way of one of only three towns on the whole island
Half way up the mountain photo op
View of our Hotel from half way

Reflective Moments


St Eustatius
Views from the hike
Summit Photo Op

Most of the hike was like this



Owen with the stats on the climb
View from lunch at our hotel

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