Reef Bay Sugar Mill Ruins

Over the last few months I’ve been checking out the trails, scrambles, snorkels and places described in my book, St. John Off The Beaten Track, looking for changes and updates for the upcoming 2010 edition.

Dean Doeling at Par Force Estate

Yesterday’s adventure was the Reef Bay Coastal Walk, for which I was fortunate enough to enjoy the company of Dean Doeling, the founder of Using Sports for Social Change.

Despite the appearance of some threatening squalls moving along the Caribbean coast on St. John’s south shore, it turned out to be a perfect hiking day, that is some sunshine for taking photos and some cloud cover to mitigate some of the negative effects of our tropical summer sunshine. The little bit of rain that fell on us was just enough to be refreshing without leaving us soaking wet.

The first surprise of the day was the great job that was done on the steep  trail leading down to Parrot Bay, transforming the once slippery path into a rustic set of stairs fashioned out of pieces of treated lumber supported by rebar stakes – my thanks to whoever was responsible, Nice job!

We walked along the deserted beach, from where you could see, looking out to the east the southern shoreline and mountain valleys of St. John all the way to Ram’s Head, 100% natural – no developments, no houses, condos hotels or what have you just the emerald green mountains, the reddish-white rock  of the White Cliffs, blue skies and turquoise seas. A light invigorating onshore breeze carried the smells of the gently breaking surf and the nearby rain squalls.

At the end of the beach we scrambled over the colorful red and white “Chocolate Hole rocks” to Little Reef Bay and the only lagoon on St. John, then we hiked the short spur trail that takes you to the Reef Bay Trail near the sugar mill ruins.

The second surprise was that National Park crews had recently finished a great job of clearing around the ruins of the sugar factory, which looked better than I have ever seen them.

Before returning back to our starting point we checked out the Reef Bay Estate House, the seldom visited Par Force Estate ruins and the petroglyphs.

All in all, this is a really great hike offering access to many of the attractions of the Reef Bay Trail ( Sugar Mill ruins, Petroglyphs, Great House and Par Force Ruins) but substituting a sea level shoreline scramble for the steep decent down the Reef Bay Valley that failing arrangements for a pick up by boat would necessitate an arduous climb back up the valley.

Boiling Bench	Steam Engine
Cane Crushers	Shoreline Flower

Inspired by our new Virgin Islands Quarter, there’s the new “2009 CENTsational Sale.” Here’s the deal:

Book a three-night, hotel and airfare package and you will get three additional nights for only 25 cents per night, before tax.
And
Twenty five dollar per person dining credit
Twenty five dollar per person activities credit
One Virgin Islands commemorative quarter coin set from the US Mint

You’ll need to book by November 2, for travel through December 15

Participating hotels: Bolongo Bay Beach Resort, Carambola Beach Resort & Spa, Hibiscus Beach Resort, Hotel Caravelle, Marriott Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Beach Resort, Secret Harbour Beach Resort, the Palms at Pelican Cove, Windward Passage, Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa

I woke up yesterday morning to a heavy squall, thunder and lightning. I was looking forward to taking my son, Jacob, to the big Just Play happening at the Sprauve School ballpark. I was hoping that the weather would improve and wondering if the event would be canceled.

Meanwhile the organizer of the event, Dean Doeling, was probably also hoping that the weather would improve, but there was no way that he was going to consider cancellation. Like the US Post Office motto, “neither rain, sleet, snow or gloom of night” was going to keep Just Play from happening.

The weather did improve and Jacob and I made it down to the ball field just in time for the singing of the National Anthems and the Virgin Islands March.

As it turned out, despite the muddy field, the first annual Just Play event was a resounding success. It was just plain fun! You could see it on the faces of everyone there, not only the kids, but also the organizers and volunteers, were having a blast.

The kids were separated into age groups for competitions like the 50 Yard Dash, Football Throw, Soccer Kick For Accuracy, Obstacle Course, Dodge Ball, Tug Of War, Relay Soccer Race and  Kick Ball.

In addition to the games there was music, demonstrations, prizes, free gifts, food and drinks.

Just Play was organized and supported by Sport for Social Change, Nike, the St. John Community Foundation, the Virgin Islands Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation as well as by several local businesses.

The youth (of all ages) of St. John will be looking forward to next years replay.

Way to go, Dean! Thank you!

