On Friday I had the great pleasure of tagging along on a hike with the sixth grade class from Learning Unlimited. Our guide for the hike was none other than Riet Sint, author of the book Island Walks, a guide to the hiking trails of Saint Martin. We did the Bellevue hike, starting from Cole Bay across from Grand Marche and heading up the hill for some terrific views of the lagoon and the Marigot area. The area used to be a plantation, and Riet told us quite a bit about the history of the area. We were also able to find quite a few critters along the way, including grasshoppers, crickets, termites, ants, both species of Anolis lizard and many of the invasive checkered swallowtails which were laying eggs on citrus shrubs that were growing alongside the trail.

While some members were in Guadeloupe to hike, some were busy with the regatta and some were undoubtedly discouraged by the heavy rain through the night and early morning, seven people did show up for the SXM Trails hike this morning. The route was quite nice, starting at Hope Estate and taking us around Étang Chevrise, down Orient Beach and back up over the hill and down through the rock quarry area. Highlights included a large group of brown pelicans on the pond (at least 25), an American kestrel in Orient Bay and at least six types of spider.

The rock dove, or what most people think of as a pigeon or a rat with wings, is quite common in Philipsburg and Marigot, but I don’t see it much outside of those cities. It was a bit of a surprise to see a flock land in St. Louis, but it was also a good chance to get a few photos of them without concrete in the background. Plus, they really are quite pretty. That said, hopefully they will remain mostly centered around the big cities rather than displacing the several native species of dove and pigeon on the island.

Here are a few photos taken on a walk around the lower part of Pic Paradis and nearby St. Louis. Although it is the dry season and many of the smaller plants have dried up, there is still a fair amount of insect life on the plants that remain, particularly those in bloom. A small puddle of water remaining in a dry stream bed has the makings of a tragedy for the hundreds of guppies sharing the space while it lasts.

Across the main road in St. Louis the crest of the hill is quite dry, but the valleys are green and covered in Mexican creeper. A gigantic tree dwarfs a makeshift bar area near its trunk. Across the street at George’s snack shop, he shared some stories with me about the old days. Apparently, when they were building the first vacation houses near Baie Longue, the road was made of sand and was often entirely covered with red crabs. George said it was a beautiful sight in the sun. He also said that visitors from Guadeloupe were amazed that people on St. Martin didn’t eat that type of crab. I left a copy of the book there so people could look at it while waiting for their lunch.

Sunday’s hike with the SXM Trails hiking association was another terrific one. It started in Quartier d’Orleans on the Moho trail. Apparently Moho is a large stone that was carved by pre-columbian Amerindians. The hike up the windward side of Pic Paradis started primarily in a somewhat overgrown ravine, but the vegetation got increasingly sparse as we climbed the slope. This is quite a contrast to the lush vegetation on the leeward side that we experienced on the descent into Colombier. The trail on that side was lush enough to remind me a bit of Saba. We ended the hike as the second day of the Arrowroot Jollification was winding down and enjoyed a cup of delicious arrowroot pap.

On Sunday the SXM Trails hiking association took a hike up to Fort William, at the top of a hill overlooking Great Bay, the Salt Pond and Fort Amsterdam. The early morning views from the top of the hill were really outstanding. After descending the hill, we followed the rocky beach around Little Bay and went into Cay Bay. The cliffs on the western side of Little Bay were very beautiful. Part of a small airplane wing was washed up on the rocks.

I actually didn’t take many photos of animals on the hike, but did get quite a few photos of the rocks and cliffs. The new hotel development in Cay Bay made me a little bit sad, but the hike was still a great time.

After over a year of looking off our balcony at Anguilla, we finally made it out there, thanks to our friend Christian, who was taking his cousin and her boyfriend there. Our esteemed captain was Yann and the boat, Carré d’As (basically translates as four aces) was fantastic.

We headed out from the marina in Marigot, past the ruins of La Belle Creole and on towards Anguilla. The sea was calm, and soon we were rounding the southwestern tip through the Anguillita Channel. Our first quick stop was Sandy Island, a tiny plot of sand with a half-dozen palm trees that is ringed by coral reef. If it weren’t so close to Anguilla, it would be the prototypical desert island.

Next, we continued to Crocus Bay, a stunningly beautiful area with cliffs riddled with caves. We jumped off a big rock into the water, snorkeled and I took a look inside one of the caves. I could smell and hear the bats, and there was a telltale pile of almonds on the floor indicating the presence of Jamaican fruit-eating bats. The chamber was quite large, with very high ceilings and many recesses, so I did not actually see the bats.

A bit of rain sent us up to Shoal Bay for more snorkeling, sunning and sandwiches. As the afternoon got later, we headed up past the tip of Anguilla to Scrub Island, admiring several blow holes where underwater caves shoot jets of water up through the rocky shoreline. Our last stop was Tintamarre and some free-diving to the tugboat wreck there. A perfect day!

Last Sunday, I hiked with SXM Trails on Naked Boy Hill on the Dutch side. It was a reasonably strenuous uphill jaunt on the east coast side of the hill, and the view from the top was really great. It was a particularly good vantage point for viewing the burned area of Sucker Garden Hill. On our way down, we followed a line of cables and pipe on a rocky slope that was full of goat-nibbled orchids. We even saw an unusual fern with large fronds and black stems that seemed out of place on the relatively arid hillside.

I also saw the turnip-tailed gecko for the first time, but unfortunately it was two halves of said gecko that had been accidentally stepped on. That said, at least I know they are on the island.

How often do you see insect eggs? Given how many insects there are around us, there must be tons, but they’re rarely seen. On a recent visit to Philipsburg, I found many clusters of what are almost surely oleander caterpillar moth (Empyreuma affinis) eggs. The moth itself was unknown on St. Martin before hurricane Luis, but is a Caribbean species with an expanding range. Now, they’re extremely common, perhaps in part because there are so many oleander bushes on the island. In the photos you can see eggs at different stages of development, including empty ones which had already hatched.

I also captured images of a few critters a the Rastafarian farm during their We Agree with Culture event. There were clusters of leafhoppers on some of the bushes, and a Cuban tree frog. The Cuban tree frog is another species that has been spreading around the Caribbean and beyond.

Fort Louis is always a nice stop for visitors to the island, so we took Jenn’s mom there before she left. Here are a few photos of the fort.

Even more exciting was the nearby museum. I’ve already visited it a couple times, so the displays were nothing new, but Christophe did show me a tiny hummingbird nest with two chicks inside. He was even nice enough to get me a ladder so I could take some photos. As you can see, baby hummingbirds are quite cute. These were the Antillean crested hummingbird, which is actually very small even for a hummingbird.

UPDATE: I’m adding a few photos that were sent to me by the Museum/Archeological Association photographer Hervé Baïs. If you like Saint Martin, you will surely enjoy his SXM photoblog.