TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos BEERMAN Trip Part 5-1

SXM Part 5-1 (February 21-28, 2015)

We both awoke very early on this Thursday morning, it was probably around 0500 hours. We had considered hiking to a high peak to watch a sunrise if we found ourselves awake early like this, so with fresh coffee in a plastic tumbler we simply grabbed money and camera and hit the door running. From NBBC the sunrise would start to show itself a little after 0600 hours, therefore we knew we would be pushing it to catch the sun on the horizon over the mountain. My wife is our trusted navigator, she studied the map during our drive and said we could turn right at Rambaud and go to the higher elevations of Pic Paradis or keep book'in on towards Orient again? The distance to Orient was at least twice that of Pic Paradis. It was still dark as we contemplated our move.......it was decided, since we hadn't researched or seen the area past Rambaud, we would stick with what we knew and head towards Orient. We could see the sky starting to lighten up in the twilight hours and were unsure if we would miss that first glorious orange pop of the sun, not to mention we had no idea if cloud cover would ruin the show? Was all this scrambling at 0-dark early going to be worth it?!

We were fortunate to hit no roadblocks along the way and were soon approaching the crest of a hilltop overlooking Orient Beach. Sheeeeew, WE MADE IT! We found a nice little spot to park the car, decompressed from the dark anxious drive and then patiently waited. When the skies began to brighten we noticed quite a bit of cloud cover over the Atlantic. Fortunately the heavens were kind and provided a sliver of clearing along the distant horizon line, POP!









With the clouds came a brief refreshing shower that forced us into the shelter of our car, but watching a small squall travelling along the trade winds was fun to see from this vantage point. We sat on this perch for the entire show. The small but mighty squall pushed clear the clouds exposing blue skies and the surrounding flora seemed to perk up after their morning sip of rain. The sunlight also exposed the beautiful villas that were nearby, nice. Typical of tropical showers you may be fortunate to see a colorful rainbow, we enjoyed a double this morning!
















With the sound of gravel under our wheels we exited the parking area and continued past Orient to where? we hadn't a clue. At some point we saw a sign for Le Galion, ok detour! The drive here is nice and flat and we saw a jogger taking full advantage of it. We saw folks with island dogs entering a roadside canine training center, very tempted to stop, but stayed on course. We drove straight as far as we could go and came upon a beach entrance abundant with Seagrape plants, looks like a great place to stretch our legs.






Drove down a sand covered side road and discovered Le Galion before it woke up. This is a great little beach on a calm bay, just our speed. This will be on our list for a future trip. The signs indicated $5 chairs and umbrellas, water sports activities, volleyball and a beach front restaurant/bar, nice. It was still early, maybe 0730 hours? Not a soul was around and we commented that we screwed up not bringing our beach stuff, note to self ALWAYS BE PREPARED!

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We continued our morning drive along the coast, it really is a beautiful stretch of road. Can't remember exactly where we were, but we saw dozens and dozens of young school children in their matching blue and white uniforms heading off to class, nice. Soon we were approaching the edge of Oyster Pond and needed to find a restroom, not many options out this way! Stopped at a small market and bought some snacks, but no luck finding a restroom. Continued towards Oyster Pond and found a small restaurant named BZH in Baie Lucas Coralita?. What a great find! Not only did they have the restroom we so desperately needed, they served the best breakfast of our trip!

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With our bellies full we dropped over the hill to sleepy Oyster Pond and explored the marina. A friend at work spent the week prior to us at the Westin Resort here and said they loved it. We explored the huge resort and it offers a lot if that's your speed. I found the incredible amount of beach chairs perfectly laid out row after row a bit intimidating! I watched a few sailboats navigate the RUMbustious (great name for a boat, aye!) channel that marks the entrance to the marina, then continued on our journey.

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Our drive would take a noticeable turn away from the coast and we climbed up in elevation. It wasn't long before we saw the bustling town of Philipsburg. We meandered through the crowded boulevards all the way past the cruise ship docks, dang traffic! I'm sure this town and Great Bay have a lot that would interest us, but with 4 ships in port we beelined out of there!

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Circumnavigation complete! Time to grab our beach stuff and relax a bit!

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To be continued.....<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />