There was more rain throughout the night, but we awoke to a clear, sunlit sky with a stunning view of Petit Byahaut’s private cove. It was a little early for breakfast, so we unpacked our things and hung our wet clothes from the wild ride on the water taxi. We wandered around the nicely landscaped grounds for bit before heading to the restaurant to look for coffee. There was none ready as of yet. It would come with breakfast. The property does not have regular electricity. There are solar panels and hot water heaters on all the cabins. The panels charge a twelve-volt battery which runs lights, ceiling fans and water pumps.
Breakfast View
Regular coffee makers use a lot of juice and would not work on this system, so they heat water in a tea kettle and use a French press for coffee. Keith brought us each a plate of fresh local fruit: mango, pineapple, sugar apple, guava and banana. Then there was orange juice, coffee, toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. Michael ate my bacon, since I didn’t want it. No butter came with the toast, so I went into the kitchen to ask for some. I noticed a few “Sun frost” refrigerators along the wall and commented that I had had one of those at my home on St. Croix at one time.
Keith said, “You’re from St. Croix?” I said that yes, I was. And he said, “I’m from St. Croix!” His parents were both from St. Vincent, but went to STX to work. He was born there and returned to St. Vincent about ten years ago, to work. He cut me a couple of slices of Kerry gold butter for my toast and later came out to talk to us about people he knew on St. Croix and the places he used to hang out. One of the places was a pub where my daughter used to work. Small world!
Our “Lookout” Cottage
After breakfast, we went back up to change into beachwear. We noticed a couple of paths near our cabin and took one which led us to a ridge on the north side of our cove. The trail was overgrown in places, muddy or rocky or grassy in others. The views were a lovely different perspective on the hillside and the little bay. We could see another little beach just beyond the point in the direction we were heading, but there were some thick, prickly-looking bushes that we’d have needed to go through, so we turned back. We’d kayak to the other beach at a later time. The path went past our cabin to the southeast and into the thicker forest. We saw other living areas, bathing areas and water storage tanks before we headed back to the lookout for snorkeling gear.
There’s a different feeling when you’re snorkeling in water where the bottom is dark sand. The visibility was great until we got close to the south wall where it was also shaded by the cliff and a bit murky. We decided to cross over to the other side where the north wall was in the sun. On the way, we saw a gurnard. It’s a really cool-looking fish with wings that spread out and have purple highlights on the edges. The wall of the cove and the sea bottom was alive with colorful hard and soft coral formations, and sponges galore. Lots of trumpet fish, sergeant majors, gray chromis and tang. Damsel fish, squirrel fish and banded butterflies. I started getting cold and told Michael I had to go in, but he should stay out and play with his new underwater camera. He decided to come in with me, and on the way, we saw the cutest little crab, busily searching for food in the sand. When I dove down to show Michael, he buried himself completely in the sand. He was so fast! He had lots of little “hands” and picked at a piece of seaweed he encountered, feeling all around it for something good. It reminded me of a description I’d heard of one of my favorite people, so I named it “the Meredith crab”. It was so darned cute!
We swam in and it was time for lunch. We ate chicken pasta with a tomato cream sauce, olives, peppers, onions and garlic. I had them open a bottle of Santa Rita Sauvignon Blanc for me from which I would consume a glass with lunch over the course of the next few days.
The only other guests at Petit Byahaut were Jim and Debbie from Ohio. They told us about the lizards that would join us for meals. According to them, the last time they were here (this was their 5th visit), the lizards were pretty skittish. But this time they were quite bold and would sit and wait for food. One of them actually climbed onto Michael’s plate and then his hand when he went to move it off the plate! They would also jump onto our legs or feet to try to nab a mosquito or gnat. Nice of them, but startling if you’re not expecting it.
There was plenty of activity in our quiet little cove today. A dive boat came in and moored by the north wall. The water taxi “Vision” came in bearing many propane tanks for the kitchen to use for cooking our meals. It also carried other insulated containers, perhaps with ice for our cocktails. Kimba, the driver and his associate had plenty of heavy stuff to haul in. But they made it look easy and I started to not feel so bad about my high-maintenance request for my sunglasses the night before.
Then a couple of small fishing boats arrived with a large net that they dragged between the boats to catch what we assumed were bait fish, since there was nothing big enough to eat in here. They pulled in quite a few and used a snorkeler to find the schools of fish and untangle the net if it got caught on rocks or coral. Shortly thereafter, a Moorings charter sailboat motored in a picked up a mooring ball.
After lunch we asked Keith about using a kayak to go over to “the Bat Cave”. He and Michael took a double off the rack and Keith brought us paddles and a small anchor so we could get close to the cave.
The Bat Cave
What an awesome ride that was! The dark, dramatic cliffs plunging into the cobalt blue sea kept me repeating my new mantra, “This is SO cool!” We saw a few caves and figured out which one was the actual bat cave that you can snorkel into. We kayaked around the point, since Jim and Debbie told us there was a mooring on the other side of it.
Pirate Cove
There, in front of us was the little fishing village where we were dropped off by Robert the night before. As we rounded the corner a bit more, our eyes were met by a hideous monstrosity. Someone is developing Buccament Bay, and they’re doing a lousy job. The buildings are so ugly and intrusive, they reminded us of dozens of McDonalds’ jammed together right there. This is where Michelle and Sid used to have their restaurant, but the government made them sell it so these “monopoly houses” could be built. What a waste!
We started back so we could snorkel into the bat cave and dropped anchor. We donned our gear and jumped into the sea. The bottom was rocky and there were many sea urchins, but it was pretty deep until we got close to the cave entrance where there were large boulders and the swells pushed and pulled. Michael got close to the entrance, but I chickened out. It looked really small and tight and I wasn’t familiar with it, so I wasn’t risking it. He came right back out, too, not wanting to be swept into the rocks by the swells. We could see the bats flying past the entrance and hear their high-pitched shrieks. But I wasn’t getting any closer to that small entrance to an unfamiliar cave. On the way back to Petit Byahaut, we stopped frequently so Michael could take pictures. He got a great shot of an osprey taking off from the cliff above our heads.
Osprey
Dinner was a fabulous appetizer of stuffed ballyhoo, breaded and fried, and served with a spicy-sweet citrus dipping sauce. Keith gave us a choice for our main course: Rosemary infused Cornish Game Hen, or Curried Seafood. He strongly suggested that we try one of each, so we did. I was not enamored by the rubbery, tentacled squid in the seafood dish, but the tiny shrimp and chunks of fish were nicely spiced. And the hen was moist and flavorful. Dessert was a dark chocolate-stuffed banana cake with white chocolate cream cheese icing. Delicious and decadent, but too much for me after such a hearty meal and I couldn’t finish it. Michael started nodding off at the table, so we got our water pitcher filled and climbed up to our comfortable perch, where we fell fast asleep.
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