Monthly Archives: October 2016

Parrot Ville Bird Park in Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten’s Parotte Ville Bird Park is one of those secret gems tucked away in the island’s interior. You won’t find a website for Parotte Ville, but word of mouth travels fast enough to keep the visitors coming in. I’d been dying to go for months, but I wanted to take some kids with me. After all, kids make everything more fun. I used fall break as an excuse to take this Brother and Sister to explore Parotte Ville. Come with us and discover the magic of tropical birds in paradise!

parrotville 1

Cost: $5 for kids and $10 for adults

Directions: From Philipsburg, drive north into the Belvedare region, like you’re headed to Orient Bay Beach. The bird park is on Bishop Hill Road.

Experience: 

Bird Enclosure

Note to self: Parotte Ville is closed on Mondays. We ended up visiting the zoo on Monday instead, and made Wednesday our Parotte  Ville day. As soon as we stepped in the gate, we were greeted by George, who gave us an awesome tour of the park. He began by introducing us to each species and handing us cups of bird seed.

birds at parrotville

I was glad to get some into on the birds before heading in. The kids patiently listened, but they had already caught a glimpse of the birds and were about ready to jump out of their skin with anticipation! The birds seemed pretty excited, too, and peered at us expectantly through the wire mesh of the door.

Interior of Parrot Ville

Once we were in, it didn’t take long before the birds began to gather on our seed cups. George introduced us to Alex, a ringnecked parrot. He’s one of the birds with the most personality, and he even comes when called. Sister spent most of her time at the park hunting for Alex.

Alex at Parrote Ville

Besides Alex, there are plenty of other birds to see! These colorful conures were my favorite. They were the most friendly, and were perfectly content to sit on our cups and snack. As you can see, they are also pretty photogenic.

Conure

Brother is a perceptive kid, and he wanted to check out all the different types of birds in the park. To his disappointment, not all of them wanted a bite of his bird seed. He decided they were still cool to look at, though. We both were awed by how beautiful the birds look when they fly. At one point, nearly every bird in the enclosure took flight as if on cue and soared clockwise around the park. It was stunning to see the parrots fly through the air. They fly so differently than other birds– almost like dancers in the air. I could hardly believe that I wasn’t standing in the middle of an untouched Brazilian jungle. Brother asked me if I snapped a picture of that moment, but it wasn’t the picture taking kind of experience. It was the kind of experience that you just have to be present in and enjoy as completely as possible.

boy and birds

You don’t find stuff like this where I come from. It’s amazing to get to hold parrots and see these birds up close! It teaches kids to appreciate nature and to treat wildlife with respect.

Herb Garden 

I was interested in all the plants growing in the enclosure, so George showed me around. He grows a lot of herbs with healing properties, along with other vegetation. He plucked leaves from many of the herbs and let me smell them. Some I know and use, like lemongrass, but others were totally new to me.

White head bush

Museum and Playground

As if the bird enclosure wasn’t cool enough, Parotte Ville also features a great playground and a museum. Sint Maarten doesn’t have a lot of playgrounds, so finding one is a pretty huge event. Sister was excited to play, and Brother was fascinated with the museum. Eventually, Sister decided to see what all the fuss was about and found the museum pretty awesome, too.

heritage museum

George gave us a tour of the museum. It’s his private collection of Saint Martin history, which he gathered from his family heirlooms and household items. There is another heritage museum in Philipsburg, which I haven’t visited yet, but this one has a different twist. George told me that the Philipsburg one focuses heavily on indigenous Arawak history. “But who’s going to tell my family’s history?” he pointed out. “I have to start somewhere.” I’d say this is a pretty darn good start.

Heritage Museum SXM

The kids learned about such ancient artifacts as rotary dial phones and film cameras, and I enjoyed seeing the coal-heated irons and the pictures of local fruits that hang on the walls. Brother knew the uses of a lot of the items, which impressed George. Although he did think the washboard was a cheese grater. When we left, brother commented, “The past was good, and now is good… I think the future will be good.” I have to say that I, for one, am glad we live in an age with washing machines instead of washboards. But I do appreciate history and former ways of life, and I’m glad he does, too.

playground at Parrote Ville

Of course, we couldn’t leave without trying out the Flintstones car. By the end, the kids were happy but pretty pooped. We said good-bye to George, Alex, and the birds and headed to baseball practice. Later, Brother wrote a story about Parotte Ville.

bird-park

If you’re in Sint Maarten, make a point of spending a morning at Parotte Ville! There are tons of awesome things to do on the island, but this is one of my favorite. I’m already planning my next trip.

