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Trip Report 2/3/07-2/10/07 - Part 3 --Looking for Maho
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martini girl
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Trip Report 2/3/07-2/10/07 - Part 3 --Looking for Maho
After breakfast, we asked the girls, "which beach?"
They want Maho. In "Feet, Fins, 4-wheel Drive" there's a paragraph on Maho that references two sisters fighting with the Nat'l Park over property line boundaries. The one who is still alive is purported to chase down tourists with a machete to scare them away. The girls want to see "the machete lady." I try to tell them that I've not heard of this woman at all on the forum, but they insist. So off we go to Maho, right after we deposit our daily trash in the dumpster by the road. This process just cracks me up! Well, we cannot find Maho.
We drive right by an area of cars parked in between trees on the right and a small blue dilapidated shack on the left. Could this be Maho?? We really don't know. We keep driving and see signs for Francis/Maho campground, so we think we're on the right track. We find out way to the Maho Campground, back in a wooded area. We think this might be it. Park on the road, lug our stuff down a large hill to the main area of the campground. We are then told by someone that the beach is a quarter mile away. We look at each other, "no way" we say, and proceed to get the cars, pack up, and head to Francis.
Francis was beautiful. Crowded parking area, again parking along the road, but we manage. I loved Francis. Calm water, pelicans skimming the surface and then splashing into the water. Barracudas. The two older girls were wigged out by the barracudas. I called them Barracuda 1 and Barracuda 2. They were screaming each time we spotted one. Saw needlefish, sea urchins, numerous other little fish. The rocky area to the left was great for snorkeling. The little ponds off the beach were neat. You could just lay there and these little black and yellow-striped fish would swim right up to your mask! I had a disposable underwater camera, took lots of shots, have no idea if I got anything. The current kept moving me one way and the fish would move another!
The girls and dads were in search of a turtle, but none were spotted. It was a glorious day of sun, warmth, and beautiful water. There was only a handful of people on the beach that day. We felt as though we had it to ourselves. We became quite spoiled as was evidenced by the day we spent at Trunk.
My husband started feeling some insects biting him both on Cinnamon and Francis. No one else complained of bug bites. My time was soon to come!
On the drive back from the beach, we were laughing at all the roosters crossing the roads in Cruz Bay. At one point, we were actually "buzzed" by a hen or a rooster, not sure which! Had us telling "why did the chicken cross the road" jokes the rest of the week.
Dinner that night was at Cafe Roma. Again, the place was much smaller than it looked in the pictures online. I told the girls to bring a sweater/jacket as I read the place was air conditioned. Yes, I guess you could call it air conditioned when you caught a short, brief breeze of cool air, otherwise, the sweaters were not necessary. It was warm, but not unbearable. Most of us had a good meal. My husband's veal parm was way overdone and he did not like the breading. The 11-yr old felt the same about her chicken parm. I had the gorgonzola chicken and ravioli, it was outstanding.
The best part of Cafe Roma was the Mango Martini
Yummy. It was superb. What a great flavor. I had a few of those! The others had the Mango Daiquiri, a great slushy version.
Tomorrow, we're still searching for Maho! Noseeums prepare for attack
They want Maho. In "Feet, Fins, 4-wheel Drive" there's a paragraph on Maho that references two sisters fighting with the Nat'l Park over property line boundaries. The one who is still alive is purported to chase down tourists with a machete to scare them away. The girls want to see "the machete lady." I try to tell them that I've not heard of this woman at all on the forum, but they insist. So off we go to Maho, right after we deposit our daily trash in the dumpster by the road. This process just cracks me up! Well, we cannot find Maho.
We drive right by an area of cars parked in between trees on the right and a small blue dilapidated shack on the left. Could this be Maho?? We really don't know. We keep driving and see signs for Francis/Maho campground, so we think we're on the right track. We find out way to the Maho Campground, back in a wooded area. We think this might be it. Park on the road, lug our stuff down a large hill to the main area of the campground. We are then told by someone that the beach is a quarter mile away. We look at each other, "no way" we say, and proceed to get the cars, pack up, and head to Francis.
Francis was beautiful. Crowded parking area, again parking along the road, but we manage. I loved Francis. Calm water, pelicans skimming the surface and then splashing into the water. Barracudas. The two older girls were wigged out by the barracudas. I called them Barracuda 1 and Barracuda 2. They were screaming each time we spotted one. Saw needlefish, sea urchins, numerous other little fish. The rocky area to the left was great for snorkeling. The little ponds off the beach were neat. You could just lay there and these little black and yellow-striped fish would swim right up to your mask! I had a disposable underwater camera, took lots of shots, have no idea if I got anything. The current kept moving me one way and the fish would move another!
The girls and dads were in search of a turtle, but none were spotted. It was a glorious day of sun, warmth, and beautiful water. There was only a handful of people on the beach that day. We felt as though we had it to ourselves. We became quite spoiled as was evidenced by the day we spent at Trunk.
My husband started feeling some insects biting him both on Cinnamon and Francis. No one else complained of bug bites. My time was soon to come!
On the drive back from the beach, we were laughing at all the roosters crossing the roads in Cruz Bay. At one point, we were actually "buzzed" by a hen or a rooster, not sure which! Had us telling "why did the chicken cross the road" jokes the rest of the week.
Dinner that night was at Cafe Roma. Again, the place was much smaller than it looked in the pictures online. I told the girls to bring a sweater/jacket as I read the place was air conditioned. Yes, I guess you could call it air conditioned when you caught a short, brief breeze of cool air, otherwise, the sweaters were not necessary. It was warm, but not unbearable. Most of us had a good meal. My husband's veal parm was way overdone and he did not like the breading. The 11-yr old felt the same about her chicken parm. I had the gorgonzola chicken and ravioli, it was outstanding.
The best part of Cafe Roma was the Mango Martini
Yummy. It was superb. What a great flavor. I had a few of those! The others had the Mango Daiquiri, a great slushy version.Tomorrow, we're still searching for Maho! Noseeums prepare for attack
Martini Girl, John and I did the same thing re: Maho on our first trip to St. John! In our case, though, we actually parked at the campground and trekked all the way down the bajillion stairs to the beach. We got there, looked around a bit, and decided we must be in the wrong spot. So, we hiked all the way back up what now seemed like the superbajillion stairs, and, like you, went to Francis! I don't think we ever did end up on Maho that trip.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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MarciaMarciaMarcia
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howie's sunshine
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