Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 9 - Friday 05/27/11

Another beautiful, sunny day. Out for an another early morning adventure. We attempted to reach Santa Maria Bay first, but found it was blocked by a large gate with a no trespassing sign and barbed wire all the way around the top. Since we were already on that side of the island, and our faith in our own hiking skills was boosted after hiking to Neltjeberg and several other areas, we decided to hike down to Botany and Sandy Bay. It seems we just don't have the right password to get past this gatekeeper. We saw no other hikers and at least six vehicles pass us during our "no cars allowed" 30-minute hike. The hike was not bad at all since it was along one of the nicest roads on the island, complete with wide sidewalks.

First we visited Sandy Bay. What a hidden gem! This bay was of course, sandy, with rocky cliffs on either side, views of small uninhabited islands just off the coast, and the biggest waves on the island. It didn't look safe to swim in since it appeared that currents going in all different directions were meeting in this area. I couldn't stop photographing the entire time, while Curt just relaxed to the sound of the waves hitting the rocks. The greatest thing was, not only was this one of the most beautiful beaches, it was one of the most isolated also. The only other person we saw was at villa on the cliffs. 

Then we took the short walk up and around the corner to Botany Bay. We were surprised to find more ruins from an original plantation! This area was well kept. The jungle has been cleared out, not only from the ruins, but from the grounds area from the ruins all the way to the beach also. There's also a really nice looking rental place here. The bay itself was very rocky and not as pretty as Sandy Bay.

We had bought sandwich stuff for lunch everyday, but since the bread we bought went bad after only two days in the fridge, we had an excuse to eat out. No cruise ships were in so we headed downtown to have lunch at Gladys' Cafe, which I had read about in our travel book. We couldn't find Gladys,' so we ate at the Green Room Cafe instead. Then we finished up what little shopping we had to do, and along the way, found Gladys'. Go figure. :)  Anyways, we enjoyed the rest of the day playing cards at Hull Bay and having pizza at Thirteen.