February 12, 2015

This morning the temperature was 23 C with a 9 knot west wind and mainly cloudy sky with a few patches of blue sky.  The waves gently rippled as we approached Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch Sint Maarten harbour.  I still have a hacking cough in the morning. There two ships already docked - the Celebrity Summit ship (doing a 7 night round trip from San Juan, Puerto Rico) and the British ship P & O cruises Adonia.  There are two other ships approaching the harbour to dock, the Carnival Liberty and the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas.

When the first Dutch settlers arrived in 1631, near foot of Fort Amsterdam, the village spread gradually eastward. With the economic growth from sugar plantations and more people there were more services needed. John Philips was appointed commander of the island and encouraged the modernization of sugar cane, coffee and cotton harvesting techniques. The sheltered bay facing the town was ideal for exporting agricultural produce and salt. The name Philipsburg appears for the first time in 1738, although Philips was not the town’s founder. Present-day Philipsburg now extends the whole way along the sandy strip and welcomes over a million cruise ship passengers each year.

We ate breakfast in Oceanview Café on Deck 14 then walked on decks 14 & 15 for 30 minutes before discovering that I had lost my sea pass security card. We went back to the Oceanview Café to see if it had been turned in, then, down to Guest Services on Deck 3,and waited behind just one person.  He was quick with his business and when I went to the station, he had turned in my card, so a new one did not need to be made.

Our bus tour, driven by Felix who was also our guide, explored both the Dutch (Sint Maarten) and French (St-Martin) sides of this Caribbean island. There is only an obelisk marked with 1649 to 1949 at the border which represents that the two countries have been peacefully coexisting for 366 years. The first stop is at the Butterfly Farm, in the D’Orleans Quarter on the French side.  The website is www.thebutterflyfarm.com.  Under a screened in butterfly area, about three times the size of the one at the Assiniboine Zoo, there are hundreds of butterflies from all four corners of the world, in all shapes and colours, fluttering around plants and ponds.  We were told about the life cycle from egg to caterpillar to pupae and finally butterfly and saw one that had come out of its pupae. It is a family run operation. When the 10 minute demonstration ended we could strolling the paths and watch the butterflies play, sometimes landing on people.  We were also offered a rum punch as we browsed the gift shop. It was a ratio of two ounces of fruit punch to two ounces of white rum.

On the way to Marigot, capital of the French side, we saw six or seven big iguanas, some a shade of orange, on the top of bushes soaking up the sunshine but the bus could not stop for photos.   Seen from the Marigot marina, on a hill top, is Fort Louis built in 1789 on behalf of the French Crown by the people of Marigot. The primary purpose of the fort was to defend the warehouses at Marigot port, where produce such as salt, coffee, sugar cane and rum was stored. The fort witnessed struggles between the French and the English, the latter landing on a regular basis from Anguilla to loot the warehouses and restoration was started in 1993

Marigot grew rapidly over the 18th century thanks to sugar cane production and became the capital of the French part. The lagoon has been filled in and today it is a water front promenade running from Fort Louis Marina to the cemetery via the open-air market. The town of Marigot is home to all the local government departments. The Marigot Market is best described as a melting pot of colours, smells and lively hustle and bustle. Stalls manned by locals selling fruit and vegetables, spices, local meats and fresh fish caught that day as well as clothing kiosks that are housed under a mass of open Creole huts along the water front.  Steps 8930.

As we exited Marigot, back to Philipsburg on the ocean side we saw the ruins of the former plantation of Saint Jean. The first mention of the plantation dates back to 1772. Chevalier Jean de Durat, governor of the island, married the heiress to the plantation. In 1795, revolutionaries from Guadeloupe sequestered the sugar factory. De Durat took back possession of Saint Jean in 1801 and died in 1814. His widow purchased the nearby sugar plant of Saint James, after the passage of a devastating hurricane, in 1819. His children and grandchildren continued to run the plantation until the abolition of slavery in 1848, at which time the Saint James sugar plantation was sold off in small lots, while the Saint Jean plantation remained in its original state.

There was a quick photo stop for the view at Indigo Bay then as we descended toward the coast a photo of the community of Bel Air. We were back to the ship at noon and browsed the port shops before dropping our backpacks and going for lunch in the Oceanview Café.  Then we reapplied sunscreen to go back to the port shops, a seven minute walk and wander around trying to orient our map and where we were and discovered the map was for the downtown which was a 10 minute walk away.  We tried a Guavaberry smoothie sample before walking in the 28 C heat and 9 knot wind to the beach front and downtown to browse and look in their air conditioned stores which offered free drinks, juice or alcohol to come in and look at their jewelry. After an hour we walked back to the ship with a final stop at the Belgian Chocolate shop that was crowded with six people in its air conditioned comfort and we bought some chocolates to share for the rest of the voyage.  Steps count was 17,652.  Back at the ship, it was showers and an Iglu and a look to see that the ship was still being refueled.  We were underway to Miami shortly after 5 and will arrive in Miami in 2 ½ days. Dinner appetizers were Ravioli or Pork Spring Roll followed by Cream of Chicken Soup or Panzanella Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives goat cheese, lettuce and croutons. The entrées were Veal Occo Bucco, a beef kebob and hake fish.  The dessert was part of a birthday cake since it was Elaine’s birthday tonight.  Steps 18,584.

After dinner went up to Deck 14 to the Skyview Lounger where pre-recorded ballroom music was playing until 10 so we danced and had a drink. Then we went back to the stateroom to finish the blog and post it. Ship is at cruising speed of 18 knots heading 308 (northwest) Temperature is 23 and wind is 16 knots from southeast under a partly cloudy sky.   Steps 20,317.