Virgin Islands -Dec 28 to 30, 2016

December 28
Our quest continued to visit every national park in Canada and the USA. With a visit to the Virgin Islands, Emma and I will have been to 48 National Parks in the USA.

 Snow was two feet deep in Vancouver as we hopped in the cab. It was a 24 hour trip with three separate flights and a 4 hour time difference to get to the Virgin Islands..

We bounced from Vancouver to Seattle, then overnight to New York and finally arriving mid-afternoon at Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands.

 A new experience was the dozens of lap dogs that were flying with their masters. If you said that your lap dog was necessary for your well-being then the dog could sit in your lap. Maybe we could have brought our dog Sonaa. However, convincing airline employees that our 70 pound canine was a lap dog would have been a stretch.

December 29

Hills Surrounding Charlotte Amalie

The temperature was a sunny 85 degrees as an enthusiastic marimba band greeted us at the airport. Our first surprise was our rental car. It had been through some road wars. The front and rear of the car looked like it had been worked over with a small bat.

A bigger surprise was the fact that on the US Virgin Islands everyone drove on the wrong side of the road like the British. Emma, my co-driver, provided a steady stream of driving suggestions as we proceeded into Charlotte-Amalie.

It appeared that the donkey trails from the 1600s had been paved over and called roads. The locals parked on both sides of the narrow roads and there were no obvious street signs to help you locate your hotel. The steep hillsides had 30 degree slopes and hair pin turns which added a spirit of adventure to the drive.

Main Street in Charlotte Amalie

The locals encouraged us along with horn honking and the occasional nudge from behind. My co-driver accelerated from helpful suggestions, through vocal hysteria to the tranquil peace of an open mouthed, catatonic stare.

We saw way too much of the back alleys of Charlotte-Amalie as we continually got lost circling around the general locale of our hotel. Finally, we stumbled up a different back alley and arrived at our hotel more or less in one piece, I was shaken, Emma was worse.

Galleon House Hotel

We really liked our hotel despite having to carry our luggage up 50 stairs to get to the lobby. The hotel manager was a laid back islander and wonderful. She helped us get into the island vibe. "Don't worry, be happy."  We took a seat while she got us two outstanding rum-punches. Feeling refreshed, it was only another 30 stairs to our room.

Galleon Hotel - View from the Lobby

Eastern Crested Anole

We went exploring the narrow alleys and waterfront of Charlotte Amalie. This town was initially designed in the 1600s for sailors who walked off their ships. The solid brick buildings were only a few feet apart with long narrow walking paths between them.

Charlotte-Amalie Post Office

We wandered through the narrow passageways to the waterfront. The promenade paralleled the large deep water harbour and you could imagine the pirates of old sailing up to the boardwalk and unloading their loot.

Charlotte Amalie Harbour

Now-a-days, instead of pirate ships you have massive 16-storey cruise ships transporting thousands of adventurous tourists to the shops and restaurants of Charlotte Amalie.

 Cruise Ships in Charlotte Amalie Harbour

The cruise ships arrived in the early morning and unloaded hordes of passengers who flooded the shops and alleyways of downtown Charlotte-Amalie. Duty free was the name of the game and all manner of merchandise was available from low-end apparel to the most expensive jewelry.

Emma's Two Fisted Rum Salute

As the sun set we went to the waterfront and had supper at the Tavern. From the second storey of this restaurant, we had a gorgeous view of the harbour. We celebrated with more of those great rum punch drinks.

Party-On

December 30
It was another hot sunny day in paradise.

The view from our hotel balcony as dawn broke over Charlotte Amalie harbour. 

One of the three massive cruise ships in the harbour

We launched our morning with an 8:00 a.m. complementary breakfast in our hotel lobby. While Emma chatted civil rights and politics with our hostess, I spotted two hummingbird species drinking nectar from the Firecracker flowers.
 - 2) *Green-throated Carib
 - 3) *Antillean Crested Hummingbird

Firecracker Plant

I got a picture of the Firecracker flowers, but, sad to say, the hummingbirds were too fast for me.

We trotted back to the harbour for a morning promenade along the boardwalk.

Charlotte Amalie Harbour

Charlotte Amalie Boardwalk

Harbour View

Boardwalk

Below is the main street in Charlotte Amalie. The side streets were half this width.

Main Street

We spent an hour or two wandering the streets and alleyways of the town. There were a plethora of gold, jewelry and linen shops stacked up along the streets and in the incredibly narrow alleyways.

Many of the building had the trademark West Indies balconies with ornate ironwork

Ironwork Detail

It was fun to imagine 17th century pirates walking down the same long narrow alleyways where we were now exploring. There was barely room for two people to pass between the walls of the adjacent buildings.

Typical alleyway in Charlotte Amalie

We had an excellent lunch at Gladys Cafe. The narrow alleyway entrance and exposed brick walls highlighted the history of this charming place.

By luck, we stumbled across the well-hidden tourist information center and got directions to a good snorkeling site at Coki Beach. We hopped in our car and headed east along the island highway.

Near Red Hook Harbour we found a shopping center that had parking. The duty free prices on rum were amazing so we bought a big bottle to last us for the duration of our trip.

 - 4) Great Egret

With lots to look at in every direction, we initially sailed by the turn-off to Coki Beach.

Coki Beach

On arriving at the beach, we went to Coral World Ocean Park. The coral and fish exhibits were interesting but we were particularly captivated by the Giant Iguanas that were freely wandering about.

Giant Iguana

After a quick tour of the aquarium we slipped over to the nearby dive shop, rented our snorkeling gear and spent a wonderful few hour finning among the amazing coral and colourful fish in the bay.

Coki Bay

Snorkeling by Coki Beach

It was a beautiful kaleidoscope of colour and form when we swam among fish in the coral reef. I wish we had an underwater camera to record those glorious sights.

5) Brown Pelican

This stoic bird was quietly perched on a pylon and watched us as we paddled about.

 - 6) *White-cheeked Pintail - a pair

7) *Scaly-naped Pigeon

As we prepared to depart for Magens Bay, a few birds were perched on the overhead wires.

8) *Gray Kinbird

In the late afternoon, we arrived at Drake's Seat. This site had a commanding view of Magens Bay and the surrounding ocean.

View of Magens Bay from Drake's Seat

Four-masted Sailing Ship 

We went down to Magens Bay and had a late afternoon stroll along the beautiful sandy beach.

Magens Beach

Emma on Magens Beach

9) Zenaida Dove on Magens Beach

 - 10) Royal Tern at Magens Bay

Tired and happy we maneuvered our way up and over the hills of the island to get back to our hotel in Charlotte Amalie.