Parrot
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How You in SXM Can Help Haiti

Saint Martin, we missed Hurricane Matthew. We were lucky. Haiti was not. As part of the Caribbean community, it is not only our obligation but also our privilege to join as an island and help our Hatian brothers and sisters in their time of need. 

You can help! The Hatian Foundation on Saint Martin is organizing a drive to collect food and clothing to help victims of Hurricane Matthew. The collection is daily at the Marcus Building on Pondfill Road. 


We do not all have a lot to give, but remember how Jesus honored the widow who gave a mere two pennies to the needy. Out of her poverty, Jesus taught, she was willing to give to those less fortunate. We can give too, no matter how little we have to spare. Imagine if every person on Saint Martin gave one can. What an impact that would make!

Today, I delivered a few boxes of clothing to the drive. The boxes were a collection that was given by the Spouses Organization at American University of the Caribbean. It was quick and informal. I posted on our group page that I was willing to drive donations to Philipsburg, and the next day several people dropped off bags of clothing. Perhaps you can do an informal collection at your church, school, or work! 


I drove up to the Marcus Building, where I found a mountain of donations and team of volunteers, including the president of the Haitian Organization. Saint Martin, you have already been so generous! The team told me that they are waiting on a container so they can ship the goods to Haiti. 

They also asked that I request for you, my readers, to bring more food. They have a lot of clothing, but are in need of cans and other nonperishables. 


As I walked out of the donation center, the beautiful, friendly culture of Saint Marin enveloped me in an island-wide smile. I’m now sitting at Carl and Sons, among friendly faces, listening to the sound of a live steel drum band play cheerful Caribbean tunes. Thid island is a wonderful place. Here, there is hope and joy. Let’s send a little of that to Haiti. 

An Open Letter to the Government of Sint Maarten

An open letter to the Saint Martin Department of Education and the government of Saint Martin:
For a year now, I’ve been working with Tom Burnett and the Player Development Program to mentor and tutor at-risk youth. We’ve seen heartbreaking situations, but none quite so awful as this week’s case. One of our teens got in a fight at school and is being sent back to prison—again. His first offense? Stealing food when his mom abandoned him and he was left homeless. This gave him a year, and the crime of having no family to speak of caused him to be detained a second year. Now, he is facing more time. I am advocating for this teen and asking you to reexamine his case.
As a community, it is our job as the people of Saint Martin to help our at-risk youth survive difficult childhoods and become capable adults. That is why I and the Player Development staff have been working so hard with this teen. We are teaching him to read, we are teaching him social skills, and we are teaching him responsibility. If he goes back to prison, we lose our chance to redirect his life.
I understand that physical aggression is wrong. But so is sending a child to prison and destroying his hope of a future. Prison has done nothing to help him with aggression. If anything, it has made the problem worse. Reform school has also taught him very little. Just last week, I sat across the table from him and coached him as he struggled to read the word “up.” If this child goes back to prison, he will come out illiterate, with no education, no connections, no support system and no skills. What is his future? Selling illegal drugs? Joining a gang? Going in and out of prison his whole life? If he goes back, his fate is sealed.
However, there is another way. We are dedicated to this child and his future. We are dedicated to mentoring and shaping his character as well as his intellectual mind. If he is kept out of prison and allowed to remain with the Player Development Program, we can give him the tools he needs. First of all, we can address his aggression. Two of our staff are certified Anger Replacement Training (ART) coaches. We have had many kids go through our program and were already planning for this teen to join our class this fall. Secondly, we can teach him to read and do math. These things are necessary skills, and while he has never learned them in school or in reform school, he has actually been improving in our program. Our records show that our kids progress an entire school year in reading every three to four months. One-on-one tutoring makes a difference. Third, we will teach him responsibility and social skills. Already we have seen improvement in this area. I took this teen to the zoo last week. He was extremely respectful and helpful with the younger children. He saved my sanity! He also volunteered to help out the zookeeper with some of the day’s tasks, which was much appreciated. At our program, he is constantly helping the younger kids with their baseball skills and assisting Tom Burnett with things that need to get done. He is respectful at all times and we have never had a problem with him.
I see a lot of potential in this teen. I am confident that if he can stay in our program, and be surrounded by a support network that believes in him, this child can learn to make good decisions and become a responsible, independent citizen of Sint Maarten. I take personal responsibility for my part in teaching him social skills, reading, and responsibility. Please reconsider sending him back to reform school. He has been let down by everyone else in his life, and he deserves so much better.
Sincerely and resepctfully,
Breana Johnson

