St. John, USVI Getaway, Part 4

Sunday brought us on another hike, but this one was promised to be much shorter;)  The hike out to Ram's Head via Salt Pond Bay was only about 2.6 miles round trip, but with varied terrain. We found ourselves walking on a worn vehicle path to walking across a sand beach to hiking up a trail to another rocky beach with loose pebbles to another trail with loose gravel and lots of interesting cacti along cliffs and finally to Ram's Head with a gorgeous 360 degree view of the Atlantic, St. John, and St. Thomas.  There was little cover from the sun, so we didn't linger at the top, but we did enjoy the view.

After the hike we spent some time hanging out at the beach at Salt Pond Bay and checking out the impressive amounts of coral it had to offer with our snorkel gear.  We were also able to stop at a road side shop with an interesting local craftsman where he was happy to give us some cultural insight and history into the island.  The kids were happy to spend their money on calabash trinkets and coconut mugs.

This was our only trip to the east side of the island and it was like a whole different place.  Still cleaning up from the hurricane, but also donkeys, mules, and goats just roaming free in the roads everywhere.  More than once we had to slow down and wait for them to pass.  The other wild animal life we have noticed on this island are the chickens.  There are so many chickens just walking around, mostly at the garbage dump sites.  The craziest thing is that there are hens, rooster, pullets, and chicks all living in seemingly free range, wild harmony.

Monday was our last full day on the island.  We spent and entire day at the beach, Trunk Beach. We got there before almost everyone else, mostly because it was cloudy and there were a few rain showers, but it was totally worth being able to snorkel and play in the sand without the sun beating down on us.  These were certainly some of the more impressive reefs we have seen and it was neat to see all the different life fish and life within it.  This was a much more popular beach as it is the only post hurricane beach that has showers, bathrooms, food, etc.

This day proved, once again, that our skin is not adapted for Caribbean sun and despite our best diligent sunscreen application, everyone got some type of sunburn.  We have gone through so much sunscreen this trip!  After the beach we returned to our rental home, showered, put on real clothes, and headed downtown to a tap room for dinner and some window shopping.  We finished the day with some packing, a little tennis playing, some swimming in the pool, and a gorgeous sunset.  We are sad to leave tomorrow, but are also ready to get back to real life.  While at the beach today Ben announced, "I am retiring from vacation"... it has been a rough week;)