Adventures on St John

Our work here is done. Just finished up our last work day and celebrated with a swim and snorkel at "our beach", Little Maho (beach on the left of the photo).

Was great to work for a while but glad it's finished. We have one more open day on St. John, then we'll stay on St. Thomas for a night, and fly back to the mainland on Sunday.

I wanted to get you caught up on some of our adventures on the island from our days off. We'll post pictures when we get back to help better tell the story, but words will suffice for now. St. John is a beautiful little slice of paradise in the Caribbean. It's a small, tropical island - only about 7-8 miles long and 2 miles wide - so you feel like you can get to know it well. We haven't had a car so we've hiked and hitched all over the island. It's cool setting out in the AM and exploring a new place. And the hitching adds a fun dimension. The locals are very friendly and colorful so it's a good way to get around and meet some interesting folks. Our excursions generally end up at a beach where we'll go for a swim and snorkel. We've covered most corners of the island. Our most recent adventure took us to the top of Caneel Hill which is a short steep hike to one of the higher points on the island. From the top, there was a stunning view out over St John, St Thomas, the British Virgin Islands, and all the little cays in between.



Last night we went for a night snorkel under the full moon. It was amazing. We saw a small octupus and witnessed it take down a fish in an underwater ambush. We also spied a giant lobster, some shrimp, a 5-foot tarpon, and lots of other fish. The octupus and lobster were the last two underwater creatures I was really hoping to see so I was psyched to catch them. On our other trips we've had lots of opportunities to swim with turtles, seen a number of sharks, and and have gotten to know a decent amount about the fish and coral and other creatures. The waters here are loaded with life. A sea kayaking trip to a nearby island was one of our other highlights.

Off to run into town - Cruz Bay - for some supplies for our Big Maho beach party to celebrate the end of this first chapter of our trip with our friends down here. Hope everyone is well. Keep the comments coming. Glad my swimwear can be such a great source of amusement. Speedo photos soon.

Drew

Dark and Stormy

Dark and Stormy is a rum drink made out of dark rum and ginger beer. It's pretty tasty, but that is not what this blog is about...
A few nights ago, the whole camp was shaken awake by the most thunderous sound. And over the next hour or so, we experienced the closest thunder storm I have ever been through. The lightning was so bright, that you could see it through closed eyelids and before you could even start to count one (one thousand) the thunder crashed around us. Imagine putting your ear right next to a train track as it goes by, and it was about ten times louder than that! Rain pelted down in sheets, and just when you think that the sky couldn't release any more water at a given time, it would rain harder. It was an amazing experience, even though we found out the hard way every place our tent leaks (one was right over my head). It as one of those times, where you can really appreciate the power of nature and feel completely humbled. The next morning, everyone was bleary eyed and tired, and everyone had stories of the night before and feeling like they might actually get struck by lightning. But, we survived!
Tommorrow is our last work day at Maho! Time certainly flies by when you're havin' fun! We'll have friday off for our final full day on the island, and then we are throwing a beach party at Big Maho to celebrate our time here. It's a pretty chill place to party on a white sand beach, drinkin rum punch. Usually people end up swimming at the end of the night.
We both feel happy and satisfied by our time here. We've seen most of the island, including the beaches, mountains (more like hills), and bars. We've met great people, but have also realized how a small place like this can feel a little too small sometimes. Someone called it Survivor meets Melrose Place. Everyone knows everyone's business, and there is drama that seems to feed on itself. But, we've loved our time and a month seems just about perfect!

Housekeeping 101

I must say that I appreciate my job even more now that I am cleaning for a living. It's hard work, and dirty too. So, cheers to all the folks who have to do this kind of work every day! Here are some interesting facts about housekeeping in Maho Bay.
The worst part of the job is cleaning toilets, especially in the men's room. Yuck! And even worse is finding what the housekeeping department calls a "Charlie Tango" which is a clogged toilet. They actually have a scale system for how gross it is and the harder it is to unplug and the nastier it is, you gain the most points for. Somehow this is "supposed" to make us feel better about the duty, but Hey I am still hoping I get the least amount of points. They have names for all sorts of experiences you may have while unclogging. The folks actually keep track of the points all month long, and whoever gets the most, "wins"! What you win, is the honor of signing your name to a picture of William Shatner, which i don't totally understand. Unfortunately I'm in the lead this month, which means I've had to deal with the most nasty clogs :(
Other than that, the work isn't too bad. For one, we take our first break 30 minutes into the day. Seriously, that is island living! 7:30 we meet for work, and by 8, we are eating breakfast. Everyone walks around and cleans in slow motion, as if trying to conserve every bit of energy, and I've gotten used to the pace rather quickly. We walk hundreds of stairs every day, as this place is literally a maze of stairs, and we sweat so much we have to take electrolyte pills to compensate. The work really isn't so bad, except for the Charlie Tangos. So, don't feel sorry for me, we are living the dream.
Besides that, Drew and I have spent our days off exploring the island mostly by foot. The island is only 8 miles long, but very hilly. We explore every bay and snorkel most of the beaches. On our weekend, we visited a place called Brown Bay and we were the only people there. Pretty sweet! We spend our evenings either reading or hanging out with friends here. Everything is expensive except for rum, so we've been mixing up all sorts of rum drinks. We've both adjusted very well to this lifestyle!
Just so you know, we can't put pictures on here because of the slow connection, so we'll add those in October. Please write us, we miss you!

