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Kayaking: Peering under paradis
By TERESE LOEB KREUZER
ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Paddles glinted in the sunlight as kayakers made their way against the wind to cross Salt River Bay. To the west lay a beach strewn with rocks and broken coral. From a windy hill overlooking the turquoise water, all seemed peaceful. But almost 500 years ago, it is thought, this bay was the site of the first armed conflict between Europeans and natives of the New World. On Nov. 14, 1493, a group of Carib Indians were paddling canoes toward their village on the west bank of the bay, and a long boat containing 25 men dispatched by Christopher Columbus was moving to investigate the settlement. Columbus, on his second voyage to the New World, had anchored his fleet of 17 ships outside the reef and sent the long boat through a narrow, shallow opening in the reefs guarding the bay. The Caribs ran from their village in fear. The Europeans entered the houses and took what they wanted. By the end of the afternoon, when Columbus' ships departed, one Carib man was dead, and two women had been taken captive. A few days later, one of Columbus' seamen, wounded in the battle, died. In his memory, Columbus named the place where the battle occurred Cabo de Flechas, "Cape of the Arrows." This is still its name. Salt River Bay is named for a river that once flowed into it; Columbus' crew obtained fresh water from the river, long since silted over. Today, there are no rivers on St. Croix, which, at 82 square miles, is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the one with the most industrial development. St. Croix also has highways and shopping malls, which mask a place of extraordinary beauty. Some who live on the island have dedicated themselves to preserving its beauty and history. Andrew Wartenberg, owner of Caribbean Adventure Tours, was leading the kayakers across the bay recently from the marina at Columbus Cove to the pretty beach on the Cape of the Arrows. He told his kayakers some of the bay's history, pointing out where the ships had been anchored and where the Carib village had been located. The kayakers also passed boats that had been washed up during hurricanes, including a small yacht that had once belonged to American millionaire Laurence Rockefeller and a no-longer-handsome boat with intricate teak carvings. That vessel had belonged to a couple who divorced after the wife ran off with the woodcarver, Wartenberg said. Arriving on the opposite shore of the bay, the kayakers paddled among stands of red, white and black mangroves, the last of any size on St. Croix. Then the kayakers put in briefly at a landlocked estuary where Wartenberg showed them jellyfish and pointed out a hotel that had been started in the 1960s and had never been finished. Its tower made a picturesque ruin. Before heading back to Columbus Cove and its welcoming bar and restaurant, the last stop of the three-hour tour was the beach at the Cape of the Arrows. Sandy on one side, with warm, shallow water, it was perfect for swimming. On the other side, the rocky beach, pounded by the Caribbean Sea, was once a burial ground for the natives. Many pre-Columbian artifacts have been found there and on the other flank of Salt River Bay, once a ball court for the natives. Denmark controlled the islands for hundreds of years before the United States bought them in 1917. Danish archaeologists discovered the ball court in the 1920s. They took petroglyphs, stone belts and remains from sacrificial human burials back to Denmark. Then the site was paved over; it is now a parking lot. But archaeologists have explored the middens, or refuse heaps, left by several Indian cultures: the Caribs, the Taino and two other pre-Taino groups dating to A.D. 50. There is evidence that people have been living on the edges of Salt River Bay for more than 3,000 years. In 1992, the Salt River Bay became part of the U.S. National Park system, and its treasures are now protected. Now, tours of the area are led by Lumumba Corriette, proprietor of Ay-Ay St. Croix Eco Hike & Tours, and by Olasee Davis, who teaches natural science at the University of the Virgin Islands. Corriette, who was born and grew up on the Caribbean island of Dominica, is of African and Carib Indian descent and comes from a family of herbalists and gardeners. He and Davis "read" the landscape of St. Croix as though it were a familiar book, readily identifying the trees and shrubs and explaining their medicinal and cultural uses. One morning in May, Davis and Corriette led separate groups of hikers from the grassy ridge overlooking Annaly Bay on St. Croix's north shore, past the Wills Bay sugar mill, built in 1796. The hikers looked out from a windswept promontory toward miles of dramatic shoreline that receded into the distance. They then turned down a narrow path that snaked through thigh-high grasses and descended a steep hill to Annaly Bay. The path was created more than 200 years ago by the African slaves who had worked the sugar plantations and carried 60- to 70-pound loads between the sugar mill and the sea. Muscular and nimble, Corriette, 55, bounded down the trail while most of his charges inched along. Behind them, Davis came with his group, helping the least agile over the roughest parts. This path taught more than history books could convey about the hardships the slaves had endured and their strength and resilience. At the bottom of the path, the hikers rested on the rocky beach of Annaly Bay and then clambered over dark rocks to warm tidal pools, where they stopped to swim and relax. The hike had been strenuous but unforgettable. -- Terese Loeb Kreuzer is a freelance writer living in New York City. IF YOU GOHIKING AND KAYAKING TOURS: Contact the following: Ay-Ay St. Croix Eco Hike and Tours, P.O. Box 2435, Kingshill, St. Croix, USVI 00851. Call (340) 772-4079; e-mail to eco@viaccess.net. Six tours ranging in difficulty from moderate to strenuous and in length from two to four hours. $30 adults, $15 children. St. Croix Environmental Association, Arawak Building, Suite 3, Gallows Bay, St. Croix, USVI 00820. Call (340) 773-1989; e-mail to sea@viaccess.net. Guided 2 1/2-hour hikes to Salt River National Park, Estate Mount Washington and Estate Mount Victory. Olasee Davis is among the association's guides. $25 adults, $12 children. Four-person minimum. All hikes are moderate to moderately difficult. Caribbean Adventure Tours, P.O. Box 5302 Kingshill, St. Croix, USVI 00851. Call (340) 773-4599; go to www.tourcarib.com. Daytime and moonlight kayaking tours for all levels of experience. $40-$50. Two-person minimum. STAYING THERE: The Buccaneer, P.O. 25200 Gallows Bay, St. Croix, USVI 00824. Call toll-free 1-800-255-3881; go to www.thebuccaneer.com. $205 to $410 through Dec. 19; then rates increase. Family owned and operated for more than 50 years. Luxurious yet unpretentious. Three beaches, spa, golf and tennis. InnParadise (a bed and breakfast), P.O. Box 428, 1E Golden Rock, St. Croix, USVI 00821-0428. Call toll-free 1-866-800-9803; go to www.innparadisestcroix.com; $100 to $125 (doubles, includes full breakfast). Carringtons Inn (a bed and breakfast), 4001 Estate Hermon Hill, St. Croix, USVI 00820. Call toll-free 1-877-658-0508; fax (340) 719-0841; go to www.carringtonsinn.com; $100 to $150 (doubles, includes full breakfast). Hotel Caravelle, 44a Queen Cross St., Christiansted, St. Croix, VI 00820. Call toll-free 1-800-524-0410; go to www.hotelcaravelle.com; $115-$155. In the heart of Christiansted. FOR MORE INFORMATION: The St. Croix Archaeological Museum recently opened at 6 Company St., Christiansted. Call (340) 692-2365. Displays of more than 500 pre-Columbian artifacts found on St. Croix. Admission for adults, $5, for children, $2.
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