For those who didn't know, I just got back from the first vacation I've been on in about eight years. I mean, I took the occasional long weekend, and even took a small weekend trip to DC for a wedding, but this is the first real vacation.
The destination was Maho Bay Camps: a series of "eco-tents" situated along the (very steep) hillside of Maho Bay on St. John, USVI. The "tents" are more like tree-houses, nestled atop the tropical plants and trees on the north side of the island. The entire operation was run with respect for nature, complete with recycled water, no-flush urinals, and even a communal "visitor sharing center" (which does not allow visitors to share each other, but rather it provides an easy way to share items like left-over sunscreen, bug spray, etc. so that there is less need to produce trash).
The rooms were simple, frugal and most importantly fun. They call them "camps" instead of rooms because that's really what they are: you are not in a luxury resort, but are camping among nature in a tropical paradise. The tree-house tents are bug-proof and rain proof, and have real beds with mattresses, a cook-stove, and (limited) electricity, so it's a bit cushy for camping, but it's still fundamentally camping. Personally, I love that, but it probably isn't for everyone.
The views, of course, were spectacular, but not necessarily from the tents themselves. The tents were so nestled among the trees that you only could catch scattered glimpses of the beach while lying in bed. The views offered only slightly better glimpses while sitting out on the deck drinking Cruzan rum. The overall effect, despite the difficult views towards the beach, was fantastic. The individual camps were spaced well enough apart that there was an extreme sense of privacy, and each was interconnected to the beaches, showers, restaurant shops, etc. by ewok-style boardwalks. It was very other-worldly... or maybe its better to say that it was very this-worldly; it brought me closer to nature than I have been in a while.
The beaches were great: there were two that were very easily accessible from the camps, and one that was just a short climb away, over a rocky outcrop at the edge of one of the first beaches. Each had little pockets of coral along the edges making casual snorkeling rewarding. A short hike from Maho Bay to Waterlemon Bay was even more rewarding: there I saw a colony of about a hundred starfish, each over a foot in diameter. Also, three large (maybe 16-inches long?) iridescent blue squid swimming in formation and sea-urchins that would make the heartiest sailor cry for mommy.
As mentioned, the view from the beach was fantastic. This is the view from little Maho beach, just about 100 yards from our camp. This was taken early, when there weren't any people on the beach yet. It did fill up, being the closest beach to over 100 camps, but there were so many activities, hikes, pottery classes, glass-blowing demonstrations, yoga classes, and you-name-it going on that there usually weren't many more than one or two dozen people on the beach at any one time. The glass-blowing was fun to watch: as one of many efforts to Reduce Reuse and Recycle, the empty beer bottles and other waste-glass were collected, melted down, and used to make blown-glass items such as bowls, bird-feeders, pendants, sun-catchers, vases, etc.
We did our share to support the enterprise by buying lots of glass... a great gift idea, but very difficult to transport home. We also did our share to support the profit-hungry renters of beach chairs, snorkel gear, wet-suits, etc. EVERYTHING was available for rent... if we had known better and/or planned better, we could have saved ourselves a lot of money. The end result was worth it, though.
One of the highlights of the trip was an unguided hike to see some native petroglyphs, deep in the V.I. national forest. This is about a half-day hike, which took us to the sacred fresh-water pool of the Tainos. The trail began at the head of the Reef Bay Trail and then detoured onto the Petroglyph Trail, which we found without difficulty thanks to a sign that said "PETROGLHYP TRAIL". However, someone was kind enough to stick a small note on the sign with the correct spelling of "Petroglyph" so we didn't lose our way. I didn't get too many pictures of the petroglyphs on my digital camera, and the "real" pictures aren't developed yet, but the two links provided offer some great images and a lot of interesting info as well.
One of the things that really surprised me was the cost and quality of the food at Maho Bay Camps. The camps, along with some studios that offered slightly more comfortable living, shared a restaurant. Food (and everything else for that matter) on St. John is expensive because everything has to be flown into St. Thomas and then ferried over. However, the restaurant offered $6 breakfasts and $17 dinners, which included everything (no tax, no tipping allowed). Dinner came with bread and a salad bar. Drink were extra, and a variety of wines and beer were available, including draft McEwans Ale, Guinness, Newcastle Brown and (of course) the local Carib. The abundance of British beer is no doubt attributed to the proximity of the British Virgin Islands, which you could almost swim to, they were that close.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the food was that it was excellent. Each day offered a menu of four entrČes, one of which was always vegetarian. They included such things as coconut curried shrimp, grilled tofu, cuban pork, etc. and each was prepared with a fine combination of island spice and a lot of care. The grilled tofu was particularly delicious, and I regretted having ordered the Grouper with Mushroom and Clam epinade after tasting from my wife's plate. It inspired me to purchase many spices and sauces so that I can experiment until I somehow replicate it. I would challenge anymore to eat this meal and then still claim that they "don't like tofu".
Anyway, that's it for now. More pictures to come once the camera is repaired (did I mention that our Nikon SLR was killed by the humidity?), and once we develop the 35mm film.