Statue of Christopher Columbus located in the Plaza Mayor in the Old City of Santo Domingo.

In the ship’s log and in his diary Columbus made the following observation concerning the Taino: “They are a very loving people and without covetousness,”…”They are adaptable for every purpose, and I declare to your Highnesses that there is not a better country nor a better people in the world than these.”…They are so ingenious and free with all they have that no one would believe it who has not seen it; of anything they possess, if it be asked of them, they never say no; on the contrary they invite you to share it and show as much love as if their hearts went with it…”

Father Bartolomé de Las Casas, who wrote extensively about the Taino culture and their interaction with the Spanish invaders, sailed to the West Indies with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. The Spanish fleet also carried more than 1500 adventurers, former prisoners and ex soldiers with battle experience in the wars against the Moors of North Africa.

Father Las Casas wrote:
“…God made all the peoples of this area…open and as innocent as can be imagined. The simplest people in the world, unassuming, long-suffering, unassertive, and submissive. They are without malice or guile…Never quarrelsome or belligerent or boisterous, they harbor no grudges and do not seek to settle old scores; indeed, the notions of revenge, rancor, and hatred are quite foreign to them…They own next to nothing and have no urge to acquire material possessions. As a result they are neither ambitious nor greedy, and are totally uninterested in worldly power…They are innocent and pure in mind and have a lively intelligence…

“It was upon these gentle lambs, imbued by the Creator with all the qualities we have mentioned, that from the very first day they clapped eyes on them the Spanish fell like ravening wolves upon the fold…The pattern established at the outset has remained unchanged to this day, and the Spaniards still do nothing save tear the natives to shreds, murder them and inflict upon them untold misery, suffering and distress, tormenting, harrying and persecuting them mercilessly.

“They forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were so many sheep herded into a pen. They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke, or cut an individual’s head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They grabbed suckling infants by the feet and, ripping them from their mothers’ breasts, dashed them headlong against the rocks. Others, laughing and joking all the while, threw them over their shoulders into a river, shouting: ‘Wriggle, you little perisher.’

“They spared no one, erecting especially wide gibbets on which they could string their victims up with their feet just off the ground and then burn them alive thirteen at a time, in honor of our Savior and the twelve Apostles, or tie dry straw to their bodies and set fire to it…The way they normally dealt with the native leaders and nobles was to tie them to a kind of griddle consisting of sticks resting on pitchforks driven into the ground and then grill them over a slow fire, with the result that they howled in agony and despair as they died a lingering death.

“It once happened that I myself witnessed their grilling of four or five local leaders in this fashion (and I believe they had set up two or three other pairs of grills alongside so that they might process other victims at the same time) when the poor creatures ‘howls came between the Spanish commander and his sleep. He gave orders that the prisoners were to be throttled, but the man in charge of execution detail, who was more bloodthirsty than the average common hangman (I know his identity and even met some relatives of his in Seville), was loath to cut short his private entertainment by throttling them and so he personally went round ramming wooden buns into their mouths to stop them making such a racket and deliberately stoked the fire that they would take just as long to die as he himself chose. I saw these things for myself and many others besides.

“…It is reported that the butcher-in-chief arranged for a large number of natives in the area and, in particular, one group of over two hundred who had either come form a neighboring town in response to a summons or had gathered of their own free will, to have their noses, lips and chins sliced from their faces; they were sent away, in unspeakable agony and all running with blood…”

In the United States of America and in the Caribbean, Columbus Day is celebrated on the twelfth of October.

Trunk Bay Overlook

I try to get over to Trunk Bay in the late afternoons for a nice long swim. It’s especially inviting during these summer months when the water is good and warm, just the way I like it.

Trunk Bay Stamp

The view from the Trunk Bay overlook on the North Shore Road is probably one of the most photographed scenes anywhere.

There’s even an official United States Postal Service stamp featuring that world famous vista.
Trunk Bay is the favorite destination for cruise ship passengers and day-trippers from St. Thomas and tends to be fairly busy, at least by St. John standards,

As the sun sets over St. Thomas, however, the scene changes and the beach is often just about empty.

The late afternoon at Trunk now attracts lovers of all kinds, beach lovers, beauty lovers and young lovers of all ages.

I shot this video of a typical Trunk Bay sunset a few days ago.

I-Tal

The music is by our own St. John culture bearer, I-Tal Anthony from Salt Pond Bay, enjoy!