SINT MAARTEN/SAINT MARTIN

The next stop on our trip throught the Caribbean was Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. The island is divided in a French and a Dutch district with a border in the middle. It is funny how they divided the island. In the year 1684 French and Dutch people decided to divide the island. So a Dutch and a French soldier started to walk around the island in opposite directions until they eventually met together. The people along the road cheered for the Dutch soldier and gave him gin to drink. The result is that since 350 years the French part is much larger than the Dutch part. And Dutch people love Genever. Both parts are proud of the peaceful coexistence since nearly 400 years.

Philipsburg

Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch part with lots of gambling places and jewelries functions as an outdoor shopping mall for cruise-goers with cash to burn. Most of the action is concentrated around the front street, the Bayfront road which is lined with boutiques, jewelry shops, restaurants, casinos and duty-free shops selling everything from Danish porcelain to Japanese cameras and electronics.

Philipsburg alight on some days five huge cruise ships at the same time. Thus ca. 10,000 day tourists walk around at a population of all together 80,000!

MARIGOT

Marigot, the capital of the French part is more quiet. We have visited a nice market with local clothes. You can still find here some trappings of an European village lost in the Caribbean.

MAHO Beach, Juliana Airport

On thewhole island there are lots of crystal water bays beaches and with white sand.

The beautiful beach of Maho is situated at the end of Juliana airport’s runway and the tourists have a lot of fun at each plane landing as they get blown away by the landing planes. Unfortunately the party will finish soon as they start building a new airport.

We have lived in Captain Oliver’s Hotel in Oyster Pond which is on the border between the French and the Dutch district.

We have enjoyed St Maarten/St Martin. There is a good mix of Europe and Caribbean and by the way it was the only time during our trip that we could find a nice bar by the beach with entertainment and good cocktails. It is a good exemple for other countries how two populations with different languages can live peacefully together for hundreds of years. Friends of us use St Maarten as a touch base for the start of a trip in the Caribbean. Furthermore it does have some tax deductions. In some touristic books there is a saying: Sleep on the Dutch side and eat on the French side.

On Jan 14 we flew from the sleepy airport ‘Esperance’ in the French part to Guadeloupe. For people who want to plan a trip to the Carribbean. The only flight connections to Guadeloupe, Martinique and France start from Esperance.