Chihuly

There was a Chihuly Exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Tempe for the past few months. It ends tomorrow, so I just made it. Dave Chihuly is known for his amazing blown glass sculptures, and though these pieces were not made specifically for the garden, they fit in really well with the desert plants.

This is supposed to be the ocean with marlins jumping.

These were created to resemble a type of flower, but they look like agaves.

They were all so beautiful.

Botanical Garden

The multi-colored spheres were my favorite.

They look like flames.

St. John

It took three planes and a boat to get me to St. John. This is the Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center.

The island is still very natural since most of it is protected under National Park status. There are no billboards or telephone poles to spoil its natural beauty.

The turpentine trees look like they have a really bad sunburn, and their red skin peels off in flakes.

I did a lot of hiking during my trip. My first hike was to secluded Salomon Beach. Little white sand crabs darted out of their sand homes and peered at me sideways.

Cruz Bay

Cruz Bay is the small town with shops, restaurants, and night life.

The water was so clear, and it changed hues from turquoise to navy blue.

They drive on the left side here which takes some getting used to. These are the taxis that never bothered to take me anywhere unless I was with a group of people. As a single person, I was better off hitching.

The Virgin Islands are known for their rum, so I had to sample that thoroughly. I also liked their Summer Ale and a drink called Painkiller which goes down a little too easily.

Camping

My favorite campground was at Cinnamon Bay. It was secluded and beautiful, and only 1 minute from the beach.

In the evening, I watched all the critters come out. This is a crested anole lizard. The only mammal endemic to the island is the bat. All the others have been brought, like the donkey and mongoose, or they came over on boats, like geckos.

Don't touch the millipedes!

Cinnamon Bay

This is my beach. The sand was soft and powdery, and you could swim out safely quite a ways to explore the reef.

I went snorkeling in Trunk Bay and saw lots purple fan coral, brain coral, and elk horn coral. There were all kinds of fish, sting rays, and I even saw a small shark. Unofrtunately, there were large patches of bleached coral; 50% has died within the last 5 years due to global warming.

The people were not very friendly and seem tired of tourists. It was hard to make connections with them.

Caneel Hill

Everywhere you go, there are old Dutch sugar plantation ruins. The Caneel Bay ruins were particularly pretty because they let the plants grow all around it.

An old boiler room makes a sunny patio.

The vegetation was really tropical, but there were cacti too like organ pipe and night blooming cereus.

Annaberg Ruins

The Annaberg ruins are the best preserved ruins on all the islands. You could see the Dutch children's school, slave quarters, and the windmill.

The Dutch clear cut almost the entire island to grow and process sugar cane. They put the stalks into large grinders inside the windmill.

Then, they boiled the juice into sugar. This all stopped in 1733 when the slaves revolted, killed plantation owners, and had a stand-off at Mary Point.

This is a large piece of brain coral. They often used them as bricks in their walls.

Church

There are a variety of religions on the island - Catholic, Baptist, etc. I found a pretty white Lutheran Church which was open.

This is posted in front of the church.

I had to wait for all the chicks to pass first.

Shells and coral are often used as decorative elements on the walls.

Reef Bay Trail

My favorite trail was the Reef Bay which took me from one side of the island to the other. It started with a steep ascent up to Centerline Road. There were some great views along the way.

There weren't many hikers, so it was quiet and wildlife was abundant. I saw spiders, deer, and bananaquits which are little black birds with yellow chests, and a pretty song.

I had to be careful not to step on any wandering hermit crabs or walk into any spider webs.

The geckos were everywhere! They were all grey with a white stripe down their back.

Petroglyphs

A spur trail led to a sacred pool and some unusual petroglyphs carved by the Arawak indians between 900-1500 A.D. The Taino and Arawak indians lived on this island before the Dutch arrived. I was surprised to learn that there are actually some descendants of the Taino living on a reservation on St. Croix.

The picture on the left is of a man.

A mongoose came over to the pool and begged for food. They look sort of like large meerkats.

The sharp pins on the bark prevent the monkeys from climbing up to steal the trees juicy fruit.

Cinnamon Bay Loop

Most of the vegetation on the island is 2nd or 3rd growth due to the decimation by the Dutch. Now, one of the most important natural resources on the islands is the bay rum trees. Oils are extracted by boiling the leaves, and that gives it the unique flavor.

Rich sugar plantation owners were buried in above ground crypts. I found these along the trail; it was kind of creepy.

Here are four more. Three of them are for little children.

The walls of Cinnamon Bay Estate were really beautiful with small rock shards arranged in the mortar.

St. Thomas

This is the view of Maegan's Bay from the mountaintop. The beach was really nice, and the water was warm and calm.

I walked around the botanical gardens on the mountain where they had lots of tropical plants and flowers; most of them were brought over from somewhere else.

There were lots of ginger.

St. Thomas is the most populated island of all the Virgin Islands. The local people there were friendly, and I had no problem strinking up conversations with them.

Charlotte Amalie

The capitol is a pretty town. The Governor's Building is a prime example of the combination of architectural styles.

There were lots of long alleyways everywhere that led to hidden shops and restaurants. This particular area had a row of 99 steps.

Another typical house with French/Dutch/Spanish architecture.