Happy Bay: The Happiest SXM Beach

Happy Bay in Saint Martin isn’t easy to find, but it’s worth it. If fact, you can hit two beaches and take a short hike all in one day when you go to Happy Bay! Once you arrive, it’s like paradise on earth.

friars bay

My friend Stacey, who sadly has moved back to the States at this point, told me once that she appreciated how consistently I share my photos of our adventures together. Looking back on our trip to Happy Bay, I realized that I never actually shared them, since I’m stingy with my photos until after I post a blog! So here’s the blog and the very late photos– sorry Stacey!

Why to go. Stacey and I went to Happy Bay with Andrea and Lala, two other spouses from American University of the Caribbean. We were all hoping to add another beach to our list of “been there” beaches. I’m hoping to hit all 37 SXM beaches before I move in April, and Happy Bay was number 21! Even if you’re not counting down beaches, Happy Bay’s a nice place to spend an afternoon. It’s perfect for sunbathing in the soft sand, far away from traffic and the distractions of commercialism.

Happy Bay

How to get there. To get to Happy Bay, you have to drive to Friar’s Bay. This beach is on the French side of the island on the western coast. If you drive north through Marigot, you’ll see signs to a turnoff on your left. After a short drive through a neighborhood (short provided the cows do not block the road), you’ll end up at the beach. Friar’s Bay is a nice family-friendly beach with calm water, which I’ll write about another day. You have to walk north on the beach, past all the great-smelling food places on the beach. You’ll find a little trail heading up the hill. If you can’t find it, the employees at the restaurants will be happy to point you in the right direction. Take the hike until the shaded path spills out into the sandy sunshine of Happy Bay.

Hiking view to Happy Bay
View of reef from the hiking trail

The hike is short, but beautiful. I want to say it’s somewhere between a quarter mile and half a mile. We managed in our slippers (flip-flops, for all you mainlanders), but close-toed shoes would have been nice. On the way, I spotted little rocky beaches with gorgeous live reef glistening beneath the surface of the clear water. I was pretty much drooling with anticipation of coming back to snorkel there someday. Still haven’t done it, but it’s on the island to-do list.

Happy Bay Beach

The beach is standard length for the island, but the sand goes back quite a ways. There’s no development to ruin the beach and surrounding forest, although there are a couple of abandoned houses that took Hurricane Louis pretty darn hard. Some of my friends have explored around them, although I have not. The water is nice, but not particularly good for snorkeling. There are a lot of boats and jet skis that use the bay and stir up the water. If you just like sunbathing, though, this is a good place to do it!

donkey
This donkey and his iguana buddy were just chilling near Friar’s Bay

Watch out for sea urchins in the rocks and men hiding in the bushes. No, not kidding. Unfortunately, we’ve often run into issues with creepy men in bushes at beaches here. We’ve never heard of them doing anything harmful, but they like to watch girls on the beach. It is very weird. In other words, I won’t be back to Happy Bay unless Ben comes with me.

As far as Saint Martin beaches go, I’ll give Happy Bay a 4 out of 5. It’s nice to look around and see nothing but nature (aside from the people and boats in the bay). It also has a spectacular view of Anguilla and feels just like what you imagined a Caribbean beach would be like. Definitely Istagram-worthy.

P.S. Why not pin this image on your Pinterest and add a little “happy” to your boards?

happy bay

 

4 Reasons Why Le Galion Beach Should Be Your Caribbean Favorite

It’s a mystery to me that Le Galion Bay Beach, Saint Martin isn’t more popular. It really has everything you could ask for in a beach, minus the gigantic hotels and resorts that have commercialized so many of Saint Martin’s other nice beaches. Come with me and my friends to learn why Le Galion Beach should be your favorite!

