Photos from the trip -
http://www.angstbabe.com/2005_sxm_01.htmPhotos from the Butterfly Farm:
http://www.angstbabe.com/2005_sxm_bfarm.htmTrip Report - 11 days at Club Orient - Aug 1-11
Weather was great - one day with rain showers but they didn't last more than a few minutes. By the time we gathered up our beach stuff and walked back to the chalet it had already blown over. Quite a few rain storms at night but otherwise the days were hot and beautiful.
Car rental from St Louis Car Rental - a new SUV - was great, met us at the airport, no problems at all - highly recommended (
www.st-louis-car-rental.com)
Brought along my brother this trip - my family stayed in a beach chalet while he was in a min-suite deluxe - had never seen inside of one of them before and it was really nice. A lot bigger than I expected. Our beach chalet was fine - as usual - we'd stayed in that particular one before.
It seemed like Papagayo's prices have gone up while the selection has gone down. We didn't eat there much - the kids would have lunch there but we went elsewhere for dinner. My only real complaint about Club Orient is the restaurant - besides the lack of local food, very limited selections for kids, understaffed and mediocre food... the place was so hot inside and swarming with mosquitoes. Anytime it was crowded (like happy hour) you'd be alternating between wiping away the sweat and spraying yourself with Off!.
Anyway.
After walking up and down Orient Beach I was much more appreciative of the clean beach of Club Orient and the lack of trash and sea weed - plus what seems to be a luxurious amount of personal space on the beach as compared to some of the other resorts that packed the chairs in CLOSE!. The beachcomber did rake the beach every morning on his tractor but this year he'd plow down the sand castles - last year they went around our huge creations so we kept having to rebuild. I got him in the end though - the last full day we built a huge castle and the tractor ended up getting stuck on it the next morning! He eventually moved on but the pile of sand that was dug up by the tractor was bigger than the original castle!
Took sailboats over to Green Cay one afternoon and was saddened by the large amount of trash left behind - not just bottles and cans but old shoes everywhere! A great view back on the beach but people really need to learn to pick up after themselves. Large groups of snorklers being ferried over for what seemed to be very brief guided tours of the water - being pulled along. I didn't see much of a point of that but they were doing a brisk business.
Two dinners out in Grand Case at La California and both times were excellent - once with kids and once without. Twice to the Talk of the Town and everyone enjoyed that as well - can't beat the prices and we all left full and happy.
Did some grocery shopping at the Grande Marche on the French side but was told that I should have gone to Rams on the Dutch side for better selection - will know better next time.
My brother took the Tiko Tiko cruise one day and loved it. I took the kids to the Butterfly Farm twice, and once we went up to Pic Paradise (the path has gone jungle - bring your machete) to check out the view. Otherwise we stayed at the beach all day and just went out in the evenings for dinner. My husband hit the casino a few times and ended up ahead of the game with craps and poker (always a nice bonus).
Cruise ships must promote Club Orient as some sort of nudist freak show as the crowds of textiles parading up and down the beach were thick on Cruise Ship days. One day there were quite a few instances of people taking photos (even video) of unsuspecting Club O guests - most were quickly approached by wild groups of naked people and thus promised to put away their cameras. (I'm sure the sight of angry naked people approaching you would scare one to drop their camera!) Once though I went to find security to point out a textile hiding a digital camera but was unable to find anyone - the guy hightailed it back to the clothed side before I could find a security guard or confront him myself. That day there were *4* cruise ships in at Phillipsburg - but by lunch time the crowd had thinned and the gawkers had retreated for the shade and perhaps shopping or other excursions. I suppose that most people are disappointed when they discover a beach filled with real people that just happen to be naked instead of the population of nude French Super Models they were hoping for.
Lots of people back this year that were at Club O last year (and the year before) so it was very comfortable - all the old gang hanging out on the beach again
Lots of families with kids. One of the beach guys brought his black lab to the beach for a couple of days and "Pateaux" (sp?) provided much entertainment by fetching everything and anything thrown into the ocean. Kids trying to have a game of ball quickly discovered that Pateaux wanted to play too
My brother hadn't been to a nudist resort before and wasn't sure what to expect but he's been won over and hopes to return again next year. It was all very relaxed and super friendly.
I especially like being cut off with no tv, cell phones, internet or newspapers - it's nice to completely escape for a few weeks and not think about the outside world.
One bad restaurant experiences: Planet Orient on Orient Bay - the food itself was very good, they seemed fine with the kids and had posters for them to color to keep busy, service was fine... then they overcharged us on the bill and then dismissed it as being because of the "ambience." We repeatedly asked to talk to the manager who wouldn't come over to speak to us - another wrong move. We took off the overage on the total and the waitress chased after us when we left to remind us that we hadn't left a tip. Again - asking to speak to the manager resulted in nothing - sorry for the waitress, it wasn't her fault but everyone was really offended and felt like we were being taken advantage of because we weren't French.
Gnats and mosquitoes plagued us this year for the first time in years. Perhaps it was the week of rain before we arrived that pushed up their numbers but we all ended up being covered with bites. Someone said there were sand fleas out as well in the mornings before the wind picked up and anytime after it rained - I got bit by something for sure but was never sure what creature was the culprit. We quickly learned to carry the bottles of "Off" with us anytime we ventured outside away from the breeze of the beach. After dark we'd be attacked by mosquitoes - a rather dangerous affair considering how much more skin they had to feast on at a nudist resort
The island itself was greener than I think I've ever seen it (and this was out 8th trip). The usual construction going on in places, the new airport looks impressive (hope it's completed by next year) and the road to Club O is just as bumpy as ever.
Overall it was a great trip and I was wishing for another week or two instead of having to pack up and head home. We'll be back again next year and this time for at least two weeks!
