Trip Report, Part II: Donkey, Schmonkey
Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:45 am
PART II: OUR CREW MEETS ST. JOHN AND ITS CRITTERS
(or Donkey, Schmonkey - whichever you prefer)
As I mentioned in Part I, my husband and I arrived a day before the rest of our group. After being eaten alive on our way to Salomon, we headed back to Gallows, packed up and got our two rental cars from Courtesy.
COURTESY CAR RENTAL:
We rented a small Vitara and a Ford Escape from Courtesy. Last time we visited we used St. John Car Rental. I don't really have preferences either way, as both places had nice employees and the cars were in fine condition. The cars at St. John Car Rental are shinier and newer, but I'm just renting it, not buying it. Frankly, I'd rather have a beat-up rental. As always, I'm amazed at the expense involved in renting a jeep on St. John. I understand, I'm just always surprised when that charge comes in at the end of our trip.
DESTINATION ST. JOHN CONFUSION AND CALICARIBE:
Our next stop was over to Destination St. John to check in to our villa. We'd rented a little-known villa called Calicaribe (http://destinationstjohn.com/calicaribe.htm). The pictures on the site are a little deceiving as the house is now painted white with light aqua trim. In addition, numerous upgrades have been made to the home since the pictures on DSJ's website were taken. Doors and windows have been replaced and patio furniture has been completely upgraded.
We arrived before noon and a rep was waiting to take us to our villa. I'd been told that this villa was in Contant, just up the hill from the basketball courts. Imagine my surprise when our rep took us the other way, headed up into the hills above Great Cruz Bay. "This doesn't seem right," I told Dave. Indeed, it wasn't. We were taken to Cocotier or Choco Cruz or somewhere that was already rented. It dawned on our rep at this point and she said, "I think I have the wrong house." I had to tell her where it was. Then, she took us past the house to yet a second incorrect villa.
At this point, I'm getting worried. This villa must never be rented. She said she was sorry, she'd only been working for the company a few months, but I'm thinking, "there aren't THAT many houses that DSJ reps." Thirty-one houses are listed on their site, and I'm thinking you might just consult a map before taking renters somewhere. But I digress.
Moving along, we arrive at the house and it's nice. This house is located just up the hill from the basketball courts, and commands a view towards Cruz Bay and St. Thomas:
The maintenance guy told us that the pool would be a little cloudy for the first day since he just cleaned it. I was more worried about the film of debris on the top. We realized later that day that the pool was filled waaaay too high, so the skimmer wasn't working. We actually got four of us in the pool and emptied out water until the skimmer started making its familiar gurgling noise. Once we did that, we had no more issues with the pool.
Calicaribe is a three bedroom, three bathroom house. The bedrooms are air-conditioned, but the common areas are not. The house is divided into two main "pods," with one containing the kitchen and common living area:
Please ignore Dave playing bongos like an idiot:
The main pod also contains the master bedroom and bath. The master bath is large, with a "garden shower" that is screened in (but very private). As a result, we did find bugs in the master bathroom and bedroom, in addition to a couple of residents lizards who watched me shower every day. I like critters, so I wasn't bothered by the lizards, but my husband did get a scare when one suddenly appeared by his foot one day as he was "taking the Cleveland Browns to the Super Bowl," if you will. Sorry, poo humor is appropriate in my group.
This part of the house also has a laundry room and a library with a trundle bed.
The second "pod" contained the other two bedrooms. The top bedroom was very small, but had stunning views and its own patio. The bottom bedroom was a self-contained apartment, and had garden views. This room did have its own kitchen, so it would be great for an in-laws suite.
Some random pics:
One of the three couples we traveled with had the bottom bedroom and frankly didn't like the house very much. The other couple seemed to like the house just fine (they had the small upper guest room). We had the master, and there were pros and cons. I actually did like the house, but I think it's better for two couples or a family with older children.
Pros: Awesome location, very private, warm pool that was a decent size for six adults, decent driveway, very comfortable bed in master, villa was fully-equipped with all kitchen appliances and a library.
Cons: Some bug issues (three scorpions, multiple palmetto bugs, a few spiders, etc), screened in master bathroom meant you got sweaty while getting ready and bugs found their way into master, complaints that lower bedroom was a little mildew-y, no real way to secure the villa.
