Saba-Anguilla-Kitty Wrap Up; or Au Revoir, Mes Points-Coeur

From one extreme...

...to the other

My DH and I have started returning again and again to Anguilla because each time we visit, we think it cannot get any better, and then inevitably the island surprises us by surpassing our expectations.  This year the only difference is that we added on two nights at the beginning to explore Saba, an island that is the perfect complement to Anguilla.  It's difficult to imagine two other islands, so close to each other, that could be more polar opposites.

Just a random shot from the road. You really can't escape the views.

Saba was gorgeous, and though we saw it almost exclusively under heavy cloud cover and rain, we really liked what we experienced.  This tiny Dutch island is very friendly, very progressive in its attitude toward the environment and animal welfare, and full of stunning vistas practically every time you turn around. We'd love to go back and spend a bit more time there, including replicating our stay Queen's Garden Resort, complete with our private hot tub with a view.

Such a shabby thing...

As much as we enjoyed Saba, however, there is no denying that Anguilla was the main attraction for our trip, so it was with great excitement that we turned northward for a little island hopping, via St. Maarten.  It was the first time we'd arrived in Anguilla without a very full day of travel behind us, and we loved that.  We provisioned at Best Buy and settled in to Caribella like it was our second home, with energy to spare.

Sunset seen from our balcony at Caribella

For the next two weeks, we spent most of our time revisiting old favorites and discovering new ones.  We pretty much became fixtures at Geraud's for breakfast and The Place for lunch & all-day lounging-- I think our count was ten visits and six visits, respectively.

Geraud's pastries: lemon and pear & almond

The Place's stunning beach

We hit all of our favorite spots for lunch or dinner -- Mango's, Veya, Straw Hat, Picante, Jacala and Dolce Vita -- and many of them we did twice. We tried a few new places for lunch and dinner with varying degrees of success, and happily re-discovered that DaVida was worth the third chance that we gave it.

We went on a magical mystery tour, seeing new-to-us places all over the island, collecting sand samples along with memories. The textures and the colors were all so new and fascinating.

We also discovered a few new places to help support the local economy with our souvenir money.

Caribbean Silk Screen is a great source for t-shirts

Limin' Boutique offers something in every price range

Savannah Gallery offers an incredibly varied selection of artists

We're always heavy hearted when we pack up to go home, but for the second trip in a row, we were distracted from our sorrows by the antics of a young kitten.  We like to support AARF, the Anguilla Animal Rescue Foundation, and one of the ways we do that is to transport a young animal from Anguilla back to the US, where foster families and forever homes await them. AARF takes care of the payment and provides the carrier, the proper health certificates, and a small tote filled with treats and piddle pad. They even meet the volunteers at the airport or ferry dock to make things as easy as possible. If you're even the least bit tempted by this idea and would be willing to transport a kitten or puppy, please do it!  It's simple and stress free and a great way to help save a life.

Awaiting departure in Anguilla

This little one was a real trouper because the noon flight from Anguilla to St Maarten was booked, so we had to take the 10:00 am flight to SXM.  This meant that little Kaila was without food or elimination facilities for about 15 hours until we landed in Hartford that night.

We held Kaila when sitting in the airport and she'd just purr and purr.

We really had a fabulous trip.  In terms of giving you the good, the bad, and the ugly: it was almost all good, very little bad (terrible mosquitos this time around), and nothing ugly. Can't wait for our next visit, in which we will be taking a very short trip in November with one of our granddaughters.