Let’s talk about the elephant in the room – Election Day. We cannot vote for President in the Virgin Islands, so rather than get involved, I am choosing to spread some love.
I know many of you need a break from politics, so please take a couple of minutes to check out this little video I made for all of you. Turn the volume up, because I borrowed a song from one of your favorite part-time Love City residents. Enjoy. 🙂
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
The flamingos at a salt pond. Image credit: Gail Karlsson, 2023
Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I’m super excited to share today’s story with all of you. The flamingos are still hanging around St. John! Where are my fellow bird nerds??!!
For those of you who are new to reading Explore STJ (welcome!), we hadn’t seen flamingos on St. John in years. One would show up here or there, but would quickly disappear, and we would, once again, become a flamingo-less island. Well, that was until February 2023 when a flamboyance of flamingos was spotted near Salt Pond, sending the island into a bird frenzy! (A lone flamingo was spotted a few months prior to that.)
So it turns out that flamingos were native to the Virgin Islands, but all were eaten or lost to development until the reintroduction on Anegada in 1992 and then another flock later on Necker Island. Anegada and Necker Island (a private island owned by Sir Richard Branson) are located over in the British Virgin Islands. According to Gail Karlsson – a St. John resident who is an environmental lawyer, author, photographer and bird watcher – there is currently a “smallish” flock on Beef Island (near the airport on Tortola), the Necker Island flock and about 300 on Anegada, according to the last bird count.
A lot of time has been since this first sighting, so I wasn’t sure if they were still hanging out. I was on an island tour last week and had guests out near Concordia when we spotted two in the salt pond behind Salt Pond Bay. I was ecstatic!
So the point of today’s story is, yes, the flamingos are still here! If you would like to see the island and possibly spot one of these beautiful, please consider taking an island tour with me! You can learn more about Explore STJ’s island tours at www.explorestj.com/tour.
Have a fantastic day everyone, and happy birdwatching!
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Happy Halloween! It’s going to be a wet one here on St. John, but the weather won’t deter our fun! Here is what’s happening today…
Mongoose Junction is holding its annual trick-or-treat event today from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. As you know, we don’t have the best trick-or-treating neighborhoods here on island, so we are fortunate that some of our businesses step up to help the kids celebrate. A BIG thanks to Mongoose for holding this event year after year.
Trunk or Treat is being held in the gravel lot from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. This event is so much fun and gets bigger and bigger every year. A BIG thanks to all of the parents who put this together! This event will be held rain or shine.
Skinny Legs reopens today in Coral Bay with their annual Halloween bash. Drink reopens too in Cruz Bay and will be the place to be tonight! The Beach Bar and Parrot Club are also having costume contests tonight.
Dalton is dressing up as a ninja today. I’ll be sure to share pics with all of you! Happy Halloween!
I walked down to Cinnamon Bay Monday morning, and I was surprised to see that the old Danish warehouse was fenced off. I walked a little closer, and I learned that the building – one of the oldest Danish buildings on St. John – is undergoing historic preservation.
Some history…
The first inhabitants of Cinnamon Bay were the Taino. It is believed that they lived at Cinnamon Bay from about 1000 AD until the end of the 15th Century. The Danes settled St. John in 1718 and soon began building sugar plantations. The warehouse that is being preserved is part of a sugar plantation that was once located at Cinnamon Bay.
Cinnamon Bay was originally named Store Caneel Bay, which means Big Cinnamon. Caneel Bay used to be Klein Caneel, or Little Cinnamon. They were named due to the abundance of cinnamon trees (bay rum) in the area. The bays were then translated into English and became known as Cinnamon Bay and Caneel Bay.
Cinnamon Bay was devoted to sugar production in the 18th and 19th centuries. Production ceased, however, due to the emancipation of slaves in 1848, the depletion of the soil and increased competition. Once sugar production ended, the land was used mostly for cattle production. Cinnamon Bay was sold to the Jackson Hole Preserve in 1955 and later donated to the National Park.
Crews are expected to complete a variety of tasks including clearing vegetation around the structure; rebuilding some of the stone structure; fixing cracks; and more. Work is expected to be complete next month. Here is the scope of the work in its entirety:
And here are a few more pics:
I will share photos once it’s done. Have a great day, everyone!
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! I was down on Cruz Bay beach over the weekend, and I happened to wander past Joe’s Rum Hut. For those of you unfamiliar with this spot, it is a bar/restaurant that’s located right on the beach in Cruz Bay. Specifically, it’s located in Wharfside Village, which is also home to The Beach Bar, La Tapa and High Tide. Ok, well technically High Tide is Wharfside Landing, but that’s neither here, nor there. 🙂
As I mentioned a few months back, Joe’s Rum Hut sold. The space continues to undergo major renovations, and it really looks nice. We hear it’s going to be called Karma. Whether that holds true remains to be seen. I also hear it’s going to be a high-end sushi restaurant. Again, whether that holds true remains to be seen. What I do know is that someone is really working hard to completely change the aesthetic. Check it out:
It looks as if the bar will now be in the back portion of the restaurant.The restaurant is located right on the beach.The new interiorThe exterior looks very pretty.Lots and lots and lots of wood….There is a new separation between this space and The Beach Bar.
They appear to be working fast, so I expect the new restaurant to open within a couple of months. I will keep you all posted. In the meantime, have a fantastic day!
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
This red-footed tortoise has been hanging out in my yard for a few days.
I was outside doing a little gardening yesterday when I saw something low to the ground slowing moving across my lawn. I walked over to get a closer look, and to my surprise, it was an adorable little tortoise! I watched him (or perhaps her) wander over to the gut, and I continued planting.
Fast forward to this morning… I was just outside again when my cat darted across the yard. We live in Fish Bay, so we have numerous iguanas and deer out here. I figured she must have seen one. I walked over to her, and there he was again – the tortoise!
So many people who come to St. John are fixated on our turtles (rightfully so!), but did you know that tortoises live here too? The one I keep seeing is red-footed tortoise, which was native to South America. According to Coral World, the aquarium over in St. Thomas, it is believed that the Carib Indians introduced the red-footed tortoise to St. John as a food source hundreds of years ago. Apparently they were a great animal to take on a canoe because they can go days without food or water.
We’re clearly not eating them out in Fish Bay, but I enjoy watching them, and I know you do too. Check out this quick video I took:
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
