We arrived later than expected to US Virgin Island of St. John, after a very rough three-landing attempt into St. Thomas that included two last minute aborted landings, an insanely scary amount of turbulence through ‘swirling winds’ and an unscheduled stop in San Juan to wait out the rough weather.
We arrived to our little jungle cottage after dark, and thankful our landlord insisted on hiring a greeter service to help us get settled. He had our rental Jeep waiting for us at the ferry dock, took us to a local market to get some basics and then lead us over the 133 curve, wet, dark, hilly Centerline Road to Coral Bay.
We had to make one stop, to allow a family of baby pigs to cross in front of us. We could really see nothing however, which made our senses even more aware of the loud beautiful song of birds echoing amongst the trees and cliffsides.
After moving our luggage in and preparing a quick meal – we slept our first night listening to the sound of rushing water falling outside our window. We slept like a rock after a long day of travel.
We awoke in the morning to survey the area, and were hanging around on the dirt road that leads to our house. Recent heavy rains have caused landslides throughout the island, including our parking area – which is the source of the running water that cradled us to sleep. The road leads down further into the mountainside, and is muddy, rocky and now water rushing over it. Just as we were thinking to ourselves ‘Surely no one is able to use this road right now’ – a small old beat up blue 4WD mini SUV comes crawling up the rocks, splashes through the running water and comes to stop next to us.
The vehicle is driven by an adventurous looking solo female, with her dog sitting shot gun.
She proclaims – ‘Welcome to the Frontier!’ as we exchange neighborly introductions. If she had a cowboy hat on, I’m sure she would have been waving it in the air.
And that my friends is our introduction to life on St. John.
A frontier it is. Sure, the tourists are driving around in shiny brightly colored 4WD rental SUVs on nicely paved roads – or being shuffled around on taxi buses between the popular beaches and their resort accomodations. However the people drawn to live here full time seem to be a friendly, strong and hardy breed. While they relish the warm temperatures, trade wind breezes, beaches and amazing views – it’s definitely not a full time vacation life here.
The roads are extremely steep and narrow (and you drive on the left, in American-style left driverside vehicles), and only those going to public places seem to be paved. Most roads include pot holes and rough spots. Yes, way worse than California roads.
The weather takes it toll on everything here. It takes the land from beneath your feet, road and house. It corrodes your vehicle, and what is left is shaken apart by the roads. Anything mechanical is bound to be rusty soon. Humidity is always high, and everything you own will have a damp feeling to it.
Food is extremely expensive – not much at all is local, as most everything is shipped over. And while food may be expensive. Rum is cheap. Cheaper than a bag of tortilla chips. And somehow, that makes everything go much smoother.
Since arriving, we’ve hardly seen the sun. An unstable weather system has been lingering over us, continuing to dump rain on us or leaving us with grey skies. Which is fine, we’ve been busily squaring away essential logistics such as our getting our internet hooked up (4G WiMax for the win!) and securing transportation for after we turn in our rental Jeep (we bought an island suitable 1998 Jeep Wrangler 4WD that we’ll pick up later this week). We’ve been experiencing island time and a bit of island life, and now that logistics are settling down, we look to exploring our home for the next 5 months.
The adventure has begun… and despite the challenges of living here, we’re extremely excited!
Sounds like a quite a change from the states, but the big positive is the cheap rum! The old Jeep is pretty cool too. Have fun!
I’m envious=) Looks like i’m going to enjoy a trip to the frontier=)
Wow, what an amazing opportunity! St. John is beautiful, and while I’m sure it has it’s share of difficulties, you guys are in for a treat!
There’s a good book called “desiring paradise” about a couple who moved to St. John, it’s a pretty good read. The couple who wrote it are still on the island too, they were just featured in Islands Magazine.
Enjoy!
How exiting! This really rocks…hope you have a great time and take lots of pictures!
Looove cheap rum! When we visited the philippines years ago they had rum & cokes for $0.50 each w/ half-price in happy hour. Glad you guys made it safely. Can’t wait to hear more of your adventures!
Hey Cherie and Chris,
So glad to hear you arrived safely! Your account so far sounds very familiar to things I’ve experienced. One tip – since you’re living in really humid conditions, you might look in the local stores for these little plastic containers with some kind of substance inside (usually colored) and holes in the top. They’re dessicants. You might find them in the laundry areas. You put the little container in your closet and it will suck all the moisture out of the air keeping your things from mildewing too much. A lot of people in Brazil use them.
