Another day, another picturesque tropical island.  

As we approached each port, a local pilot hopped aboard to guide the ship to the dock. This boat is the pilot boat and after it drops off the pilot, it keeps a lookout for small boats or other obstacles that might not be obvious from the ship's bridge. >>

St. Maarten is divided into two territories--one side is Dutch: the other side is French. We'd heard that there was good diving here, but it was still too windy. We decided to rent a car, since we were going to be here until 8:30pm and had all day to roam the island.

As is usually the case, the terminal area was well-maintained and sported the objects that tourists pose in front of or take photos of.  

<< Pieter Stuyvesant worked for the Dutch West Indies Company and spent time in Curacao where he received orders to recapture St. Maarten from the Spaniards for the Dutch.  They were not successful at that time, but he lost his leg in the battle and was then known as Peg leg Pete.  He died in New York City in 1672.  The Dutch eventually did recapture half the island.

The Giant Protector holds the world on  
his shoulders like Atlas, but in this case 
he's of African descent.               

We'd landed on the Dutch side of the island, so as began our excursion, we headed clockwise around the island's main roads as advised by our car rental agent. He said we could avoid most of the traffic this way. Wrong! There was a lot of traffic, mostly locals which seemed surprising to us, since gas is more than $5/gal. 

The photos are in approximate order of our tour around the island.  Here's a link to a map and satellite view of the island.

As we leave our port town of Philipsburg, this unusual airplane restaurant caught our eye.  >>

Immediately outside of town we headed over a hill to get to Marigot, the capital city of the French side.

There are a number of large salt ponds on the island, which is one reason this island was so highly prized as a territory by the Spanish, Dutch, and French. 

As we came down the other side of the hill, we took this shot of the town. When we got into town we headed over to the port area and were lucky to find a parking place. Traffic was heavy and very slow, not just in towns, but everywhere.  

We passed by this interesting above-the-ground cemetery on the way over to the port area.

<< This tropical restaurant was near the port and a major market area.  Doesn't it look inviting?

Looming over the marketplace was a sizable fort. We didn't climb the hill
but the view was sure have been great from such a high hill.

After going through this colorful and eclectic  market, we visited the immigration services at the port buildings to get our passports stamped.  It wasn't required since we were cruise ship passengers, but as the official asked,
 "This is for a souvenir only, no?"