Alaska to New York
Taking the ferry to St Martin with the kids and BondGirl is about as different on the "change from daily life" meter as taking a helicopter from small town Alaska to the hustle and bustle of
New York City.
Anguilla is very quiet and doesn't have the amount of people/drugs/casinos/tourists/shops/cars/prostitutes to have chaos, the way St Martin does. Which co-incidentally also makes St Martin a fun place to visit, although I am usually ready to leave about 10 minutes after getting there.
To prove my point, below a pic of a sign posted at the Dutch pharmacy I visited while in Phillipsburg
We went to St Martin to meet my Dad and his girlfriend, which were spending the weekend there before going to Saba, St Barth's, Statia and then Anguilla for the Tranquility Jazz Festival.
The highlight of the trip was our visit to the Butterfly Farm on Orient Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous and full of blue morphos, Indian leaf butterflies, birdwings, Japanese swallowtails and owl butterflies, pictured below.
I never knew that some butterfly species mate for 48 hours straight while only living a total of 6 days!
We also learned that some pupas gestate for 6 months, such as the type of moth that was found in one of the victim's throat from the Silence of the Lambs movie. We even got to touch and see such pupa, partially cut open with the moth wiggling around inside.... which was slightly creepy.
We also discovered the most wicked looking 6 inch caterpillar ever, which I'm told is also very tasty - and boy am I glad we didn't eat at the Butterfly Gardens restaurant!
All in all we had a blast and driving on the left, then the right and then left again is always exciting, especially for my passengers. After trying to track down Dad's delayed backpack, our day ended at the ferry port, with us doing our best "clown car" impersonation, as 8 soaking wet people got out of the tiniest rental car in existence.
Getting back to our boring little "tranquility wrapped in blue" island is always like going to sleep in your own bed with freshly washed sheets on, after returning from hectic business travel and staying in hotels.
Not sure if that statement makes sense to you, but for those of you that get it - you know what I'm talking about!
Anguilla is very quiet and doesn't have the amount of people/drugs/casinos/tourists/shops/cars/prostitutes to have chaos, the way St Martin does. Which co-incidentally also makes St Martin a fun place to visit, although I am usually ready to leave about 10 minutes after getting there.
To prove my point, below a pic of a sign posted at the Dutch pharmacy I visited while in Phillipsburg
We went to St Martin to meet my Dad and his girlfriend, which were spending the weekend there before going to Saba, St Barth's, Statia and then Anguilla for the Tranquility Jazz Festival.
The highlight of the trip was our visit to the Butterfly Farm on Orient Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous and full of blue morphos, Indian leaf butterflies, birdwings, Japanese swallowtails and owl butterflies, pictured below.
I never knew that some butterfly species mate for 48 hours straight while only living a total of 6 days!
We also learned that some pupas gestate for 6 months, such as the type of moth that was found in one of the victim's throat from the Silence of the Lambs movie. We even got to touch and see such pupa, partially cut open with the moth wiggling around inside.... which was slightly creepy.
We also discovered the most wicked looking 6 inch caterpillar ever, which I'm told is also very tasty - and boy am I glad we didn't eat at the Butterfly Gardens restaurant!
All in all we had a blast and driving on the left, then the right and then left again is always exciting, especially for my passengers. After trying to track down Dad's delayed backpack, our day ended at the ferry port, with us doing our best "clown car" impersonation, as 8 soaking wet people got out of the tiniest rental car in existence.
Getting back to our boring little "tranquility wrapped in blue" island is always like going to sleep in your own bed with freshly washed sheets on, after returning from hectic business travel and staying in hotels.
Not sure if that statement makes sense to you, but for those of you that get it - you know what I'm talking about!
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