Philipsburg, St. Martin was our second port of call, Puerto Rico having been our first port and point of departure. St. Martin is split, with France governing half of the island and Holland the other half. Philipsburg is in the Dutch side of the island, giving rise to its alternative spelling of Sint Maarten. Historically, the island exported tobacco, salt, cotton, and sugar at one time or another, but tourism dominates today. Here are some photos from our day on St. Martin:
Early morning entry to Philipsburg, our port of call. The clear air, lush green hills, and clear blue water greeted us as we tied up to a cement pier. Even though it was getting late in the cruise ship season, two larger cruise ships followed our ship (the Viking Sea) into port and tied up at the dock to the left in this photo.View from hillside above the shore. A brisk wind forced us to hold on to our hats, use a chin strap, or risk losing hats and caps to someone downwind. As at many other West Indies islands, a large diesel generating plant provides most of St. Martin’s electricity. You can see the exhaust stacks near the center of the photo, and a tanker delivering fuel oil anchored off shore. Tropical showers fall in the distance; these showers popped up and then dissipated at seemingly random times every day. The frequent wash-downs may be why the air is so clear despite the diesels.Another view of the turquoise and deep blue waters around the island. Hillside vegetation was an interesting mix of cactus and lush plants, perhaps reflecting overlapping microclimates affected by elevation and the trade winds.Banyan tree trunks near a local restaurant. Again, much of the vegetation reminded us of Hawaii’s tropical flora, but with some exceptions. Like Hawaii, much of the weather rides in on the prevailing trade winds, so each island has a wetter side and a drier side reflecting the rain shadow effects of topography. These effects are more pronounced on the larger islands.We could often hear birds, but they were hard to spot. The islands do not have large mammals in the wild, but they do have three or four kinds of snakes and even a few kinds of lizards. Here is an iguana, perhaps three feet long from nose to tail, munching on a lettuce leaf.Tourists near the beach on the south side of St. Martin. It was a beautiful day, but we still needed protection from sun and wind. And chin straps on those hats!A steel drum band came on board to play for us during supper that evening. We heard a smaller group play earlier in the day while on shore, but this band was bigger and better. Here is one of their drums up close; the tones are a happy sound, although I suppose it could be overdone. Regardless, the group played for almost two hours and then quickly packed up and left before we sailed for our next stop, the islands of St. Kitts & Nevis.
