Final Thoughts and Images from Maho Bay, St. John

My boss at Maho on the left. No joke. Tom was described variously as a ZZ Top band member or a cross between a biker and a hippie. He's a little more clean-cut and straight-laced than my last two bosses at Kelty - Sheahan and Ballard - but a good one nonetheless. "Make a tree look like a tree."

One of my "big" projects and lasting gifts to Maho, a bird feeder. Felt like my first shop project. I was dubiously called a "master craftsman" by the more experienced folks in the maintenance crew. I'm a rookie but learned alot.

With the two biggest characters at Maho - Eric and the G Man. Both legends in their own time that I had the daily pleasure of working with. Eric was another volunteer from MA. G Man's a local legend.

Others in the maintenance crew - Mr Joe, "Zandor", and "Cata".

Favorite plant on St. John - the broom or fan palm.

Some artistic shots of the island

Shark! (Never mind that it's tiny - about 2 feet long - and generally scared of humans.) This is a baby blacktip reef shark, of which we saw a few. The more common shark in the shallow waters just off the coast of SJ, of which we saw quite a few, are nurse sharks. They're actually bottom-dwelling vegetarians so not too scary when you understand what they are. But the steely glare of any shark will give you a moment of pause no matter what the type. In general, the waters are pretty safe for swimmers.

St John History

- Original natives were Taino indians who were wiped out soon after others arrived.

- Other group that inhabited the island early were Caribs, a strong warring nation of people who conquered their way up the island chain from South America.

- St John was a colony of Denmark in the 17 and 1800's. The island was filled with sugar cane plantations which were owned by rich plantation owners and worked by slaves.

- The US eventually bought the island for $25 million in 1917 and that's how it became part of the U.S.

- A wealthy Rockefeller donated much of the land to the US government in the mid-1900's to form Virgin islands National Park. Today about 60% of the island is national park.

- Tourism didn't really take off until later in the 1900's. Now real estate is super-expensive.

Slavery on St. John

The slave trade was very active on St. John in the colonial times. Slaves were brought over from Africa to work on the sugar plantations. In an interesting twist, the slaves on St John were actually former slaveowners and slave brokers themselves when in Africa. Back in the day, the various tribes in Africa vied for power against one another and would actually capture, transport, and sell other black people as slaves. The slaves on St. John came from a once-powerful tribe of slave traders that had fallen in power and were then put into the bonds of slavery themselves. It's an interesting and sad tale but was a revelation to me that slavery was not simply white people getting over on black people but rather powerful people getting over on weaker people. It reminded me of the movie Amistad. If you haven't seen that movie, check it out.

Cost of Rum

You can actually buy a glass bottle of rum for less than a plastic bottle of water on St John, on an equal volume basis.

The Maho Experience

For someone looking to spend a month on St John for a little work and little cost, the Maho work exchange program is a great option. But prepare yourself for a lesson in psychology and social dynamics. Since it is a self-contained place, you live, work, eat, sleep, shower, swim, and socialize all with the same group of people. It makes for an interesting scene. I heard it described in many ways, all of which are accurate in one aspect or another - hippie commune; a cross between Survivor and Melrose; living in a tree house; Swiss Family Robinson. The most accurate description that I heard was that Maho is like the book The Beach by Alex Garland. The book's about a traveler who finds his way to a secret commune on a small, idyllic island paradise in Thailand. It's a perfect place in many ways - but at the same time it is faced with all the same problems and human imperfections that are impossible to escape. I found Maho to be similar. My first week or two there I thought it was incredible, almost perfect. But as time wore on, I witnessed and came to understand other sides of it - nothing major but just that it was kind of like everywhere else in some ways. In the end, it is still an incredible and awesome place. It just needs to be understood in its entirety and from all sides. If you think you might be interested, check it out.

The Future of Maho Bay

The land on which Maho Bay Camps operates is actually leased and not owned by the man who owns the Maho Bay business. It is owned by another family that entered a long-term lease with him. When the lease ends, it is not clear what will become of the land. It is clear that the family wants to sell the land for big bucks. The 14 acres of land on which the camp sits is currently listed by Sotheby's real estate for roughly $30 million. The first of two most likely outcomes is that it will be sold to a private developer or buyer who will develop the land into a large resort or subdivide it into monster estates like those on Peter Bay down the road (where the infamous Kenny Chesney house resides). The other likely scenario is that The Trust for Public Land or another conservation-oriented organization will purchase the land and turn it over to the national park. For the sake of the beauty and preservation of the land, I can only hope that the latter is the case. Maho is a special place.

Drew