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Muhaha Trip Report Days 3-4 (1/24/11-1/25/11)

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:21 pm
by Muhaha
Link to Days 1-2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19212

Day 3:

Day 3 begins with another wake up at the crack of dawn. I just can't help myself and am finding it to be the favorite time of day on island. After breakfast in the villa, we head off to the NPS docks to join the Reef Bay Trail hike.

The ride to the trail happens to be my first trip in a taxi on STJ. Wow, is it loud and a bit scary. We thankfully make it to the trail and the group of 30 gathers and we head down the trail. The hike itself was astounding. I did feel though that it was a bit rushed and would have preferred to take more time along the way. On our next visit, we are already planning to do this hike alone and braving the trip back up hill.

The guided hike is a great way to understand the flora of the island. I learn much about false cinnamon, genips, lime trees, and much more.


These roots are amazing and very cool

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The coolest part is of course the petroglyphs. Both for the coolness factor of something scribed a zillion years ago, but also for the awesomeness of the site itself.


The petroglyphs

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I wonder what this looks like after a big rain

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Next stop is the sugar mill, which to my surprise was quite cool.


Those are not bananquits...

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After what felt like was not nearly enough time at the ruins, we head down to the beach where we are picked up by the awesome crew of the Sadie Sea. I learned a ton from them about a part of the island in which I was not familiar.


The ride

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Then it is back to the villa for a late afternoon nap. Back up again for sunset and beers on the deck, then over to Coral Bay for live music, drinks, and eats at Island Blues. A very fun night.

Day 4:

Up early again. By now I am wondering if it is some sort of mental illness, but just decide to go with it. After the better half awakes, we have breakfast and ponder what to do on our day, which is totally unplanned. We pack up lunch, beer, water, and all of the water stuff and head out to see where we end up. The North Swells were going today, so we decide to head to Francis which is our favorite, hoping that the waves would be much less. It was much calmer, but unfortunately the water visibility was quite poor. We end spending the entire day just chilling on the beach and floating in the water.


No caption necessary

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After a super peaceful day (did I mention that we left the kids at home?), we head back to Sago Palms for a sunset and grill the steaks. Unfortunately, I got a pretty rough sunburn on my legs and could not soak in the hot tub, so instead I pulled a chair up next to my honey while she soaked and we once again spent an hour looking up at the stars.

The next day is Dinghy Day!!!

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:30 pm
by hoosierdaddy
Thanks for the report. Looking forward to Dinghy Day.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:11 pm
by jaq w
Great report. Thanks for the pic of Francis. We haven't been there yet, but have rented Honeymoon Cottage (walking distance to Francis - supposedly)and will probably be spending a good amount of time there. Kids fly down the 2nd week and we change to larger villa on south side.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:14 pm
by liamsaunt
Thank you for your reports on this snowy and icy day. The view from Sago Palms is stunning!

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:28 pm
by mkb
Enjoying your report and photos. Looking forward to the rest.

You said you'd do the Reef Bay hike on your own next time, but would you recommend the NPS sponsored hike for first-timers? I haven't done the hike yet and have been planning to call and reserve a spot on the NPS hike.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:33 pm
by Muhaha
The guided hike was fine, and the ranger gives a lot of info along the way. It's just that we would like to return to go at our own pace.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:34 pm
by Muhaha
jaq w wrote:Great report. Thanks for the pic of Francis. We haven't been there yet, but have rented Honeymoon Cottage (walking distance to Francis - supposedly)and will probably be spending a good amount of time there. Kids fly down the 2nd week and we change to larger villa on south side.
Just wait until you see the Day 7 pics. We had the most incredible day underwater at Francis...

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:25 am
by Exit Zero
Not sure it was a Zillion years ago --- But the petroglyphs at Reef Bay are considered to be pre-Colombian signs that the water is fresh and good and thanking any Gods involved for the gift.
The white clay deposits near there are also some of the best for pottery making.
This would have been a very important location and likely well worth an exploration for archeological study.