We raised Saint Thomas on the Caribbean horizon before dawn, and by the time
the sun was rising, the air was full of bird calls and we were docked in the
magnificent harbor of Charlotte Amalie. The Caribbean, the deep Caribbean!
And one of the splendid Antilles Islands, to boot!
I will remember the island for its greenery, especially as seen through eyes
that have spent too many years in Subsaharan Africa and the dry Sahel. We
traveled across the island's spine to a bay by the name of Magen's Bay, reputed
to be among the Caribbean's finest. That required mounting the island's wooded
interior to the summit, and descending through forest to the Caribbean's waters
on the other side. The forest was stunning: redolent of rain and loam and
peat, and buzzing with life under the thick, dark canopy as if this little
corner were untouched. It's untouched only because it's been preserved, of
course, but after years of life in countries where the landscape looks worn to
the bone, I'll take 'preserved' gladly.
We swam for the better part of the morning in waters so transparent you could
see the sandy bottom with ease. But as I struck out to cross the bay by
following a line of buoys, suddenly the sky darkened, and in seconds the
water's surface was speckled with the plink-plink of fat raindrops. I was
halfway out, so I was going to get rained on no matter what, so I resolved to
just enjoy the moment. Warm water below me, cool water falling on me from
above, and across the entire ampitheater of the wooded valley that cradled
Magen's Bay in its fingers, the squawk of calling birds. A few minutes later,
the cloud passed and the sun came back out, and the hillside was shiny with
reflected raindrops.
As we packed up to leave, we crossed paths with an enormous iguana in a tree
branch, who'd been watching us the entire time we'd been swimming. I guess
he'd been seeking shelter when the cloud passed, and decided to stick around
long enough to dry out. That bay was his before we got there, and would be his
again when we departed. In the meantime, thanks for the hospitality, brother!
