Villa Apiano – Week#2

By week #2 we were getting very settled in at the Villa and we had a bit of a regular routine going in the morning after breakfast which was to hike to hill to the top of Grand Fond and then down towards Lorient and then back over the top again back to our Villa. The hike took 45 minutes to an hour and was a good workout. When we got back the dip in the pool felt amazing.

After that we would head into Gustavia to walk around town or sit and have a drink at Le Select and just watch the activities going on. Between cruise-ship tourists, luxury yacht owners and residents of St. Bart’s there was always lots to see. Le Select is famous and was made famous by Jimmy Buffet because it is where he got the idea for the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.

Parking in Gustavia is at a premium. There are a couple pay lots which are quite reasonable and if you serach around enough you can always find a spot to park on the street. It’s just that their idea of parking on the street and what we accept for parking on the street is totally different. See the vehicle is parked…….. who cares you had to climb the sidewalk to do it!

Look at some of these Super Luxury Yachts that are tied up the the main pier in Gustavia. The small ones are about 80′ long and couple of these are 200′ in length. Check out this rental link for “Excellence V” the first yacht pictured http://www.charterbrochure.com/excellencev . By the way the rental price is 650,000 USD/week + expenses!

Also in week #2 we had a couple more animal visits to the pool area. First off was an Iguana and he/she was a big one; close to three feet long tip to tail. He/she decided to come to the pool for a drink.

Then late in the week we heard a clacking sound on the deck and looked around and there was a crab scurrying across the deck. Now, Villa Apiano is at least 1/2 a kilometre from the ocean “as the crow flies” and it is forest/bush, open field and cactus between the ocean and the villa. This one was big. Take a look at the pictures, the deck board are just under 5″ in width and stretched out the crab was probably 18″ wide.

So the 2nd week flew by and before we knew it, it was time to leave. So Sunday morning we board our Winair Flight back to St. Maarten to stay overnight at The Turquoise Shell Inn. Monday afternoon we flew to Atlanta and Tuesday morning back to Vancouver.

So, that’s it for our winter vacation this year.