Saba, Netherland Antilles

This summer Jon and I went to Saba, in the Netherland Antilles on our honeymoon.



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It was the most charming and wonderful place I've ever been. It is a tiny, 5 square mile island. They didn't get a road built, because of impossibly steep and rocky conditions until 1940. They began building it in 1920, and it is the only road on the island. It's the swirly thing on the map. They didn't get electricity until 1960. At one point, the island was inhabited by mostly pirates.

They don't get very much tourism, and the vast majority of the tourism they get is diving related. The island, though many have never heard of it, is consistently rated one of the top diving islands in the world. Honeymooners are rare, and they treated us like royalty. We stayed at Scout's Place, where one of the nicest restaurants on the island was one building over. They even delivered beautifully presented hour-out-of-the-ocean Saban lobster to our room. If you ever go to Saba, Scout's Place has my highest recommendation.

The people there are so friendly. I think it's because they realize that they have to live with the other people on the island, and only those people. So, they're nice.

The island is a very old volcano, so it shoots straight up. Even though it is tiny, it's the highest point in the Caribbean. We went hiking, and snorkeling, and shopping.

That's where we went snorkeling. It was incredibly beautiful. I can see why the diving is always rated so high. We just snorkeled, and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done.

When you hike in Saba, you're hiking to the top of a volcano. You walk through an honest to God rainforest. Unless you're in the rainforest, you can see mountains and ocean from every place on the island. Jon took some amazing pictures while we were in the rainforest, but my camera died for most of the hike. I do have a few.

Everywhere you look, there are goats wandering around. They're everywhere, and they eat everyone's mangoes and papayas and bananas. But no one ever eats them. I really think that would help control the population a little. But, I love goats. They're one of my favorite animals, so I was in heaven.

The plants were beautiful and they had these trees called "July Trees" that are my new favorite trees.

Also, all the rooftops on the whole island are red. Most of the buildings are white with green trims. It makes for such a lovely, quaint scene. The whole island is lovely and quaint.

You can see more pictures here.

I get a little carried away when I start talking about Saba.