Hip hops of the Caribbean

If you holiday in the same place as David Letterman, Harrison Ford and Mariah Carey, does that make you rich and famous by association? Only a visit to St Barts can answer that.

In the late 1970s, officials decided to transform the French West Indies island into a high-end destination and their efforts paid platinum.

“It became a destination for rich people,'' said Eddy Galvani, director of the Wall House Museum in Gustavia, the capital, named when Sweden was in control.

The haunt of the megawealthy and is often a stop on a kind of Route d'Affluence: Cannes, Paris, New York, St Barts.

Yet St Barts also has an earthy side. “It's a very human, authentic place,'' said Louisa Messous, who runs the Drugstore des Caraibes beachwear and souvenir shop in St Jean.

“Everyone says ‘Allo, allo' to each other. No one is [she placed her finger under her nose and lifted slightly].''

Hole in pocket

To be fair, St Barts did make my bank account bleat. A room at the luxe Hotel Carl Gustaf, for example, starts at $700 (Dh2,571) and you must brave hurricanes for that “low'' price.

At the Hotel Guanahani's restaurant, Indigo, burgers cost more than $30 (Dh110). Everything, in fact, seems pricier than its stateside equivalent because of the euro, the local currency.

St Barts is an overgrown garden of bougainvillea, hibiscus and cacti, interrupted only by twee red-roofed homes and shredded roads.

In Corossol, the dress code is more puritan. Not too long ago, the women of the fishing village were still wearing bonnets.

Unlike the designer scenes at such resorts as Eden Rock and Le Toiny, the community in Corossol is subdued and reserved.

The men fish for a living and the women weave palm fronds into hats, clutch bags, place mats and napkin ring holders.

The items are displayed on windowsills and in yards — the de facto stores.

Green views

The true nature of St John is exactly that: nature.
“Many of the islands have a national park,'' said Babs Raley, who works at Maho Bay Camps, an eco-lodge with tented accommodations and more than 30 years of green credentials “but two thirds of St John is protected''.

The safeguarded land was a gift from Laurance Rockefeller, a member of the monied family who had a soft spot for the smallest of the US Virgin Islands.

In 1956, he donated thousands of acres to the National Park Service, preserving not just his legacy but also the hills, trees and reefs.

Despite my expectations, the 30-minute ferry ride from St Thomas did not drop me off in an impenetrable grove with only birds and bugs as companions.

The town of Cruz Bay is a small but intense square of commerce, with brightly-coloured shops and restaurants tumbling over one another.

The knots of traffic and lack of parking were reason enough to seek less-populated terrain.

One of the island's top treks is the Reef Bay Trail, a nearly five-mile route that ribbons through subtropical forest.

The hike descends 937 feet, which translates to an extremely arduous return. During the busier seasons, park rangers lead hikes that include a boat ride back to Cruz Bay.

I was not thinking about the ascent as I rambled down the root-strewn trail. The route was still except for the hermit crabs that cascaded down the slopes and landed by my feet.

Featuring the past

About three quarters down, a sign pointed towards petroglyphs and a 40-foot precipitation-dependent waterfall.

Some experts attribute the rock etchings to the Tainos — early inhabitants of the islands.

However, their meaning has not been deciphered. Later in town, I met another facet of St John's.

“This is Love City,'' said “Gemini'' Felix, a wide-grinning man who was standing beside the giant head of a freshly caught yellow tuna.

It was easy to feel the love or at least the like. In Coral Bay, the whacky sister of Cruz Bay, I was only two sips into my refreshment at Skinny Legs when I started chatting with Carl to my right, Lisa to my left, her sister, her sister's husband and Chris .

By the end of the night, Lisa had given me her earrings, which I had admired; Phillip, a regular customer, had made me a salad in the kitchen; and a live-aboard sailor named Vince had invited me to compete in a regatta (they needed some X chromosomes at the helm). Hugs, kisses, exchanged e-mails — St John love all around.

