I recently went on a cruise to south American ports (Belize city, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Havana).  Of course, we were offered multiple opportunities to shop, on board and on shore. I don’t like to shop…but I enjoyed the trip for the learning experiences and, to a certain extent, the spiritual enrichment…
I learned, for instance that Belize is an English speaking country in (Spanish speaking) Latin America and, that there is a serious unresolved territorial dispute between that country and its southern neighbor, Guatemala.
I also got a better idea of the indigenous people of central America and the extent of the Mayan civilization, spreading over most of the today countries of central America and lasting several thousand years. They valued life and death and material belongings (like gold) quite differently…
I was treated to Mexican national drink, Tequila, and I know now that there’s quite a difference between the traditional and the industrial fabrication of that age-old beverage.
We ate local foods and listened to local music.
I got a glimpse at some architectural marvels from the Mayans as well as from the colonial period.
In Havana, I saw the remnants of planes and canons from 1962, the year when the third world war was almost declared because the Russians wanted to install military equipment in Cuba…and I spoke to a few Cubans who told me some harsh realities…and took dollars or euros (before the 45th tighten back the screw that the 44th had slackened on them).
All of this without leaving the Caribbean sea.

So now I feel I should go on another cruise in the Caribbean, of which a stop on the famous Island of Saint-Martin is a must…with the hope that my stop there will bring new knowledge and original experiences. I still don’t like to shop and I have enough T-shirts, mugs and place mats from my previous travels.
Of course, I know that it is a small island, « french and dutch though speaking English much ».
But I wonder what is the impact, if any, of having a frontier separating the island in 2?
How come they speak English ? And what does their schools teach them ?
I also know that many people from many countries live there, whether from other Caribbean countries, from Europe or from Asia. So, will I meet saint-martiners ?
How come everyone is so attracted to such a small island ?
And how people from such diverse cultural backgrounds manage to live in relative harmony, if so ?
And Is it truly the friendly island that it claims to be ? And are they friendly to their environment ?

…And as we approached the island in the wee hours of the morning, it was easy to note that it is quite « hilly » but several pretty white sand beaches could be seen from far. Beaches could be a main feature here, but so is the case in Antigua, Guadeloupe or Barbados. That will not be the main attraction of my visit.
When we docked, 2 other cruise ships had already docked…and around 9.00 am the port and the nearby shopping streets of Philipsburg (capital of the Dutch side) was a busy and bustling classical cruise ship destination town, but that is not what I was looking for.

I had booked a 4 hours cultural tour of the Island, departing at 10.00 am. 30 passengers embarked aboard a 35 seat air-conditioned bus. The bus driver (also a tour guide) spoke English and french, A tour guide who spoke English and Spanish and french (most people here seem to be multilingual) was also on board. A few Spanish speaking visitors were on the tour with us.
Our first stop was called « the french quarter border monument » where we arrived after a short 15 min drive through « sucker garden » and « middle region ». There is where we were given a synopsis of the march 1648 sharing of the Island. It seems as if the french side was bigger than the dutch side because of the interest of the Dutch for the Philipsburg Great Salt Pond, wich was a better asset than land for them. The guide insisted on the fact that the monument mostly celebrated the peaceful coexistence of the « one people of Saint-Martin »…and that, since 1949, every year the authorities from both sides met at the border re iterated the oneness of the island and of its people. Interesting, very interesting !

Our second stop was in the Oyster Pond area, overlooking Oyster Bay.
An opportunity to understand that although the local people lived as one, the colonial powers that be, France and Holland, 2 european friends, still did not settle the frontier dispute in this area of this small island…An opportunity also to see the stigmas of Irma, the cat 5+ hurricane that struck the land in Sept. 2017.

Third stop…the look out point over Orient Bay with this breath taking view of Saint-Barths and flat island…but mostly we could learn that after the sugar cane era, the riches of which were boosted by slavery, came the salt industry that lasted up to 1960 or so, on Saint-Martin and Anguilla…
And some old people can still remember walking in that over salted water, and the boats that came in in Orient Bay.

And then, straight Colombier, a former bread basket of the island, for our 4th stop. On the way up « Riley Hill » we could see Anguilla, opportunity for us to learn the specifics of the « abolition period» which lasted 30 years, from 1833 to 1863, and also how « Freetown » came to be.
It’s now about 12.00, time for a guavaberry drink…after listening to how it is made and what it symbolizes…and while we are at it, a lil’ journey cake…how it is made and what purpose it served…and if time permits a lil’ taste of arrow root, that is still produced through « jollification » (planted and reaped collectively)
Loterie and Colombier farms are not far, opportunities for us to learn that agriculture and the raising of animals, was a mean aspect of the economy, before tourism took over. The healthiest cattle and horses were exported to the rest of the Caribbean in the 40’s and 50’s.

On the way back, through Marigot (capital of the french side) we did a short stop at the Bellevue frontier monument, the 1948 original, erected on the 300th anniversary of the 1648 partition treaty of Concordia, and we made acquaintance with Louis-Constant Fleming, a historical local personage who created the monument, on his property and on his own.

So Saint-Martin is surely beaches and casinos, but not only.
It is also a people born out of the sometimes good times but mostly rough times of the past…
Out of the enslaved that were brought and who enriched the owners of sugar plantations
Out of the enslaved that revolted against inhumane treatment and fled to Free Town or Anguilla
Out of the salt pickers whose feet were cooked in salt water and faces burnt in hot sun
Out of those who built the rock walls and dug the water wells, for the best cattle in the world,
Also those who created Beausejour, built little bay and worked in Mullet Bay or Belle-Creole,
And those who had to leave and go to Lago or Santo Domingo to get some money to send home

Those are the people who have created the « nation » for which a Dutch Priest saw it fit to create a song he called « Oh sweet saint-martin land ».
Those are the people that have inspired local musical icon Lino’s « saint-Martin is my home »,
those are the people who still like journey cake and salt fish, boil fish and fungi, guava berry and lime punch

And if I hear you say « ahhh yo lawd, wa happen te yo » I know you’re from here
And if you know where « jung gut » is, you know something about here
and if you can remember passing by Lazy bay, going dung main street and standing on the lil’ wharf to look at the « alma gloria » racing against the « Varuna » on a Bastille Day in Marigot, then I know that you know plenty…
And ef yo wuz here in between Dona gale and hurricane Luis, and yo still here…
Then you can surely sing along with vee people :
« Saint-Martin is my home and I’ll do but anything to make it bloom »