1. It’s family friendly. Yesterday, I took four boys of varying ages to Le Galion Beach. We met up with several of our friends (some intentional meetings, others a happy happenstance), and everyone was happy and had a great time. I wasn’t the least bit concerned to watch a four-year-old in the water– it’s so shallow for so far that you can’t possibly get in over your head very fast. There’s a lot of clean, white sand that is perfect for building sand castles, too.

kids playing beach

2. There’s no better place for water sports on the entire island. “But, wait,” you island veterans cry, “What about Orient Bay?” Well, maybe, if you want to spend a bajillion dollars for rentals. Orient Bay, just down the road from Le Galion, has dozens of vendors, while Galion only has two. However, Galion’s are far cheaper. Tropical Wave offers a larger variety of rentals (including beach chairs and umbrellas for those whose favorite water sport is napping on the beach), but SXM Surf Club (AKA Windy Reef) has better options for surfers and also offers a boat ride to the waves. Both are good options, it just depends what you want to do.

There are a lot of good options at Le Galion, including a swimming pool right in the ocean and a dive platform. We usually opt for surfing. The waves break pretty far from shore, which is nice because that means the beach is always calm. The paddle out to the waves is about 20 minutes, but you can catch the boat from SXM Surf Club that leaves twice a day. It’s only $5 per person, and board rentals aren’t too much, either. I think you can rent a board for the afternoon for about $10. Correct me if I’m wrong. We always take our own boards.

 
St Martin Supsquatch Surfing at Le Galion Beach – $59.00

from: Viator

You can also rent a stand-up paddleboard from Tropical Wave. A few months ago at Orient, I paid about $20 for a half hour. That’s a little on the expensive side even for Orient, but contrast that with the $20 I paid to rent two paddleboards for an hour at Le Galion. The older kids and teens got their fill of paddling around the bay. Again, I wasn’t worried about them because the water is so shallow. Even if they were prone to panic in deep water, they would be fine at Le Galion.

 
St Martin Stand-Up Paddleboard Lesson – $49.99

from: Viator

Kite surfing and windsurfing are both available, too. I believe the windsurfing is available from SXM Surf Club. I can’t remember the name of the man who runs the kite surfing, but I do know his wife has a little art gallery on Old Street in Philipsburg. I doubt that is helpful to you, but if you’re desperate to try it, you can go grab a business card from the gallery and give him a call. It’s probably cheaper than the cost of doing it through Viator, but I’ll include a like here in case you would rather go to a website to book than wander through downtown.

 
St Martin Kitesurfing Lesson – $168.19

from: Viator

There’s also a thing called canoe surfing that you can do at Le Galion. I’m not sure if you can just show up and do it, or if you have to book ahead on Viator. Obviously, I haven’t done it yet, but it looks like fun!

 
St Martin Canoe Surfing at Le Galion Beach – $69.99

from: Viator

Like I said, I just rented a couple of paddle boards. I managed to entertain seven people with them. Paddleboarding is probably my favorite thing to do on the water. The kids like it, too! These two little ones thought it was a pirate ship.

paddleboard

Ray and the Kings had a great time paddling around the bay. They took turns with the boards and a couple of snorkel masks that I brought along. Stashing a few snorkel masks is always a good idea in Saint Martin, especially with older kids and teens!

le galion

3. Cool Wildlife. When I asked Big King if he saw anything interesting while snorkeling, he replied, “girls.” Of course girls are more interesting than fish to a 14-year-year-old boy, but fortunately the kids saw some pretty cool animals, too. They even saw a sting ray! The bay is carpeted by both sand and sea grass, so there are plenty of underwater animals to observe. The birds and land animals are cool, too. Head down the beach away from all the people, and you’ll find an untamed stretch of sand and bush that is home to many species of birds, lizards, and anything else you can imagine.

snorkel

4. The People. I’m not just saying this because I went to Le Galion with a bunch of people I like and ran into a bunch of other people I like. The social atmosphere of Le Galion Beach is pretty chill and friendly. It tends to be filled with local families rather than tourists or expats, so you get a whole different vibe that is pretty nice. The kids in our group made friends with kid from other groups, which was lots of fun for them. Also people generally have more clothes on here than they do at other beaches on the French side– always a plus.

People at Le Galion Beach

So there you have it. That’s why Le Galion should be your favorite Saint Martin beach. If this article doesn’t convince you, surely a trip to the beach can! If you want to go with me, I’m always up for chilling at Le Galion. Just make sure we bring a few kids along to make it that much more fun.

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The Zoo Keeps Getting Better

The Sint Maarten Zoo just keeps getting better. How, you ask? Well, for starters: water features, gardens, and renegade pigs. Although that last part isn’t quite intentional.

