I’m not sure how one defines epic in regard to walks, but today I walked for six hours from Grand Case past Cul de Sac to a nature walk in the preserve that ends up at Anse Marcel and then back to Grand Case. Now I will recount some of what I saw.

Before reaching the nature reserve, as you will see in the photos below, I saw a very large tree, a cotton plant and a newly hatched monarch butterfly that I could photograph easily because it was not yet ready to fly. There were also numerous butterflies drinking from the mud that had retained the morning’s rain. I also saw lots of donkeys who came by hoping I had some food. Donkeys are really neat if you look at them up close.

The nature trail was very nice. According to the signage, it circumnavigates the last intact littoral forest in Saint Martin. The sign also claims that 182 species of flora and 25 species of vertebrates are present in the forested area. I cannot confirm this, but there were a lot of plants and at least a couple kinds of lizards. The unfortunate part about the trail is that it begins at a dump and ends abruptly at a sewage treatment plant. But in between is some gorgeous coastline, interesting terrain and plenty of nature to enjoy.

The trail begins on a shore made primarily of large chunks of coral skeleton. Interspersed are large pieces of layered rock, some of which also contain coral. Heading up from there, you enter a scrubby land that also features large jutting rock formations. If you look at the photo below with two hills in the background and two rocks in the foreground, you may notice that on the hill behind the right hand rock there is an exposed patch of layered rock at the exact same angle. Perhaps this indicates that some or all of the island was created by some type of seismic movement. Also, the underwater formations at the reef Aure found (now named Kusasa Reef) also seem to match the same angle and structure. This would indicate geological continuity between both underwater and above-water landscapes, which is pretty likely anyways, but still kind of neat.

I found what may be another species of little blue butterfly (like the furry one from a few posts ago) which is darker than the other one that I have seen. (In the photos it is the one that is gray with a little tail, but I remember referring to that family of butterflies as ‘blues’ in my childhood.) Also pictured are one of the big black bumblebees that are frequently seen, a spider tending its web and several pelicans that were fishing just offshore.

I have seen small black butterflies in various places, but have never been able to get a close look. To my great delight, in a semi-wooded part of the walk I was able to see many of them and photograph what I think are actually probably two different species of little black butterfly. There were also many land-dwelling hermit crabs. My favorite used its one large claw to block the door to its home.

On my way back, I stopped to rest near an abandoned concrete structure and found its underside covered in wasp nests made of mud. I also learned that there are almost always iguanas at the airport. More importantly, the one I saw today was half-way between the previous pair in both size and coloration. I think this is a pretty strong indication that they start bright green and then turn gray-brown as they age.

All in all, a very interesting exploration. I do feel that I pretty much reached the limit of my current capacity for walking up and down hills and such in tropical heat, but that is what I am here to do.

Some people have told me that they enjoy these posts about diving and snorkeling, but they are wondering if Madam J has found any interesting moths on our veranda. In fact, she has, and here it is!

This morning I went on two Dutch side wreck dives: The Gregory, which I mentioned yesterday and The Fusheng. The Fusheng was being used as a cargo vessel when it sank, and is the deepest regularly visited dive site in the area as far as I know. The seas were calmer and the visibility better than yesterday.

At 34 meters, the water is a very deep blue and the effects of nitrogen narcosis (Cousteau refers to it as “the rapture of the deep”) were noticeable. In addition to feeling very relaxed, I was easily lost in the beauty of the undersea world. When I would then remember to check my dive computer after long periods of quiet contemplation, I would find it had only been one or two minutes since I last checked it. In this manner, the 20 minutes I spent on the wreck seemed leisurely.

Notable creatures included the field of garden eels waving from the sand near the wreck, large schools of fish and a southern stingray.

At The Gregory I enjoyed taking pictures of the interior from outside and cruising the nearby reef in search of nurse sharks that often rest under debris. On our descent and ascent a number of great barracuda were keeping watch above the wreck.

Today Madam J dove The Gregory and I dove The Porpoise. Both are wrecks on the Dutch side of the island. The Gregory is a natural wreck. It started taking on water and they were in the process of trying to tow it to the shore when it sank. The Porpoise is a large tugboat that was sunk for diving purposes.

On The Porpoise I had the chance to take the type of photos that I think the 35mm macro lens behind a dome does best. For small groups of fish, like the blackbar soldierfish, or slightly larger fish, like the honeycomb cowfish, you can be close but still have a wide enough field of view get them in the frame. To do the same shots with a 60mm macro behind a flat port, I would probably have to be two or three times as far to take the shot, which would put a lot of water between camera and the subject.

The first shot in the gallery below was serendipitous, taken while I was testing my strobes with the autofocus accidentally turned off. The last shot is a bubble ring blown by Sally, who is getting pretty good at it.

Yesterday I walked down Route de L’esperance to visit the brand new US Market supermarche. The marche was not that super, but I did see some interesting things, including:

• The remains of the milkweed where I took the monarch chrysalis. Perhaps I saved a life.
• A new kind of millipede.
• Fresh water pools that have some sort of very small fish in them
• Iguana crossing at the airport.
• A smaller, bright green iguana. Is it a different species, or is that just how the big iguanas look when they are young?

As a special birthday treat, we went out with the Octopus Diving team to explore a reef that Aure discovered while passing over it on his boat. To our knowledge this area had never been visited by divers, so it was a rare treat to explore a virgin reef.

The seas were quite rough, and Chris stayed on the boat as large swells broke over the bow. Underwater, there was a strong current, which made swimming difficult, particularly for Stuart, who was towing a surface marker buoy. The reef itself was quite beautiful with a wide variety of sea fans and other soft corals waving in the surge. The topography featured stratified rock jutting out at an angle and small sandy channels where fish congregated.

There was a considerable amount of sea life, including very large spadefish and angelfish. A skittish hawksbill turtle did not seem to be comfortable around divers, unlike many of the turtles we see at frequently-dived sites. There were a great many sponges of varied types, including a strange, maze-like formation on the underside of a rock ledge.

After 40 minutes, we scrambled back onto the boat amidst crashing waves and headed to Ilet Pinel for a drink, and to discuss plans for future explorations of this new site.

When I take the little camera out, it is often somewhat difficult to use the strobe, particularly in relatively shallow water where there is already quite a bit of light. In these situations, the strobe easily overwhelms the camera with light, even when set to low power. Yesterday I tried adjusting the exposure control darker, since the camera doesn’t have aperture or shutter speed controls. I think this did allow me to use a bit more strobe to capture colors without blowing out the pictures.

I also found a decapitated rat carcass floating in the bay.

Madam J hosted a lovely birthday party for me at our apartment last night and all the folks from the dive shop came by. This morning the very small ants on our veranda were escorting an uninvited termite guest off the premises.

Our street (Rue de Petite Plage) doesn’t seem to have one, and one of my favorites (Passage des Escargots) is in disrepair.

Madam J and I went out this evening for a brief, but action-packed snorkel in the bay. While I was heading out towards the boat debris, Madam J spotted a stingray, which was being followed by the same fish that had been circling me this morning. It seems that in both cases, it had been following a larger animal, hoping to share a meal. After one close approach, the stingray darted off, leaving a cloud of sand that you can see in the photo.

Next, I found that the interesting fish had returned. Madam J believes it is a scorpionfish. It was so well camouflaged it is hard to make it out in the photos. We also saw banded coral shrimp, arrow crabs and a juvenile high hat. The octopus from this afternoon had moved on.