Without her glasses, Denisa can't see much during a deeper dive, so we opted for shore snorkeling at four different locations that day. We hiked a mile along the shore of Leinster Bay, so we could swim out to Waterlemon Cay. Some of the best rock formations and coral can be found around these islands found within swimming distance from the shore. On the hike back to the car, we made two different snorkel stops in Waterlemon Bay.
Later, we drove the car further east to the less-traveled section of St. John. All of the roads on this little island are narrow and winding. But the further east we drove, we lost the center line and often wondered what we would do if we met another car. Even though this is in the U.S. Virgin Islands, they drive on the left side of the road. Mark has driven on the opposite side of the road in different foreign countries, but always in a car with a steering wheel on the opposite side as well. Our rental car here was a U.S. vehicle with the steering wheel on the left. So that puts the driver hugging the outside line of the highway, and the front seat passenger meeting oncoming cars at the center line. That can take your breath away on these narrow roads!
Our last stop of the day was Haulover Beach, where we didn't take any pictures but spent another hour snorkeling in the water. We had planned to go on a six-mile hike today, but changed our plan after we experienced the tropical heat and the intensity of the sun so close to the equator. We are used to 10+ mile hikes in the mountains, but we aren't used to this kind of heat. So we opted for water activities to keep us cool. In this eastern section of the island we found mangrove trees that are unique in that they thrive in the salt water.
Because a bad sunburn can ruin a beach vacation, we are being careful to protect our skin from the intense rays here. Denisa's favorite souvenir is the long-sleeve UV shirt she bought on the island, and is wearing in the picture above. Likewise, Mark always wore his UV head covering that also protected his neck while snorkeling.
This drive-around day also took us to more areas that suffered damage in the hurricanes of 2017. We saw places continuing to rebuild, but we also passed by many structures that have been abandoned since the devastation of the category 5 storm.
It's not unusual to see cars that are no longer driveable, permanently parked on the side of the road. The island doesn't seem to have the infrastructure to remove large items, so it waits for the jungle to grow over junk vehicles.
Even in the most touristy village of Cruz Bay, we found popular beach-side restaurants that still haven't been able to rebuild after two years.
On our third evening, we experienced one of the unexpected parts of island life. We were finishing our meal at an open-air restaurant, enjoying the live music of a local band, when suddenly everything went dark. We heard some private generators in the distance roar to life, but most of our little village remained dark for the rest of the evening. The musicians were used to this occurrence, as they switched to their battery-back-up speakers and continued to sing in the dark.
Upon check-in at our villa, we were warned that if the electricity went off we couldn't use our electric-pumped water either. Parts of three different evenings we didn't have water, so we scrambled to take showers when it came back on. We found that even in an island paradise, the infrastructure lags behind what we have come to expect in the United States.
Our last day was spent at the group's favorite beach--Maho.
Not only is it easily accessible from the road, but it also provides good shade and plenty of trees to hang our snorkel gear.
We started the day with a four-hour snorkel that took us around Maho point, and all the way across Francis Bay. Winds had kicked up, leaving us with more sand in the water. The underwater visibility was less on our last day, but we were still thrilled with the sightings of sea turtles, stingrays, and a myriad of fish. This beach seems to be patrolled by a young nurse shark that we could picture from the shore.
Since this is our last day on the island, we even opted for a little time in the sun without our usual reef-friendly sun screen. We didn't want to come home from a week-long beach vacation looking pale!
Have we mentioned how much we appreciate our son and daughter-in-law planning this trip for their parents?!?
In between snorkeling in the ocean, we were entertained by the wildlife on the shore. The pelicans kept diving head-first into the water right in front of us, and we could see them swallowing their catch.
Then they flew on down the beach, watching for their next fish meal.
Right in front of us, a ghost crab kept popping out of his hole--watching us from those eyes positioned high on stalks.
He didn't appreciate our snorkel gear so close, as he threw sand on top of a pool noodle that we used as a flotation device while snorkeling.
The wild donkeys also hang out near this beach, grazing on the tall grass right beside the road.
We took a picture with the donkeys and our son, to show how close the road is to this easily-accessible Maho Beach.
We finished our day with a hike up to the top of Peace Hill. The ruins of the old windmill were lit up by the setting sun.
It seemed like a good place to take our last group picture of the trip.
Have we mentioned what a great vacation we are having, and how much we appreciate this young couple inviting us along?
We got back into town just in time to watch our final sunset over the beach in Cruz Bay.
We had a full moon that night, as we took a picture from our pool deck. Even with a few hiccups, it has surely been a vacation in paradise!
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