I really don’t go for lengthy trip reports. As a reader I typically lose interest somewhere along midstream. But as we were on an extended 17-day stay, there were so many highlights I couldn’t find enough to purge to sufficiently reduce the breadth. Therefore, in the event you want to selectively review only specific topics, I have categorized the information into major topics for discussion. Skip what you wish and read the rest. Without further delay:

Lowlights
Since there were so few, and since I don’t like to dwell on the negative, I’ll start here and leave it quickly.
· Traffic was as refuted, heavy most mornings, and mid-afternoons but I decided sitting in traffic for 10 minutes in Marigot is still vastly superior to even 10 seconds in Kansas City rush hour.
· I tore a contact lens the first week. After nearly getting slapped by 3 lovely French ladies for winking at them, I decided to pull out my glasses for the remainder!
· Beach privileges at KaKao were the only downside of our accommodations. We nicknamed the attendant Rudy…for his charming manner.
· Return flight…see below

Arrivals / Departures
Flights down were very good and uneventful. Were it not for a 5-hour layover in San Juan it would have been perfect. While in SJU we heard flights to Bonaire and Curacao were cancelled due to ash plume from Montserrat. We laughed. Someone famous was at SJU but the excitement was lost on us. All the local PR population was grabbing any camera or camera phone they could and running for a quick snap. Didn’t recognize him though, too short to be an athlete, but maybe an entertainment figure? Picked up a few necessities at Food For Less and on our way. Got to Alamanda at 10PM. Beat. The return was something else. As many have already reported the ash plume from Montserrat was playing havoc now in our direction. Not laughing any more. Then there was the matter of the lost radar in the Turks. Our scheduled 8:40PM arrival on June 5th became a 9:05AM arrival on June 6th. Oh well!

Car Rental
We again rented from Marius at St. Louis for the 4th time. His manner and the service was stellar as usual. Marius met us at the airport upon our 9:40PM arrival and told us to take the car and he would catch up with the paperwork later. Three days later he came by the hotel, no worries mon! Very accommodating. One night while dining in Marigot, had the mirror stolen off the passenger side.

Accommodations
This was our first stay at Alamanda and it proved to be a real highlight of the trip. The rooms were very clean and nicely appointed. Struck up a friendship with 4 other couples during the stay. We had 7 channels to choose from, with only two French speaking. All the other 4 couples only had the 2 French channels. Can’t really explain that. We were in room 112 and we liked the close access to the beach. I was afraid it would be too far away but in reality it was probably closer than our rooms at L’Hoste have been, or at least comparable. Power was out one evening but we found things to do in the dark to occupy our time. Water was out on two different occasions. I don’t think any of these events was an Alamanda only event. You do need to get out early to grab chairs though if you want front row. I could do an entire report on the staff and people we met at Alamanda. I cannot imagine a place where the people would be any more accommodating.

General Observations
Timeshare hawkers are a nuisance
People are essentially the same wherever you are. Some are rude, most are quite lovely and endearing.
Motorcycles and Mopeds are a pain.
Noticeably more sand than last year on Orient
The weather was nearly perfect! Only rained one evening and we lost no beach time.
There are too many dogs on Orient beach.
The Boulevard De Grand Case should be one way
There was a noticeable increase in Gendarme presence, and they travel in packs.
Sandy Malloy really does have the best deals on Orient. We found out we were paying $40/night less than anyone else we spoke with at Alamanda.
Flipping eggs over easy is at best nearly impossible using only a serving spoon.