Other points of interest are the Annaberg Sugar Mill ruins, an old plantation now part of Virgin Islands National Park; Trunk Bay, site of the national park's underwater snorkel trail; Caneel Bay, a luxury resort once owned by Rockefeller; Mongoose Junction and Wharfside Resort, shopping complexes in Cruz Bay featuring such ecofriendly shops as the Friends of the Park Store.

Two in one

The Lesser Antilles island is famously governed by France to the north and the Netherlands to the south, though sometimes one can become confused about the allegiance.

On the Dutch side, the capital of Philipsburg is a whirlwind of shops (including the iconic Delft Blue Gallery), restaurants and a long, paved boardwalk trimmed on one side with a wide band of sand.

While the French side of the island does not permit casinos, it does allow decadence of another kind: haute cuisine.

The capital of Marigot is a semi-hectic town with a workhorse harbour, European fashion houses and cafes stocked with such staples as pain au chocolat and croissants.

“St Martin is the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean,'' said Jean-Francois Monnier, a Frenchman who owns La Parisienne cafe in Marigot. “It's the tradition to have good food here.''

St Thomas

I felt guilty for not shopping. St Thomas, landscaped with stores, can weigh on your conscience like that.

The US Virgin Island is known for its duty-free shops, where gems are displayed like colourful gumdrops and perfumes scent the air of Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the island.

In addition, non-traditional malls have sprung up around the cruise ship dock. The enthusiastic consumer culture has its roots in the island of yesteryear.

In 1671, the Danish West India Company inhabited St Thomas, which transformed the isle into one of the largest trading hubs in the Caribbean.

Other points of interest: Magens Bay, a heart-shaped beach with soft sand; Frenchtown, a tiny fishing village; Drake's Seat, a hillside spot from which Sir Francis Drake spied on the Spanish fleet; Red Hook, a dining and night-life quarter; the sandy-floored St Thomas Synagogue, which claims the distinction of being the oldest temple in continuous use under the American flag.

MELTING POT

Home of multiculturalism

At the Guavaberry Emporium on the Dutch side of the island, co-owner Ghislaine Thompson was helping with the refreshments.

Thompson is French, her husband is Irish and the employee behind the counter came from Jamaica.

I had yet to hear Dutch spoken when Christine de la Cruz, editor of a Caribbean magazine, said “We have about 90 nationalities living here.''

My search for wooden clogs and Edam ended and my quest for multiculturalism began.

I unearthed it without much trouble: I found jewellery stores run by Indians, craft shops stuffed with African totems, a cart serving Surinamese dishes and a vegetarian restaurant run by a Rastafarian couple from Curacao.

Many of the people I met eagerly waved their country's flag but the casinos here had no homeland.

They were not Las Vegas nor Monte Carlo nor Foxwoods. The half-dozen or so establishments are centred mainly in Philipsburg and the west end.

They cater to entry-level gamblers who prefer to bet a few coins at a time. The casinos are almost ascetic, featuring only a few poker tables and a cluster of slot machines, some of which still accept dollar bills.

Each casino has its regular crowd. In Philipsburg, employees of nearby shops pop in for a quick hand during their lunch break, while the Atlantis Casino attracts medical students who attend the school next door.

Brush with the past

Many of the downtown stores sit inside century-old warehouses built with the red or yellow bricks carried across the Atlantic by merchant ships.

At Gallery Camille Pissarro, owner Debra Wombold pointed out the thick, bumpy layers of the interior walls, describing each stratum with the precision of an archaeologist.

Behind her, hung a small display of art and photographs detailing the life of Pissarro, the Impressionist who was born in St Thomas.

He learnt his trade by painting outdoors in the protean Caribbean light.

“The most famous person from the Virgin Islands is Pissarro,'' she said. “But for some reason, the tourism office only mentions Tim Duncan.''

Go there ... Caribbean

From the UAE ... From Dubai

St Barts and St Martin: Air France flies daily via Paris.
Fare from Dh8,680

St Thomas and St John: Emirates and American Ailines fly daily via London and New York
Fare from Dh5,770

Or United Airlines flies daily via Washington
Fare from Dh5,730

— Information courtesy:
The Holiday Lounge by Dnata.