We’re ba-a-a-ck! The lovely island we left five days ago is our home once again – at least for one more day. As soon as all the changes to our cruise were announced, Cathy swung into action to find us an excursion. We certainly didn’t do this place justice last time by merely wandering through the tourist area of Philipsburg, although that was a very pleasant experience.
We arrive on time at 8:00am. There is one other ship in port, the enormous MSC Seaview. It is by far the largest ‘neighbor’ we have had so far. That becomes obvious when we enjoy breakfast at Waves Grill on Riviera’s Deck 12. MSC Seaview is across the pier, and we immediately notice that she has several decks higher than ours.
Steve gathers the statistics, and they are impressive:
SEAVIEW RIVIERA
1,060 feet Length 785 feet
135 feet Beam 84 feet
18 Decks 15
4,132 Passenger Capacity 1,250
1,413 Crew 800
151,516 Gross Tonnage 68,000
Seaview is more than 120% heavier than our ship, but is only 35% longer and 61% wider. And it carries 335% more passengers than Riviera. Steve is fascinated by these statistics, and marvels at the skills of the naval architects that create such monster machines such as the MSC Seaview. Oh, by the way, this gargantuan ship cost $777 million to build. Yes, over three quarters of a billion dollars. Incredible. Sorry for all the stats, but they are eye-opening, aren’t they?
Cathy has found us an excursion that features the Aerial Sky Explorer chairlift. which will take us up to the top of 1,040-high Sentry Hill. A chairlift ride is rare enough in the Caribbean region, but this one even more so. This is because there is an alternative to taking the 25-minute ride down the chairlift to return to the base of the hill. It’s named the Flying Dutchman zipline, and it is billed as the world’s steepest zip line.
We start the excursion with a 20-minute bus ride through Philipsburg to the foot of Sentry Hill. Before boarding the chairlift ride, we spend twenty minutes touring a small but very well laid out museum that features information on some of the island’s history, geography, agriculture, industry and other subjects.
The exhibits begin with information about Emilio Wilson. In 1929, the van Romondt-Rodenhuis family employed Emilio as a watchman at their Industry and Golden Rock estate in Dutch Cul de Sac. In 1954, Mr. Wilson purchased land owned by them. During his life, Emilio kept his estate intact and in relatively the same state as it had been for centuries. He did not allow anyone to destroy the many ruins on the property or to build on the estate. In 2013, the Sint Maarten government purchased 91 acres, with the intention that it would “allow not only for a terrestrial park but for a connection to the island’s cultural past, according to Rueben J. Thompson, member of the boards of the Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation and of DCNA.” (https://dcnanature.org/emilio-wilson-estate-historical-significance/)
After the visit to the museum, while wait in line for the chairlift, entertained by these iguanas:
Now we board the chairlift – carefully. The operators are quick to slow it down for some of the more senior riders, and the ride itself takes just about thirty minutes. This is not your average ski area chairlift that hurtles you up a mountain at 10mph. This is the Caribbean, mon! No rush, plenty of time!
Which is as it should be. The scenery is what we are there for, and it’s beautiful. We arrive at the top around 10, and have a leisurely amount of time to look around, take photos, and just generally enjoy the magnificent view. We can see almost the entire island, both the Dutch and the French sides. We can also see many of the islands surrounding St. Martin as well, because the weather is perfect and we are up so high.
It’s not very busy because of the early hour, but the layout at the top is quite complete, with signs about the various islands we see, a small bar, and the area where the zip line riders begin their ride. After snapping dozens of photos, Steve and Cathy sit and wait to watch some of the zip line riders. First, we see the technicians testing the ride, mainly by sending the zip line “chairs” on a trial run, using barbell weights to simulate passengers. Finally, right around 11, the first human riders of the day, all employees of the chairlift or zip line concessions, take the plunge. It is a fast ride, and they descend the entire way in about a minute. Must be fun.
Cathy and I are ready to go back down. We board and are back down in just under thirty minutes. We noticed a water slide that begins about half way up the mountain, and see some customers taking the ride on our way down. That looks like fun too.
At 11:30, we board our bus that will return us to the cruise terminal. We sit in the second row, which gives us a chance to ask the driver questions. He is a very jolly guy, and is happy to oblige us. Two subjects in particular ore covered:
- Goats and sheep: we see almost a dozen goats that seem very much at home in this busy, high-traffic, almost-urban area. Turns out that goats and sheep are pretty much allowed to roam loose throughout the community. They are owned by individuals, who raise them commercially. Drivers learn to watch out for them, and everyone apparently is very cool with them as potential traffic hazards. They graze wherever they find grass, and the ones we saw certainly seemed indifferent to their busy surroundings.
- Statues in roundabouts: Philipsburg has many roundabouts (we call them rotaries), and they are a very efficient way to manage traffic where roads intersect. From what we see, St. Maarten drivers negotiate them with far more composure and cooperation that Americans do. But that’s just our observation. The other thing we noticed was that there is statuary in the center islands – very nice statuary. This is a popular practice, our driver tells us, and can help tourists navigate through the city if they make careful note of them.
It’s a very nice ride back to the ship. Our friendly driver is a great representative of the community and added a lot to the excursion in a relatively short time.
The rest of the day is routine. Because the weather is perfect, we return once again to the Pool Deck. Not to soak up the sun or to actually swim in the pool, mind you. We lie around writing a blog (Steve) or reading and napping (Cathy). The atmosphere is very conducive to such sloth, and we are becoming quite skilled at this lack of activity and ambition!
Sailaway is at 7:00pm, right while we are enjoying another scrumptious dinner in the Grand Dining Room. Both of us have the rack of lamb entrée, and Steve can’t resist the urge to take a photo:
Another great day. We may have returned to a place we just visited, but we saw it from a very different perspective – and altitude, even. St. Martin and its people taught us the valuable lesson today about travel and touring: There’s always more to see and learn, if we go out and look for it.
