The lure of these islands goes back hundreds of years. From pirates and settlers to explorers, these warm tropical islands with unbelievable sea life and pristine waters lapping onto pure white sandy beaches fringed with coconut palms and shady lush green leafed trees have enticed humans through the centuries. I too have this addictive fever. I want to explore every corner, every underwater boulder shading a family of colorful fish.We spent the day on a divine private island named Guana. It has an inland lake and the 'normal' long pristine beach. One side is called Monkey Point and the snorkelling there is awesome. The cliffs fall deep into the sea with boulders and coral heads decorating the terrain. There are a host of fish, from the small feeder fish which swim in total unison like a Mexican wave to the colourful reef fish. The water was clear and the shape of HUGE tarpon fish caught my breathe for a moment. They would have almost been my length. Silvery and slow, their huge bodies calmy swam past me, looking up with their bulging eyes keeping an eye on the human! We took the dinghy along the pristine shore to walk on this piece of heaven. If you have some time, google the name http://www.guana.com/ and browse their website. There are a lot of pictures in the different resort categories. You will get an idea of how heavenly these islands are.
Before Guana we spent 2 days on Jost Van Dyke and hitched a ride with some native guys on the back of their pickup to the other end to explore an area called Taboo! Remote and just another piece of heaven. I snorkelled for hours and found the biggest living conch shell ever, I buried her back into a deep spot where I can only hope she will be safe. Mora explored another bay whilst Mike our pilot friend sat and read his book. We ended the day with a "painkiller" - yes, I will make you one when I return home. Its a VERY delicious cocktail with rum & fruit juices! To my dismay the road was quiet with no lift so we had to walk some 2 hours up and down steep hills to get back before dark. I have decided my lovely new friend Mora is an amazon woman much
fitter than I am, those hills were a killer!!!With great spirit we arrived back at Great Bay and the famous Foxy's hangout where we all had dinner the night before. Foxy's is a legend in the Caribbean, set amongst coconut palms and tall trees right on the beach with mementos left by 1000's of yachties and visitors hanging from the ceiling. The floor is sand or timber floorboards and the caribbean music just floats in the air. They have GREAT food - I had the conch meat (out of the shell, a local dish) and a fish salad! Mike joined us onboard for 3 days and the 3 of us had a wonderful time.
St John was on our first stop where Mora had signed us both up as volunteers on kayaks for the Beach to Beach swim. A 5km swim, some 238 people swam it and I was one of the 'rescue' people on kayaks. Quite funny when you think I have never been on a kayak! It all went well and was a fabulous day all round. St John is 90% national park island donated from Rockefeller, so it's very natural with superb harbours and a great port named Cruz Bay. This very cute harbor with colourful houses and quaint shops offers gifts, a drink or a simple postcard. We anchored at nearby & sensational Caneel Bay resort where wild donkeys just wander around on the beach. Yes, WILD donkeys just laying around the beach sunbathing!
After following a couple we found them grazing on yellow blossoms around a tree. I went up to one of them and she ate the blossoms out of my hand! Quite extraordinary!
We are in local territory now catching up and meeting new people. Mora's friend is in a recital on Saturday night and tomorrow has already been organised. Today is shopping day for more provisions.