That last point needs some elaboration. This villa has a front door that locks. It also has an approximately eight-foot wall that links the two "pods" of the house and provides a divider between parking and the pool patio. The main house has about six double screen doors that lock and provide great cross-ventilation. However, there is no way to completely secure the main house. At any time, someone could climb over the eight foot wall (easy to do) and enter the house through the screen doors off the main patio/pool area. There are large wooden hurricane shutters, but these have EXTERIOR locks, so even if you bolted each lock into place, all someone would have to do is unbolt them and enter the screen doors.
I never felt unsafe in this villa because frankly there are only two points of entry. We were able to lock off our master from the living area at night. But, its something to know.
Wow, this has gone on much longer than I intended.
In summary, I really did like this house, and I think it's a decent choice for the right group. It was a little small, but that didn't bother me. I enjoyed the pool at this house very much, and I've stayed in enough villas on other islands to know that a good villa pool is hard to find.
THE FABULOUS FOUR ARRIVE:
Once we settled in to Calicaribe, we stopped by Baked in the Sun for a quick turkey pesto (yum) and then headed to The Beach Bar to wait for the rest of our group to arrive. At 2:30pm on a Saturday, there were THREE patrons at the BB, and we were two of them. Perfect weather, but where were the people?
Two of our friends arrived at 3:30, and the other two came on the 5:00 ferry. I'll have you know that ALL of them were met with either Caribs or Painkillers in our custom koozies. I do it right.
By six o'clock, our full group was there are we were several painkillers in to our evening.
We went back to the Beach Bar that night for a light dinner. I really don't remember what we all had, but there were some nachos, some tuna bites, some Mahi sandwiches maybe? Oh, who cares. We were having fun and the company was great. But, we were all exhausted and tumbled into bed around 11:00pm.
MAHO AND SKINNY LEGS:
Sunday morning dawned and we were up and at it very early thanks to our own resident rooster. He became our group's unofficial good luck charm, as the only day we didn't hear him was the only day we had any sort of bad luck or weather.
We made breakfast in the villa and then headed to Maho. The other four in our group had never been to the island before, so we drove the North Shore road, stopping at all of the lookouts for photo ops. As you can see, it was a horrible day:
Our group hung out at Maho for a while with a beach cat who was being terrorized by a gaggle of beach hens. Our friend The Accountant, who claimed she was snorkeling-averse, stayed out in the water longer than any of us. Don't like snorkeling, indeed.
By 1:00, we all decided that we were hungry. Thanks to the sole other patron at the Beach Bar the previous afternoon, we knew that Skinny's had just opened back up for the season. Off we went!
The guys were in heaven: Sunday football, burgers, hot ladies (us, of course) and Presidente. When it comes down to it, men have simple needs, and Skinny's fit the bill.
That evening, we spent hours in the pool, drinking beer and being ridiculously silly for our ages. Once we all realized we were hungry, we sent someone down to Cruz Bay Pizza (used to be Senorita's) for a couple of pies. We got a pepperoni and a veggie, and both were really good. I think the total cost was $46, in case anyone is wondering what dinner for six on the cheaper side will run you.
Oh, and did I mention the sunsets from Calicaribe? No, we'll let me introduce you:
DONKEY SEE, DONKEY DO:
I almost forgot. On our North Shore drive Sunday morning, we split into two cars, with me driving one and Dave driving the other. I was the lead car, and as we cruised by Hawksnest... what's that my eyes see? What?
That's right, kids, two real live donkeys, just happy as clams eating grass by the entrance to Hawksnest. I execute a fast turn around and am out of the car before you can say, "stop that donkey." In the end, my donkey discovery was anticlimactic, but I did it. I found them. Of course, I found no others besides this pair for the rest of the week (it appeared to be a female and a juvenile), as they seemed to hang out around Hawksnest and along the North Shore Road. Even during our two trips to Coral Bay (along Centerline), I never saw another jackass. Go figure.
That's okay, the sharks made up for that. Oh, but that's a story for another day.
