Grand Case to St. Louis
Last week I took a little wander, starting in Grand Case. At the Cemetery pond, I found that there were still some egrets nesting in the mangroves, although fewer than before. From there I took the back road to Friar’s Bay, veering off to poke through the mangroves at Étang Guichard. With the dense undergrowth and muddy ground, the going was a little tough and it was hard to get any good views of the pond. There was a ton of trash, though. Even though St. Martin is full of litter, I’m often surprised at how much garbage accumulates in places that I don’t think people would normally even visit.
Moving on, I stopped to check out the birds at the end of Étang Guichard near the beach where they often congregate. There were a few, but nothing special. Carrying on, I headed across to the main road out of Friar’s Bay. I’d always wondered about the patches of scrubby forest on the east side of that road just a little bit in from the bay, so I popped in for a look. Although they seem impenetrable, there are some little trails criss-crossing through, perhaps made by goats. It’s kind of an interesting spot because it’s a lowland forest on an island where most forests are in the hills, and because the trees are mostly quite small, I would guess it was probably a cleared pasture not too long ago.
Carrying on, I headed up a track going up the hill, roughly towards St. Louis. The hillside was a mix of cow pasture and forest and there were quite a few checkered swallowtails congregating in the shadier parts as it became evening. My plan was to head up until I hit the main road in St. Louis. Of course, these plans don’t always work out. After searching for passage and being blocked by dense scrub or other obstacles, I finally hopped a small stone wall and headed for the road.
Alas, I was not quite free. I was actually in a compound with walls over ten feet high. I decided the most reasonable course of action was to go to the house and ask the owner to let me out, which I did. Generally, this works pretty well. Even if people are mad that you’re in their yard, they still want you to leave. This case was no different. After asking how the heck I got into his yard and noting his surprise that I hadn’t been eaten by his dogs, I was released.
