Labels: 5th semester, basic sciences, done, eustatius, fifth semester, nbme, st eustatius, statia, usesom

It started out as a very impromptu trip for me on an early Saturday morning. The plan was to drive over to the French side to a place called Cul de Sac, where a ferry left shore every 45 minutes for a tiny island called Pinel. There was also a choice of making the crossing on a kayak, and that was what we had set out to do. I had kayaked once in the past, which was at Centreisland in a little calm river that never saw a single wave. I was excited and had no idea what to expect when we actually got on the waters. We paid about $15 each for a kayak, stuffed our belongings into a plastic bag, and pushed off onto the choppy waters. It started off nice and pleasant, but halfway in (about fifteen minutes), the waves started to get stronger and we could feel the current press against us. Still we had to press on (taking a rest meant getting pushed back in the opposite direction by the current), and what felt like hours later we finally made it to shore. How exhausted and drenched I was by then! We hauled our kayaks onto the sand and took in our surroundings. The shore was lined with beach chairs and umbrellas and there were plenty of visitors already. And the waters, probably the best I've ever seen since arriving on St Maarten (and I've seen a handful of beaches by now). Just looking at the waters I forgot about my aching muscles. I immediately pulled out my (dry) iPhone and started snapping photos left and right. We met up with some school mates who had taken the ferry and started throwing a frisbee around. The water was so inviting and warm that I had no problem splashing in it. One of the guys took a paddle board instead of a kayak over, so I borrowed it and set out on it by myself. It was going alright until I tried to turn it around to get back to shore. I fell from it more times than I could care to count when I tried to paddle against the current (it was a strong current!). I finally gave up and just tried to swim back to shore with the paddle board in tow. Thankfully someone came to my rescue! Two of my friends made their way to me on a kayak, and I traded the paddle board for the kayak without a second thought. Was I ever so grateful! 

The rest of the day we just chilled and I got myself a few pina coladas to enjoy on the beach. We also took a walk to the other side of the island and discovered huge waves, quite the opposite of the calm and tranquil waters on the front side of the island that had greeted us. 

We left the island (on our kayaks again) late in the afternoon. The trip back was a lot easier than getting there since we were riding with the current (thankfully). But it was still another work out and a half getting back to St Maarten. 

It was an amazingly fun and relaxing & tiring day at the same time. Generally, I am not a big fan of going to the beach (I hate getting sand everywhere and my skin doesn't take kindly to the sun), but making the trip over in a kayak, and the beautiful waters that greeted us there, as well as spending the day with friends and schoolmates, definitely made it worthwhile. 

Kayaks ready for us

Panoramic view of St Maarten from the beach

Panoramic view of Pinel island from the beach

Beautiful waters :D

So many beach chairs (and our kayaks)

Pina colada, yum!

Labels: Island, kayak, paddle board, pineal island, pinel, st maarten, st martin, sxm, usesom

Labels: basic sciences, exams, fifth semester, med, med school, nbme, statia, steustatius, usesom