Saba

 


15th to 17th May, Saba, Dutch Caribbean.

We only spent a weekend on Saba but it's such a special place that I decided it deserved a blog entry all to itself. It's a little thirteen square kilometre speck of a volcanic peak, a part of The Netherlands, with a population of 1500 (plus 500 students at the local medical school – because a Caribbean island isn't a Caribbean island without a medical school). Allegedly it was the inspiration for Skull Island in the original King Kong film. It's quite the fortress to approach from the sea and I assume attracted a particularly hardy breed of settlers who favoured isolation. Settlers were English, Irish, Dutch and Scandinavian along with their slaves and fishing and piracy were apparently the ways of making a living. I fell in love with Saba before I arrived when I looked at a map. The two settlements on the island are The Bottom (the capital) and Windwardside. The airport is at Flat Point. There's a hiking trail called “All Too Far” and a bay called Cave of Rum Bay. And the only road is called....The Road.


This was a place we were definitely not bringing Gráinne to. The only access to the island from the only anchorage involves the 800 steep stones steps of The Ladder so we thought we'd be tourists again and take the ferry. Saba has just reopened to vaccinated tourists this month but we still needed the swab up the nose before we went. Our only choice was a 6am ferry so it was an unusually early start for us in the dark and we got to witness our first sunrise in ages. Apart from us there were only two other passengers - a woman and her little daughter who had been turned away at immigration the evening before and were now being escorting on to the ferry by two police officers. So if it wasn't for her we'd have had a ferry all to ourselves. It's a bumpy ride on a fast catamaran but the view approaching Saba in the early morning is stunning. As our taxi driver's ex-husband always says “I wish I could approach Saba for the first time again”.

Approaching Saba on the ferry.

We arrived at a small and not very protected harbour at the base of cliffs, moored fishing boats bobbing like mad, a crazy little spot to have a harbour. We got stamped through immigration under the watchful eye of a portrait of the Dutch King and then moved on to see the Health Officer. She was very excited to see us – Irish people! Her colleague is Irish (The Only Irishwoman on The Island) and had gotten very excited when she saw our names on the arrivals list, though slightly disappointed to see we lived in Australia. Then the Health Officer introduced herself and we realised that she was the owner of the accommodation we were staying in, we'd been e-mailing. She's also the island vet. Multitasking is useful on a small island I suppose. Formalities over, we hopped in a taxi and drove up The Road to our accommodation.

I suspect The Only Irishwoman on the Island had a hand in our welcome message.

The deck of our little cottage

The view from our shower

The view of our shower

Pondering the day's activities over breakfast

The plan for day one was hiking. I took over the planning and picked what I thought was the gentlest route I could get away with – from Windwardside to The Bottom via the old tracks that the locals used before The Road was finished in 1958. It started with some steep steps, then we took a wrong turn up a hill but ended up with a lovely view, then we got back on track through typical lush green rainforest. 

This was how you got around the island before The Road.

A wrong turn gets us a nice view of Windwardside from above.

And then every now and again you come across a cottage, in the middle of nowhere, only accessible via the hiking tracks. So if you ever feel the need to really get away from it all just sell up and move to one of these little places on Saba. At one point I thought I'd gone astray and ended up in someone's garden but then a man poked his head out his window to say “it's ok, you're on the right track!” as I continued, literally, right past his front door. 

How to truly get away from it all.

I also came across a snake which set me off on a little gallop while really wishing I hadn't skipped the fauna section of the guidebook. We later confirmed there is only one species of snake on Saba and its venom is not dangerous to humans. After a long sweaty downhill we made it to The Bottom where we stopped for a drink. As you do. There was a poster on the wall of the bar announcing a birthday party the previous weekend for a popular local with a picture of the guest of honour. When I looked outside he was sitting on wall across the road, gossiping with another old dude. It's that kind of island. It's a quiet little spot, the university campus pretty much deserted apart from a couple of goats. Actually the goats are an issue apparently, they're everywhere, and an official roundup of sorts was due to begin the following week. Given how skittish and speedy they are I think it might be a highly entertaining event for spectators. After a brief break it was time to take the “easy” route back to Windwardside via The Road, and then after lunch the final push up a very steep hill to our cottage. And suddenly the swimming pool, which hadn't looked inviting at all in the chill of the morning, was soooo welcome. Ah.


A church in The Bottom, services happen one Sunday a month, I quite liked that attitude.

Walking back The Road

And back up to our little cottage.

Day two we decided to divide and conquer. Karl was going to climb to the top of the island and I was not. Karl was on a mission – to claim the highest peak in The Netherlands for Ireland. So off he went with his little flag and his camera while I wandered around the suburbs and further over The Road. Both missions were successful but Karl's boots only just held out until he got back home. He proudly sent photographic evidence of his capture of the peak to our Dutch friends on Umnyama, to the owners of our Saba accommodation and to The Only Irishwoman on The Island (who volunteered to act as Governor). We expect a response from the Dutch government any day now. After all that excitement it was time for some sitting around, admiring of scenery, listening to the birds, spotting the giant iguanas and becoming incredibly relaxed.

Karl sets off to conquer Mount Scenery

And claims the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Ireland.

He didn't see any elves though.

Wandering around the Windwardside 'burbs.

Saba is tough on hiking boots.

Saba really is a magic little place. Small, silent (apart from the birds), stunning scenery and fabulous locals. I still haven't worked out if the locals are always so enthusiastically friendly and chatty or it's just the excitement of having new people to talk to after 13 months with a closed border. Anyway, the whole place is highly recommended (once the rest of the world re-opens).

Speeding away from Saba.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/karl_oneill/albums/72157720025844114

Comments

  1. That last picture of Saba, from the back of the ferry, looks like it may have been Inishtooskert ye were on all along. And a lot of Germans and Dutch buy holiday homes down in Cork and Kerry. I smell a rat!

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