Part 2: Lovely Locals
We're in St. Croix now, but Saba is where we last were. This is the 2nd of 3 Saba posts after a week without internet access.
“What’s
your favorite island? Besides this one, of course,” I asked
the taxi driver. Even though he
drove a taxi bus, he offered us a ride for free. After walking for several hours straight, most of it uphill,
with significantly more planned, we were thrilled to take him up on his
offer. He drove us from the town
“Bottom” to the other town on the island, “Windward,” pointing out the trail we
planned to take to the island’s summit.
“I’ve
visited so many of the islands.
Each island has its own personality, something special to offer. But this, this is my favorite,” he
answered, with a smile.
While
we were aiming for Mt. Scenery’s spectacular summit (click her for more about
“the climb”), the warmth of Saba’s locals impressed us more.
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Carmen Simmons, lifelong Saban, with 7 children and 20 grandchildren. She put together and runs the Major Omar R. Simmons Museum. She painted the museum entry mural seen here. |
Carmen,
proprietor of the Major Omar R. Simmons Museum, utterly charmed us. She promised her late husband at his
request to “Take good care of all his stuff.” She filled the museum chock-a-block
with everything from her wedding dress, her husband’s hat and shoes and family
photos, to the organ the church gave her when they replaced it with an electric
one. Electricity came to the
island in the 60s. “For a long
time, there really wasn’t much here or on the surrounding islands. Even Sint Maarten only became a
presence recently, popped up almost out of nowhere. Most of what came and comes in to the island came from Saint
Thomas. The homes were wood until
more recently; built with the same skill we used in ship building.” The museum was free, a way for Carmen
to share in the abundance of Saba, pride in their island and accomplishment
there, against all odds.
Carmen helped us with directions to the Sports Field, as Wayne spotted a promotional flyer for a BBQ fund-raiser for the local dancers happening that day. While we rarely eat out, and even had packed lunch, we liked the idea of supporting the local community. We enjoyed a delicious meal; much better than the fancier, more expensive one we ate in Sint Maarten.
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Reid Barn, posing with Wayne “The best looking fellow on Saba,” in his yard. Reid’s not a computer much less an internet guy, so we’re hoping someone in his family will show him this post online. |
Reid
Barn flagged us on our way down after our hike. He pointed us to the empty chairs next to him, and happily
chatted with us about his life – and near death -- on Saba for half hour or
more. Like most Sabans, it seems,
he built his own house, set up and maintains the cistern, which collects cold,
clear drinking water. “Cold enough
to chill beer in,” he insisted. He
was sitting there waiting for some wild goat to be tempted by the grasses he’d
picked. Apparently his rifle was
in the bushes nearby. He butchers
the goats he kills himself, sometimes selling the meat, when asked, usually to
folks in Sint Maarten. He’s a
retired sanitation manager, taxi driver, bus driver and “jack of all trades,
master of none.”
While
we enjoyed our chat with Reid, we were concerned about making it back down to
our dinghy and onto our boat before dark.
We were about a mile from Fort Bay, where our dinghy was tied off when
another local offered us a ride to it.
We were sorry we didn’t have much time to chat, but we did find out he
was a former Grenadian who sailed the from Venezuela and throughout the
Caribbean. We thanked him, wished
him smooth sailing, and made it back to our boat just a few minutes before
sunset.
We
hope to return to Saba someday, and give it the additional time it deserves,
and maybe make some more friends while we’re at it. Now I understand why our taxi driver said Saba is the
favorite of the islands he’s visited.
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