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Since I moved to the island of Sint Maarten a year ago, I’ve been to the zoo four times. Today’s visit was definitely the best. The zoo has put a lot of effort into improving the grounds and making it look beautiful.

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About four months ago, I was part of a volunteer crew through American University of the Caribbean that helped the zoo clean up some weeds and leaves and such. Every time I’ve done a project like that in the past, the place looks just as weedy a month later. Not so with the zoo. In fact, it was even cleaner than the way we left it after our clean-up day. The areas we weeded had become landscaped paths and nice gardens. It’s always looked nice, but today everything looked excellent.

treasure chest

I brought three kids to the zoo today. One of them, Aloha, had never been before. His reaction to the animals was priceless! He really didn’t have very good luck at first, though. As soon as we walked in, one of the parrots in a cage flew at him and scared him half to death! It wasn’t aggressive, just curious, but he’d never seen such a big parrot before. Then, he was so loud and excited that he bothered a crabby monkey, who flung a fistful of food at him. Of course, this only made him more loud and excited.

monkey cage

There’s a little white cockatoo that says “hello” whenever you walk away from it. Aloha walked past the bird, and it called out, “hello!” He returned the greeting, “hello!” and spun around to find the person who shouted at him– but there was no one there! He was surprised to discover that it was a bird talking to him. I couldn’t help but laugh at the confusion on his face!

guinea pig exhibit

 

The littlest one was quite enthralled with the huge shipwreck playground. It’s the biggest playground  on the island, and it’s a really good one. No only does it feel like a real ship, there are also a lot of ladders to climb and tunnels to crawl through.

tunnel

The zoo recently added another play area, too. This one has trikes, hammocks, and tunnels. It was a good place to stop and eat lunch. Aloha said he was going to live right there forever.

hammock

The oldest one was most interested in the iguanas. There are a lot of these lizards at the zoo! The green iguanas that run free all over the island are actually not native to the island. They used to be limited to a private pond, but escaped during a hurricane. They managed to eliminate all of the native iguanas and take over the island.

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As you can see, they like to hang out at the zoo!

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I gave the kids some bread so they could feed the iguanas. The little one just tossed the bread at them and liked watching them eat, but Aloha and the oldest one enjoyed feeding the lizards by hand.

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The oldest one ran into his friend who works at the zoo. His friend’s task for the afternoon was to round up all the intrusive iguanas and put them in the iguana exhibit for the time being. The wild iguanas bother the other animals and eat their food.

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Of course, the oldest one thought that iguana wrangling sounded like fun, so he joined the hunt. I took Aloha and the little one to check out the new splash pad. It’s pretty cool! They have a bunch of kiddie pools and some big sprinklers. There weren’t too many kids there, so they had plenty of space to play.

I hadn’t thought to bring dry clothes, so we decided to walk around the zoo again to dry off. Aloha liked the caiman. I liked the rabbits. The little one liked the mules, even though you can’t tell from this photo!

Actually, the little one was more interested in the swing than the animals at this point. Although he was still pretty enthralled with the talking cockatoo.

swing

The most exciting part of the day came just before we left. Somehow, a pig wandered out of the farm animals exhibit. I saw him walk past me, and I wondered if he was supposed to be running free. He didn’t seem to be bothering anyone, so I just watched him root around in the dirt. Before long, I saw the zookeeper searching for something. I asked him if he was looking for a pig and pointed where the pig had gone. He went jogging after the pig, and a minute or two later I saw the pig fly past me the other direction with the zookeeper and his son hot on its heels! Aloha and the little one decided that this was great fun, of course, and so did every other kid in the zoo. Before long, there were seven kids, a zookeeper, and me all chasing down Houdini Pig. Aloha ended up cornering the pig so the zoo keeper could catch it. He was very pleased with the whole episode. After all, it’s not every day that an animal escapes at the zoo and you get to help catch it.

pig

The oldest one was having so much fun that he decided to hang around the zoo after I left with the little kids. He stayed for a few more hours to volunteer, which was pretty cool of him. He’d been very helpful with taking care of the kids during the trip, too.

zoo kids

We were all pretty happy with our afternoon at the zoo! It’s nice that the Sint Maarten Zoo is always making the zoo better and more fun. At $10 for adults and $5 for kids, it’s a pretty affordable treat that includes animals and play time. Both of the younger kids begged to go back again the next day! Perhaps another zoo day will be in our future.

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