Thanks for the tip, Carmen! Will keep our eye out for them. Doubt it will help in our closet (which is completely open), but for sure in our drawers.
So, you got there just in time to learn your bid for SXSW was accepted. Now what? Not that you needed another thing to be thinking about right now. 🙂
SxSW is in March.. around the same time that our lease is up. We kept the potential in mind when we decided to take this opportunity.
I’ve been dying to hear from you guys! Thanks for the update. I look forward to hearing more about your life on the island.
That landing sounds scary…yikes.
Take care,
Jennifer
The landing was one of my scarier ones, for sure. Kiki was such a trooper on her first plane flight tho!
This made me chuckle.
Love the driveway. I guess we were privileged in Puerto Rico, since we had actual paved roads and such, although their idea of flood management was pretty much non existent. I remember everyone at my wife’s office had to park their vehicles facing out, in case of the need for a quick exit. That was their “flood management”…
I did find a similar interesting (?) driving situation in St. Thomas, where North American vehicles were being driving on the left.
I’ve driven in the UK, and can deal with the whole “mirror image” concept, but when you throw left hand drive vehicles in the mix, my pea brain can’t handle that. I even find it amazing when I see a vehicle over here “on the continent” that’s come over from the UK. I just want to yell out the window, “hey, did you know you’re on the wrong side??” But of course, I don’t.
Have fun. Oh, and try not to get bit. My wife once managed to try and stamp out a colony of fire ants. Not a good plan. OK, it wasn’t like she was actually trying to stamp out the colony, she was just doing a little “dance” at the time…I tried not to laugh. Really.
There’s also this thing called Dengue fever? Nasty stuff.
Be safe.
Cheers.
Bob.
The driving thing is a bit of a mind warp for sure. I’m still getting used to (as the passenger) not freaking out when I see traffic oncoming onto my side.
And yes, there’s apparently been more reported cases of Dengue Fever lately in this region. Although, the locals seem to think it’s a case of better reporting, not an actual increase. We shall see. We’ve got our bug spray. Assuming the rain ever stops, we might actually have stagnant water around to worry about breeding mosquitos.
Glad to hear you arrived safely. Have a wonderful time, and we’re looking forward to reading more about your stay.
Looking forward to hear all about island life from you three. All I know about the USVI is from what I’ve read on the blog of one of the “Talk Like a Pirate Day” guys from his perspective after moving his family to St. Croix a couple of years ago. (http://onourisland.blogspot.com/) And he doesn’t take as many pictures as you will! 🙂
Apparently each of the USVI are completely different. We’re looking forward to checking them all out. 🙂
So glad you guys made it to the island ok! And dont worry, when the weather clears up, it’s going to be absolutely beautiful! Soak that up… it’s one of the best parts of living down there. I see you started experiencing some of the frustrations of island life. Having lived in the Caribbean for 4 years, I can TOTALLY relate to it all. From the prices and “whatever” attitude, to the crazy government antics. Those years definitely showed me what I was made of! I’m sure things will be more smooth sailing once you’ve settled in to the area. Take lots of photos and I cant wait to hear about your adventures down there!
Thanks 😉 Do hope this weather clears it up. It can’t possibly rain all day every day for our entire 5 months here, right?
We’re finding the ‘whatever’ attitude is easier to take with a little nomadic standard time adjustment and rum.
US Postal service prices apply to St. John, right? We could send you a giant box of chips priority mail…
Yup yup.. US Postal rates do apply. Priority mail is about the most efficient way to get stuff here tho, and generally takes 7-10 days to reach us. We may just have to requisition some favorites from stateside 🙂
I’m so glad you made it safely, despite the inclement weather. Hopefully it clears up soon. How is Kiki doing?
Kiki did excellent on the plane trip over, and is doing very well. She’s loving all the critters to watch. She’ll likely have her own post up soon.
Rum may be cheaper than a bag of tortilla chips, but a regular-sized bag of tortilla chips costs over seven dollars!!!
My chips and salsa addiction is going to suffer, I fear… I will need to focus on savoring every single chip individually, rather than three or four at once. 🙂