For most of us, travel to a beautiful Caribbean island is a life’s dream, something for which we save, for which we plan. We want it to be perfect, that island scene from the movies: clean white sands, beautiful turquoise waters teeming with life, a tropical drink and a sunset adding some color. We are…
“You mean the pirate statue?” I’m in the cruise terminal in Sint Maarten. Entering was an ordeal in itself, as I’m not a cruise ship passenger, so my meeting needed to be pre-confirmed along with a copy of my passport. This is, after all, an international port. I’m here for one thing: a statue of…
“Welcome home,” John says to me with a smile. This is just my second time staying here at the hotel John Leone owns, the Seaview Beach Hotel in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. But even after four nights on my last trip, it did feel like home, and checking in, being greeted like this, does indeed have…
There is a difference between a country and a nation. A country is a political entity made up of a government and laws. A nation, on the other hand, is a people with a common identity. Sint Maarten is a relatively new country, having existed as an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of the…
Do you all remember last year, when I was invited by Visit St. Maarten to come to their amazing island? I spent a week exploring the history of both the Dutch and French sides, and experiencing some of the culture of the world’s smallest divided landmass. It was amazing, and you can check out my…
I like most places I’ve been. I have positive experiences most everywhere, and try to find reasons to enjoy myself. But it is not hyperbole to state that this island, shared by Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin, exceeded any expectations I may have had coming in, and after merely a week, it can be counted on…
Today I was supposed to take a ferry from here to the nearby island of Anguilla. Anguilla, a British overseas territory about 20 minutes by boat from Marigot on the French side of Saint-Martin, is known for having some of the best, most pristine beaches in the Caribbean. But with the forecast calling for on…
The rain is just starting to fall as Clara Reyes and I begin meeting, so we duck into a covered cabana at Seaview Beach Hotel in Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side of Sint Maarten. Sitting on white couches, we smile at each other, two strangers sizing each other up. Clara is the Director…
In his 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding describes what happens when the worst of human nature comes to a tiny island paradise. Rather than work together, a group of people devolves into little better than animals, descending into a savagery that undoes any attempts at civility. And so it could have been…
Blue skies, although in true tropical fashion they do give way to a brief rainstorm before returning immediately following. Azure waters. Green iguanas and brown pelicans. A ruined colonial fort, and one of the region’s leading historians and archaeologists to explain the intricacies of it to me. Yeah, in my world, this qualifies as a…