A Day In the Life

Hey y'all. Were just over a week into our stay here at Maho and are loving life. It's a really good scene down here and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested. It's very doable for anyone who is physically fit, likes the outdoors, and is willing to work in return for a month or longer in an amazing Caribbean spot. We're just about through our first full week of work (tomorrow's our Friday) and we're still digging it.
Daily life basically consists of waking up in our screened-in tent cottage, making coffee and eating breakfast, then heading down to work at 8 for me, 7:30 for Erin. Work in the maintenance department consists of a wide range of projects including tent repairs (screens, vinyl walls), boardwalk repairs, landscaping, recycling and trash collection, collecting water level and propane readings, etc. Basically, keeping this place up and running and in good shape. I really like the crew I work with and am actually learning alot. It's hard work and I'm usually drenched in sweat from head to toe 10 minutes into my day, but I dig it. I like working outside and doing physical work. It's a nice change from staring at a computer screen everyday. And the workday ends at 2:30 which is a short sprint.
At that point, we're about 120 steps away from a fine, white sand beach with amazing snorkeling right off the shore. Last night we walked to Cinnamon Bay, another bay about 20 minutes up the road. From there we snorkeled out to this small island or cay where we were swimming in literally millions of little fish called fry. The fry attract predators and so we some 4 to 5 foot tarpon which are huge. We also saw a reef shark and a sea turtle. We even found the partial remains of an old Cessna plane that crashed into the sea years ago.
After our snorkeling outing, we hitched a ride back to camp, caught dinner and a movie, and returned to our cottage for some reading before going to bed and starting all over again today.
Life down here is not without its pains and sacrifices. As Erin said, there are lots of critters about. I got stung by a small scorpion this AM and stung by a large wasp this afternoon. The wasp sting actually hurts more. And it is a spartan life with few amenities like A/C and hot showers.
But the rum is cheap, the people are great, and island life is good.

Drew

Life's a Beach

Life is grand here in St. John, although our activities are already in a routine. My job in housekeeping is not TOO bad, but I do have to clean toilets and I sweat more than I realized I could. Other than that, each day we hit the beach and its just like I imagined with white sand and turquois water. We snorkel almost every day and my favorite is seeing the sea turtles, even though they are quite common here. There is a whole new group of plants and animals I am trying to learn, and I'm realizing in a sub tropical jungle, there are a lot more poisonous and big creatures- everything thrives! So, every night I check under my pillow, and I always shake out my shoes, just in caser something decides it smells pretty good in there. That's the worst part for me-the critters, and that's coming from a girl who usually picks up bugs to show kids how cool they are. But, the bugs here are surviving with stings and bites that scare me enough that I jump at every tickle.
But besides that, we are having a great time. The food is good, the people are really nice, and you couldn't ask for a better setting. Maho Camps is an interesting place because everyone works and lives here, and already we are starting to understand the ins and outs of each person. It's also sort of a lesson in limited resources, because there is only so much of everything and groceries and such are so expensive. Therefore, everyone uses everything, and food is not wasted at all. It's actually such a relief to live that way, and get away from the consumerism and waste of everyday life. It reminds me of how simple life can really be, which is a good lesson before we take off for more distant places. "Less really is More"!
Love to you all....

Paradise Found

...at least for a little while. We're down in St. John safe and sound. The place is gorgeous.

We had a smooth but long travel day Thursday. Left Williamsburg at 6:45 AM and reached our end destination at about 8:00 PM via Richmond, VA, Newark, NJ, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas, USVI.

We actually thought we were going to be working yesterday but got the day off. We spent it swimming, snorkeling, and laying on the beach down in Big Maho Bay. The snorkelling was excellent right off the beach where we spied some beautiful, brightly colored fish (I'll learn what they are later), a sea turtle, some huge crabs, sea urchins, and quite a few barracudas. Erin thinks she might have seen a shark. On shore there's quite the wildlife as well. We're sharing our cottages with Gordon Gekko and his pals. Lots of gekkos, chameleons, and crabs around. I also killed a scorpion in our room yesterday as we weren't looking for any other roommates. I'm told the scorpion sighting is more the exception than the rule...we shall see.

Last night we cruised into the town of Cruz Bay with soom newfound friends at Maho to have a look around, enjoy happy hour and dinner at the Beach Bar overlooking the bay, and catch some live music. The locals are quite characters down here but we probably won't make it into town too often to get to know them well. I did discover the Virgin Islands Pale Ale (the vipa') which is quite good and unique with its dash of mango. Very refreshing.

Amazingly enough, I ran into my buddy Paul Versaw, a Kelty sales rep, at the bar last night so we're looking to catch up with him tonight at a posh pad in Peter's Bay. What a crazy small world. Saw someone I know in the first place we walked into down here.

Today we actually had our first work day - Erin in Housekeeping and me in Maintenance. It's physical work in the heat and humidity but pretty straightforward and the people at Maho are good people so I think it will be alright. Done at 2:30 and at the beach and in the water within the hour so I think we can handle that.

It's tough to post photos as we're on a dial-up connection but we'll see if we can get that figured out soon, perhaps in town.

Drew