Toronto to St. Maarten – A New Adventure Begins

“What good is livin' a life you've been given
If all you do is stand in one place?”

Lord Huron, Ends of the Earth

New Adventures Begin

Every journey begins with the first step, and for us our next journey would not begin on a trail but in the air. Leaving behind late-winter snow in Canada, we set our sights on St. Maarten, a small sun-drenched island in the Caribbean, and the place where the sails of the Wind Surf awaited us.

As often happens before setting out, we got very little sleep the night before our departure. We were too excited, too nervous, and were repacking too much. Worrying whether we had everything we needed. And wondering about what the coming months would hold in store. This is how it always is for us. 

We left London, Ontario, on the 2:30 AM Robert Q Airport shuttle. The temperature was hovering around 0°C, and the forecast called for 20 cm of snow with three hours of freezing rain this afternoon. It was a good day to escape the late spring weather for warmer climates.

We arrived at the airport almost five hours before our flight, which felt like a long wait after a sleepless night. We listened as flights for various other Caribbean destinations were boarded until finally, at 10 AM, our Air Canada flight was called. 

It was a full plane, and we didn't have window seats, so we couldn't see much of what went on outside. However, it was a smooth flight in sunny skies. 

As an interesting and perhaps ironic aside, the in-flight movie was Dianne Whelan's 500 Days in the Wild about her trek across Canada on the Trans Canada Trail.  She had begun and finished this 28,000 km trail just shortly before us.  

Just over four hours, we caught our first glimpse of the white sandy beaches and forested mountains of St. Maarten. Soon, we were making a very abrupt landing on an extremely short runway.

We had arrived!

The Island of St.  Maarten 

The airport in St. Maarten was small but surprisingly busy. As we stepped off the plane onto the tarmac, the warm, humid air enveloped us. It was 30°C in the Caribbean and we both had on long pants and long-sleeved shirts. A short and very hot shuttle ride took us to the terminal, where we scanned our passports and our faces at a long line of terminals, and then, without further ado or a single question from a customs official, we had officially entered a new country!

We picked up our luggage and made our way outside, where a queue of taxi drivers waited. Our driver was extremely friendly, welcoming us to the island, showing us the sights with pride, and talking about what life on the island is like. 

As we wound along the steep, winding, and busy roads, we had lovely views of the turquoise blue waters of the sea, the plethora of watercraft at anchor in the bay, and the beautiful forested mountains of this 37 square kilometre island. It became evident as we passed through the town that the island is still recovering from the devastation wreaked by the hurricane in 2017. Many buildings are still boarded up, some roofs are missing, and a lot of street signs seem to have blown away and not yet been replaced. Yet the sense of community and culture across St. Maarten is both undeniable and vibrant.

Traffic was dense and slow-moving, which gave us a chance to admire the lush vegetation, blooming flowers, enormous cacti (Turk’s Cap Cactus), rows of coconut and date palms, and unfamiliar flora. 

At one point, a wild horse wandered across the road at a roundabout, and we also spotted a group of goats foraging on the steep, rocky cliffs beside the road. Each place seems new and refreshingly filled with possibilities, or at the very least, new species to see!

The driver was extremely helpful and patient while locating our Airbnb, which is situated well off the beaten path, but quite close to the docks and terminal. Our warm introduction to the island, and all the new scenery gave us a new burst of energy, and so, after dropping our bags off in our tiny hillside apartment, we walked back down to the water and towards the town to explore.

Exploring St.  Maarten

On the way to the beach, we spotted more wild goats on the sandy and shrubby cliffs along the road, two very large brownish iguanas, which are actually named Green Iguana, sunning themselves while draped over the scrub vegetation, as well as several new bird species, including Bananaquit, Carib Grackle, Eurasian Collared-Dove and Zenaida Doves.

 To our delight, a large West Indian Brown Pelican flew by overhead – a new species already!

Finding ourselves to be rather hungry after a day of travelling without eating much, we stopped at the first bar/restaurant we found. We sat outside on the waterfront patio at Chesterfields, enjoying enormous and delicious veggie wraps and a bottle of local SXM beer, named after the airport designation, which turned out to be quite nice. 

The view was of two enormous cruise ships and several private yachts floating quietly in the marina at the edge of the patio.

Evening on the Beach

As the sun was setting, we walked along the beach, wading calf-deep in the calm, warm waters that lapped at the hard-packed white sand. We watched as a tall sailing ship slipped silently into port, and we collected some of the interesting and beautiful shells that had washed up along the shore. 

It was peaceful and quiet, and we watched as the lights blinked on in the hills around us and stars began to appear one by one in the darkening sky above.

We hung out on the beach until it was dark, and the sounds of music and people talking began drifting out from the hotels and bars that lined the walkway behind us. Small shops, ice cream bars, bakeries, and coffee shops catering to cruise passengers and tourists were mixed in with rest areas offering benches and picnic tables that were shaded by dense stands of palm trees. Everything was peaceful and perfect.

Groceries and Supplies

We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some coffee and muffins for breakfast before heading back to our room. It was interesting and slightly confusing to see the prices all listed in both US dollars and the local currency. However, things seemed to cost about the same as they do in Canada.

We would have loved to explore further, but a week of very little sleep as we raced to finish up our contract work – an educational Story Map of our time on the Trans Canada Trail - followed by a sleepless night and a long day of travel caught up with us. Reluctantly, we walked back to our little Airbnb through the soft, humid, warm night air. The sound of crickets or cicadas filled the air as we walked.

Excitement and Anticipation 

When we climbed the small hill to our accommodations, we could see the lights of the harbour and town stretched out below us. We could also see a cruise ship parked in the bay below. So far, there is no sign of our sailing ship, Wind Surf, which is scheduled to arrive at port sometime in the early hours of the morning.

It will be an early night and an early morning to go birding in St. Maarten in the daylight. We ended our first day grateful for a warm welcome and the promise of new adventures just ahead. Tomorrow we would rise with the island’s roosters to explore St. Maarten in the daylight and, at last, step aboard the Wind Surf.

Read about : Exploring St. Maarten and Embarkation on Wind Surf →