PART TWO:
We made several trips to the Butterfly Farm this year. The admission price is $12 per person and the ticket gives you unlimited return visits during your stay on SXM. Strangely we have decided the best time to visit is around 2:00 PM. It is starting to get cooler then. The butterflies are less active then and are easier to photograph. There are also fewer people. The farm is on the cruise boats schedule and they generally visit before lunch. You don�t have to be a photographer to enjoy the butterflies and moths.
Although we did not go to the ZOO on the December trip, we did go in April 2005. The zoo continues to improve. Although it is not as large as major US zoos, it has a good collection of local and regional animals. Plus, many local wild birds visit the zoo on a daily basis due to it�s location next to the great salt pond. Wild hummingbirds such as the green throated and antillian crested hummingbirds are common visitors.
Shopping:
One of the obsessions of many (most? All?) of the woman visiting SXM is to go shopping for jewelry. Phillipsburg is more than willing to oblige. There must be more jewelry shops on Front Street than any other place in the world. While jewelry shopping is not one of my favorite pastimes, some times it must be endured to keep peace in the family. It�s boring and cuts into my camera budget! Okay, I have bought a few expensive watches over the years. But the women enjoy it and most insist on it. I must admit that the selection is fantastic. There is something for everyone in every price range from 1 ct diamond tennis bracelets for $199 to individual loose diamonds that will set you back more than $20,000.
Prices may be a little better than in the U.S., and you would spend a lot more time at home finding the same piece that you can find in SXM. It is wise to know what prices are in the U.S before shopping SXM.
Last April, my wife decided to checkout D. K. Gems International (a TTOL Sponsor). She waited to start the spending spree until she looked at D. K. Gems International. Many TTOL readers are familiar with the shop and Deepti (screen name �Diamond Princess� on TTOL) and her brothers who own the store. It took my wife no time at all to pick out a ruby and diamond bangle. She had looked at an almost identically styled one at another shop that was much lower in terms of gem quality but priced at about $200 more than at DK. She also ended up with a ruby pendant. Later in the trip, she went back and bought a diamond pendent and a new omega necklace to wear it on.
In December, my wife went to DK first, thus avoiding a lot of boring jewelry shopping for me. In the end, she purchased a diamond ring, diamond earrings, and a diamond necklace of Deepti�s design. So this year Deepti was able to earn my wife�s entire trip budget for jewelry. I was happy with the quality and you get AA miles certificates for all purchases so that and for the twothe miles from charging on our AA credit card put us about 20,000 miles closer to our next free AA ticket. Deepti and her brothers (one of which has a name identical to my screen name RAJ so I guess from now on, I�m the other RAJ), are very friendly and offer good value for your money and a wide range of jewelry for almost any budget. I can recommend them as a place to shop.
Airport: This was our first ride in the bus from our plane to the terminal. Usually we come into SXM on turboprops and thus avoid the bus. The Bus really doesn�t seem necessary. The Airport Anti-Tourist Tax has been raised by 50% since last year and is now $30 pp. The new airport terminal is coming along but I wonder what they will have to raise the Anti-Tourist Tax to in order to pay for it. Personally, I have no problem with the existing terminal, and don�t think the new one is needed.
Groceries:
The economy continues to sort out marginal businesses. The old Food Fair is now out of business as is the old Rams Grocery (Their new store in the old Cole Bay Food Center is still in business.) Rams is in bankruptcy court according to the Daily Herald.
For those of us who like Diet Pepsi, it is finally available at most of the grocery stores.
Phone service:
While I don�t really like dealing with phones on vacation, my mother in law is in her 90s and needs to talk every couple of days. In the past we have used the French phone booths. Generally it is about 40 cents US per minute to the US but unfortunately all too often the phones don�t work. The USA phones at Club O are between $6 �9 per minute depending on the time of day or wind direction (never could figure the pattern out). So this time we rented a cell phone from Susan Harris (AKA Queen of St. Martin� a TTOL sponsor. The price was reasonable and prepaid cards are available all over the Dutch Side. The cell phone worked fine on both the Dutch and French side. Connections were clear. We can recommend this service and will use it again in the future.
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