Monday 2 January 2017

Virgin Islands National Park on St. John - Dec 31 to Jan 1


December 31

Today we packed up and headed to the car ferry at Red Hook Harbor to catch our ride to St. John Island. Everything went like clockwork and we were loaded onto the ferry by 10:00 a.m. The only wrinkle was backing onto the car ferry with cars packed in like sardines.

Beach beside the Red Hook Ferry Terminal


Leaving Red Hook Harbour


Redhook Point


Car Ferry



It was a short pleasant trip on a warm sunny day. In no time, we were approaching Cruz Bay on St. John Island. A Brown Booby (11) was perched on a buoy as we entered the harbour.


Cruz Bay - St. John

We drove off the Ferry and traveled the short distance to the Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Cenre. The vibe in St. John was nicer than St. Thomas as the people seem more laid back. There was more affluence and less poverty but the roads and local drivers were definitely scarier.





The visitor centre was in a scenic waterfront building with park boats moored along the side of the facility.


It was informative to find out that Laurence Rockefeller donated 5,000 acres and led the initiative to create Virgin Islands National Park.

Zenaida Dove

We had booked Tree Tops B&B for our stay on St. John Island.  We plugged the address into our phone and followed the GPS directions. This took us out of Cruz Bay along a serpentine undulating road toward Fish Bay.

 It's hard to describe the roads which got progressively narrower as we branched off toward our destination.  As you reached the top of a 30 degree grade all you could see was sky until your car crested the summit and you were plunging down the other side.

As we got closer to our destination the telephone signal died and we lost our GPS directions. We were on a one lane road climbing into the mountains. Before heading back down, we decided to park and walk ahead to see if we were on the right road.

Chuckle.  We only had to walk 25 yards ahead to see the entrance to our Tree Tops B&B.

Treetops B&B

We met our wonderful hostess Karen who made us feel right at home. The setting was beautifully natural and just the type of place we love to stay at. Our lodging in the "Captain's Quarters" was spacious with an excellent view of the surrounding forest.


Karen's husband Hank arrived and the fun really began. Hank was a force of nature and spoke knowledgeably on a wide range of topics. Emma enthusiastically engaged in a critique of  the current political happenings. She was usually the most politically radical, social-justice person in the room and was thrilled to find a kindred spirit in Hank.

January 1
Our morning started with an outdoor shower on the balcony overlooking the forest.

13) *Bananaquit

Each morning Hank and Karen put out a bowl of sugar water to attract the local Bananaquits. These colourful little birds shoulder each other out of the road to get at the bowl. A couple of Pearly-eyed Thrashers and a Green-throated Carib also dropped by for a quick sip.

14) *Pearly-eyed Thrasher

A super big caterpillar greeted us as we loaded up the car and headed out for the day.


Caterpillar - Pseudosphinx tetrio

We stopped at the Cruz Bay Market to rent skin diving gear for the next two days then headed into the National Park to visit world famous Trunk Bay.

 Trunk Bay
Trunk Bay lived up to its reputation as the  view, sand, water, flora and fauna were amazing.

Trunk Bay
We paid our $10 entrance fee and quickly donned our snorkeling gear.

Trunk Beach

The water was super clear and we happily paddled about for an hour or two looking at the amazing sea life. Colourful fish of all descriptions were effortlessly swimming among the many species of coral.

Trunk Beach

A kaleidoscope of colour and form unfolded below us as we finned hand-in-hand above the reef.


Emma at Trunk Beach

After our dive, I retrieved my camera gear from the car while Emma amused herself by frolicking in the surf and sand of this amazing place.

Emma on the Beach



It was approaching noon as we continued up the coast to Francis Bay.

Francis Bay

Francis Bay was beautiful and well sheltered. We were amazed at the number of sailboats anchored in the clear turquoise water off the white sand beach.

Sailboat at Francis Bay

We drove down to the seashore and took the one mile Francis Bay Loop trail.  This hike took you around an inland pond which was surrounded by forest.

Francis Bay Birding Trail

Forest by Francis Bay


It was a hot day but the well shaded trail made it easy to walk in the mid-day sun.




The Francis Bay trail was known as a good birding walk but we saw few birds on this occasion other than a Gray Kingbird and two White-cheeked Pintails.

Gray Kingbird



Near the ocean there was an extensive boardwalk through the thick mangrove forest.


Francis Trail Boardwalk

Emma on the Francis Bay Trail


White-cheeked Pintail

On the far side of the inland pond were a couple of shy White-cheeked Pintails

Francis Bay Beach

After the birding walk through the forest we popped out to the fine white sand of Francis Bay Beach.


We motored on past historic ruins reminiscent of the islands earlier plantation era.

Leinster Bay

Just east of Francis Bay was another gorgeous inlet, Leister Bay. This was the second site where we wanted to snorkel.

Leinster Bay

It was a pleasant one mile walk along the edge of Leinster Bay to get to the coral reef on the east side of the inlet. There were slightly fewer fish than at Trunk Bay but the variety of coral was more extensive.

Waterlemon Bay

We retraced our path back to the car then stopped in at the adjacent Annaberg Sugar Plantation.
These ruins helped provide perspective on life during the plantation era of the 18th and 19th centuries. Indigenous inhabitants were enslaved and forests cut down to plant sugar cane for the production of sugar, molasses and rum. By 1780, Annaberg was one of 25 sugar producing factories on St. John Island.

Annaberg Sugar Plantation

The large sugar plantations relied on slave labor which was abolished in the mid-1800s. This resulted in the decay and break-up of the large plantations into smaller farms.

Annaberg Windmill was built around 1820

In full operation, the Annaberg Windmill could crush sugar cane into 500 gallons of juice per hour. The cane juice flowed into a series of kettles which evaporated off the water to make molasses and sugar.

Annaberg Kettle

Two mongoose scurried by and acted as a reminder of earlier ecological mistakes. Rats invaded these islands along with the Europeans. The plantation owners imported mongooses to kill the rats.
Sadly, mongoose were diurnal and only hunted during the day while the nocturnal rats were snugly sleeping in their burrows. Instead of eating rats, the Mongoose decimated the indigenous wildlife. Oops.

 Annaberg Sugar Plantation

However, it was uplifting to think how Laurance Rockefeller bought the old sugar plantations and donated the land to the National Parks Service. Now the original native flora was being encouraged to return.

As late afternoon settled in, we continued onward to Coral Bay on the south end of St. John Island.

 Coral Bay

We stopped for supper at the Aqua Bistro restaurant overlooking Coral Bay. This quaint community was right up our alley as it seemed like a Caribbean oasis for old hippies who were still living the life.

Coral Bay Restaurant


Ships Anchored in Coral Bay

It was dusk as we negotiated our way along the roller coaster roads back to Tree Tops B&B.