NEXT UP: Sharks at Salt Pond, the good luck rooster fails to crow, and Lion in Da Sun.
(or Donkey, Schmonkey - whichever you prefer)
As I mentioned in Part I, my husband and I arrived a day before the rest of our group. After being eaten alive on our way to Salomon, we headed back to Gallows, packed up and got our two rental cars from Courtesy.
COURTESY CAR RENTAL:
We rented a small Vitara and a Ford Escape from Courtesy. Last time we visited we used St. John Car Rental. I don't really have preferences either way, as both places had nice employees and the cars were in fine condition. The cars at St. John Car Rental are shinier and newer, but I'm just renting it, not buying it. Frankly, I'd rather have a beat-up rental. As always, I'm amazed at the expense involved in renting a jeep on St. John. I understand, I'm just always surprised when that charge comes in at the end of our trip.
DESTINATION ST. JOHN CONFUSION AND CALICARIBE:
Our next stop was over to Destination St. John to check in to our villa. We'd rented a little-known villa called Calicaribe (http://destinationstjohn.com/calicaribe.htm). The pictures on the site are a little deceiving as the house is now painted white with light aqua trim. In addition, numerous upgrades have been made to the home since the pictures on DSJ's website were taken. Doors and windows have been replaced and patio furniture has been completely upgraded.
We arrived before noon and a rep was waiting to take us to our villa. I'd been told that this villa was in Contant, just up the hill from the basketball courts. Imagine my surprise when our rep took us the other way, headed up into the hills above Great Cruz Bay. "This doesn't seem right," I told Dave. Indeed, it wasn't. We were taken to Cocotier or Choco Cruz or somewhere that was already rented. It dawned on our rep at this point and she said, "I think I have the wrong house." I had to tell her where it was. Then, she took us past the house to yet a second incorrect villa.
At this point, I'm getting worried. This villa must never be rented. She said she was sorry, she'd only been working for the company a few months, but I'm thinking, "there aren't THAT many houses that DSJ reps." Thirty-one houses are listed on their site, and I'm thinking you might just consult a map before taking renters somewhere. But I digress.
Moving along, we arrive at the house and it's nice. This house is located just up the hill from the basketball courts, and commands a view towards Cruz Bay and St. Thomas:
The maintenance guy told us that the pool would be a little cloudy for the first day since he just cleaned it. I was more worried about the film of debris on the top. We realized later that day that the pool was filled waaaay too high, so the skimmer wasn't working. We actually got four of us in the pool and emptied out water until the skimmer started making its familiar gurgling noise. Once we did that, we had no more issues with the pool.
Calicaribe is a three bedroom, three bathroom house. The bedrooms are air-conditioned, but the common areas are not. The house is divided into two main "pods," with one containing the kitchen and common living area:
Please ignore Dave playing bongos like an idiot:
The main pod also contains the master bedroom and bath. The master bath is large, with a "garden shower" that is screened in (but very private). As a result, we did find bugs in the master bathroom and bedroom, in addition to a couple of residents lizards who watched me shower every day. I like critters, so I wasn't bothered by the lizards, but my husband did get a scare when one suddenly appeared by his foot one day as he was "taking the Cleveland Browns to the Super Bowl," if you will. Sorry, poo humor is appropriate in my group.
This part of the house also has a laundry room and a library with a trundle bed.
The second "pod" contained the other two bedrooms. The top bedroom was very small, but had stunning views and its own patio. The bottom bedroom was a self-contained apartment, and had garden views. This room did have its own kitchen, so it would be great for an in-laws suite.
Some random pics:
One of the three couples we traveled with had the bottom bedroom and frankly didn't like the house very much. The other couple seemed to like the house just fine (they had the small upper guest room). We had the master, and there were pros and cons. I actually did like the house, but I think it's better for two couples or a family with older children.
Pros: Awesome location, very private, warm pool that was a decent size for six adults, decent driveway, very comfortable bed in master, villa was fully-equipped with all kitchen appliances and a library.
Cons: Some bug issues (three scorpions, multiple palmetto bugs, a few spiders, etc), screened in master bathroom meant you got sweaty while getting ready and bugs found their way into master, complaints that lower bedroom was a little mildew-y, no real way to secure the villa.
