I got up early this morning with Mac (Milap) and got a ride with him to Philipsburg (where he works). Philipsburg is the main "touristy" town where all the cruise ships dock for the day.
I got their long before any shops were open so he dropped me off at Fort Amsterdam, just outside of town, to visit that first. I had to walk through some resort to get to it.
There was a warning sign and unmaintained trail going up to Fort Amsterdam. I kind of wish I was wearing my closed-toed shoes rather than just flip flops.
It ended up not being a long hike at all, the fort was just up the hill and to the right.
The Turks Cap Cactus (Melocactus Intortus).
Taking aim at Philipsburg.
Taking aim at the cruise ships.
The highest mountain in the background is where I have to hike to next. Fort Willem is at the top and supposedly it has a VERY unmaintained trail.
I found two caged parrots on my way back through the resort.
I found a great shot of Philipsburg Harbour half-way up the mountain to Fort Willem.
I was picked up by two friendly locals who brought me up part of the mountain and dropped me off here. I'm glad they did because there was a rather vicious wild dog that attacked our truck on the way. The rest was on foot from here.
After hours climbing this mountain, I got to a point where the road had caved in and I could go no further, especially while wearing sandals and shorts. There's a second path that goes up the other side of the mountain that I may try at a later date.
So I went to the beach instead and walked down the boardwalk at Philipsburg. As the cruise ships came in, it started getting really packed. There were a lot of cool bars and shops.
After running into a friend from Simpson Bay (Fay) who was working security at the RBC Bank, I made my way down Front Street. My first stop was at the Guavaberry distillery and shop. This is where they make the local rum called "Guavaberry" and you can sample a few different rums while here.
And here are a few more shots of Front Street.
I had lunch at the cheapest place I could find, which served a turkey sandwich for $5.50. All was well until the coffee machine in front of me at that bar blew up and went up in flames. The smell wasn't very pleasant from it, so I paid up and left.
As per request from Casey, I stopped by at the Blue Bitch Bar and had a Red Stripe. It had a nice view of the beach, but took me awhile to figure out how to get up to it.
I made a friend at the beach named Andy who hooked me up with a free lounge chair and umbrella on the beach. This is where I spent the rest of the day.
I headed back to Mac's place around 4:00pm, but it took quite a bit longer than it should have because I got on the wrong bus and ended up in the hood. People were still nice and told me how to get home.
Mac invited me to go out to Tantra with him and some friends, but Tantra is a rather upscale club and all I have are crappy sailor clothes, so I could not meet the dress code, haha. I welcomed the early night sleep though.
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