The Island of Saba

Yesterday was a very extraordinary day. In the life of the Travel Wolfe! I made it to visit the island of Saba for the day. It wasn't an easy trip over as again the passengers on the high speed ferry. Had a difficult time with some rough seas. I made the decision soon after arriving on Saba. That I was not returning by boat to St. Maarten. I was going to travel the better way, by air. By Winair that is.
The tour of Saba was fascinating. As it may very well be the most exotic island in the world to live on, and to visit.
The Dutch island of Saba is a beautiful volcanic mountain. That is located in the Caribbean Sea. About 12 miles southwest from the coast of St. Maarten. That was one of the problems of the boat ride. Is that by boat. The travel time takes about 1 1/2 hours to arrive on Saba from St. Maarten. Where the flight with Winair take about 15 minutes. I will talk more about the return flight with Winair on the next post.
When we arrived I talked to a very friendly man named George who is a local taxi driver on Saba. George was going to be our guide on the tour. Right away I informed George that I had no intention of returning to St. Maarten by boat. That I wanted to fly with Winair. George was happy to help me. Georgre got the Winair sales rep on his cell phone. I was in luck! There was space on the last flight of the day. Which departed at 5pm.
The only problem that occurred. Is that I had my credit car with me on the trip. But did not have my ATM card with me. The Winair representative informed me that I had to pay for the flight in cash. As there credit card line was not working. This problem was rectified by taking a cash advance on my credit card. So I now had more then enough cash to deal with the change in plans.
George gave us an excellent tour. Giving us some information on the island of Saba. The island is 5 square miles in size. Saba has a maximum attitude of 887 m or 2910 feet. The island is part of the Netherlands. Dutch and English are spoken on the island. The main road on Saba, which is referred to as "The Road" is an engineering wonder of the world. It connects all four villages located on Saba. And is an important direct transportation link from the harbor on one side of the island to the airport which is located at the other side. Construction of "The Road" began is 1938 and was completed in 1958.
After the tour we were dropped off in one of the villages for our lunch. I was hanging out with new friends from the Netherlands; Henk and Marianne. We toured a great museum in the village. Browsed in a few shops. Then enjoyed a nice lunch. After lunch. George returned to drive Henk and Marianne back to the boat. Then George drove me the length of "The Road". To deliver me to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. For my 5pm flight back to St. Maarten.
I was sitting and waiting for the flight. Thinking back to when I was age 9. Awaiting with excitement for my first flight ever in a Cessna 172 at Maple Airport. Which was a birthday present from my mom and dad. I was now awaiting my first flight in the class of short takeoff and landing aircraft. A de Havilland Turbo Twin Otter. The excitement of a new fantastic experience never gets old! Landing and taking off from the world's shortest commercial runway. Takes a lot of skill and execution to make it safe. After we were lined up on the runway. The two Winair pilots that were at the controls of the Twin Otter. Were working throughly and efficiently to make sure the great machine we were all in. Was performing the way it should. Full brakes were applied. Then the two turbo prop engines were brought to there full RPM max!
Then the Twin Otter began it's takeoff run down the short runway. When the Twin Otter reached the end of the runway. Which did not take very long. The Twin Otter began to reach for the sky! Then quickly gained altitude. The head pilot then banked the aircraft to the left. And we were on our way back to the island of St. Maarten. The flight will always remain the highlight of this great trip.
Please enjoy the photos I took from my Saba expedience. I think you will be amazed!
The top picture on this post of the island of Saba was not taken by me. It was retrieved from wikipedia. The rest of the photos were taken by DRW Media.