That last point needs some elaboration. This villa has a front door that locks. It also has an approximately eight-foot wall that links the two "pods" of the house and provides a divider between parking and the pool patio. The main house has about six double screen doors that lock and provide great cross-ventilation. However, there is no way to completely secure the main house. At any time, someone could climb over the eight foot wall (easy to do) and enter the house through the screen doors off the main patio/pool area. There are large wooden hurricane shutters, but these have EXTERIOR locks, so even if you bolted each lock into place, all someone would have to do is unbolt them and enter the screen doors.
I never felt unsafe in this villa because frankly there are only two points of entry. We were able to lock off our master from the living area at night. But, its something to know.
Wow, this has gone on much longer than I intended.
In summary, I really did like this house, and I think it's a decent choice for the right group. It was a little small, but that didn't bother me. I enjoyed the pool at this house very much, and I've stayed in enough villas on other islands to know that a good villa pool is hard to find.
THE FABULOUS FOUR ARRIVE:
Once we settled in to Calicaribe, we stopped by Baked in the Sun for a quick turkey pesto (yum) and then headed to The Beach Bar to wait for the rest of our group to arrive. At 2:30pm on a Saturday, there were THREE patrons at the BB, and we were two of them. Perfect weather, but where were the people?
Two of our friends arrived at 3:30, and the other two came on the 5:00 ferry. I'll have you know that ALL of them were met with either Caribs or Painkillers in our custom koozies. I do it right.
By six o'clock, our full group was there are we were several painkillers in to our evening.
We went back to the Beach Bar that night for a light dinner. I really don't remember what we all had, but there were some nachos, some tuna bites, some Mahi sandwiches maybe? Oh, who cares. We were having fun and the company was great. But, we were all exhausted and tumbled into bed around 11:00pm.
MAHO AND SKINNY LEGS:
Sunday morning dawned and we were up and at it very early thanks to our own resident rooster. He became our group's unofficial good luck charm, as the only day we didn't hear him was the only day we had any sort of bad luck or weather.
We made breakfast in the villa and then headed to Maho. The other four in our group had never been to the island before, so we drove the North Shore road, stopping at all of the lookouts for photo ops. As you can see, it was a horrible day:
Our group hung out at Maho for a while with a beach cat who was being terrorized by a gaggle of beach hens. Our friend The Accountant, who claimed she was snorkeling-averse, stayed out in the water longer than any of us. Don't like snorkeling, indeed.
By 1:00, we all decided that we were hungry. Thanks to the sole other patron at the Beach Bar the previous afternoon, we knew that Skinny's had just opened back up for the season. Off we went!
The guys were in heaven: Sunday football, burgers, hot ladies (us, of course) and Presidente. When it comes down to it, men have simple needs, and Skinny's fit the bill.
That evening, we spent hours in the pool, drinking beer and being ridiculously silly for our ages. Once we all realized we were hungry, we sent someone down to Cruz Bay Pizza (used to be Senorita's) for a couple of pies. We got a pepperoni and a veggie, and both were really good. I think the total cost was $46, in case anyone is wondering what dinner for six on the cheaper side will run you.
Oh, and did I mention the sunsets from Calicaribe? No, we'll let me introduce you:
DONKEY SEE, DONKEY DO:
I almost forgot. On our North Shore drive Sunday morning, we split into two cars, with me driving one and Dave driving the other. I was the lead car, and as we cruised by Hawksnest... what's that my eyes see? What?
That's right, kids, two real live donkeys, just happy as clams eating grass by the entrance to Hawksnest. I execute a fast turn around and am out of the car before you can say, "stop that donkey." In the end, my donkey discovery was anticlimactic, but I did it. I found them. Of course, I found no others besides this pair for the rest of the week (it appeared to be a female and a juvenile), as they seemed to hang out around Hawksnest and along the North Shore Road. Even during our two trips to Coral Bay (along Centerline), I never saw another jackass. Go figure.
That's okay, the sharks made up for that. Oh, but that's a story for another day.
NEXT UP: Sharks at Salt Pond, the good luck rooster fails to crow, and Lion in Da Sun.
