Delta Day 16: Saba to BVI
Today is our last day down island. We leave this afternoon to sail back to the BVI. We have had an amazing time here visiting St Martin, St Barths and Saba. Each island is different and everyone loved seeing each one.
On St Barths we spent the first day exploring the town of Gustavia. It is beautiful and very chic. The students browsed the stores, had ice cream, checked out the beaches surrounding the town or hiked to the fort that overlooks the bay. In the evening we enjoyed a quiet night on board in the anchorage just outside Gustavia.
The next morning we headed over to Anse de Colombier. This is a secluded beach accessible only by boat or by hiking. It is often called Rockefeller Bay as the land around it was once owned by the Rockefeller family. Today it is popular and it’s seclusion means that it is not too busy. Once we had picked up a mooring ball and had some lunch we headed ashore to enjoy the beach. We hiked over to Anse de Flamandes and some people had a mud bath in the natural mud ponds.We played a game of football in the water and once we had had our fill of the beach we all swam back to the boats to shower and prepare dinner.
The next morning the staff woke up early to begin the sail to Saba. The students joined them for breakfast and to continue on the sail. Saba stands tall at 2910 feet and so we could see it rising out of the water for almost the entire sail. We picked up a mooring ball at Wells Bay just before lunch. Everyone was amazed by the sheer cliffs that surround the island of Saba and we were all excited to get to shore and explore. We headed in to Fort Bay after lunch and took a taxi to Windwardside to start our hike. It was an exciting climb to the top and it was fantastic to see the clouds roll in at the summit. Everyone returned to the boats muddy and happy with the day.
The next morning we headed back to Fort Bay to meet James, the park ranger from Saba Conservation Society. We worked with him clearing a hiking trail. These trails allow visitors to access the scenic areas of the island without too much impact on the local environment. This is an important part of maintaining the ecosystem here on Saba. Today’s hike was a lot less muddy and we headed back to Windwardside when we finished to have a pizza lunch.
Once we finished the divers (Will, Jill, Haydn, ian, Holly, Aidan and Dylan) headed off with Sea Saba to explore underwater. The non-divers headed to Jo Bean’s glass studio. There we had a lesson and made glass beads for jewelry. Jo makes her own range of glass jewelry and we had the chance to browse her store to pick up some gifts. After exploring Windwardside a little we headed back to the boats and met the divers there.
It was another relaxed evening on board as we were all feeling tired. It had been a long day and we were ready for bed when the time came to power down.
Today the divers headed diving again while the non-divers took a taxi tour of the island. After lunch we are departing on our second night sail of the program. We are heading back to the BVI. We are looking forward to a smoother journey back with the wind behind us (and maybe a little less seasickness). We are departing at 2pm and the plan is to reach the BVI by tomorrow morning. The weather looks set to be nice and so here’s hoping for fair wind and calm seas. We will update you when we reach the BVI.
