Ever Been Stuck on an Island?

Have you ever heard folks asking you: if you were stuck on a desert island, with whom would you want to share this experience? In another vein, people are always talking about wanting to be stuck on some island to get away from it all. 

Somehow, since the lockdowns with Covid-19 all of us have more or less been stuck on our own desert island.   Haven't we?   We've been stuck in our rooms, apartments, houses, nursing homes, or the luckier ones in their mansions.   We've been either all alone, with our spouse or significant other, our nuclear family, our roommate, our siblings, our parents, our grandparents, etc.

In my husband and my case, the “stuck on an island” had been pretty much reality, for quite an extended and unplanned period of time.  To avoid the cold of winter, as cold aggravates my husband's handicap, we had traveled to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean in December 2019, with a flight out back to North America scheduled for the first week in April 2020. 

In January 2020 the news from Wuhan, China about an unspecified epidemic started surfacing. Each day, the news became more alarming of the spread of this new disease: Covid-19. On January 22 the World Health Organization (WHO) was unable to reach a consensus on whether to classify the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. However, within days countries started to close their borders to travelers from China, or those who had been to China within 14 days. On January 23, greater Wuhan, China was placed under quarantine. Commencing January 24, countries started imposing entry bans on anyone from China or who had transited through China, and/or suspended issuing visas to Chinese nationals.    

     

Since the Lesser Antilles are not a destination for the Chinese tourist market, life went on as usual on the island, at least for some time.

Our landlady and her family went on a one-week cruise for Valentine's Day on an Italian Cruise ship that served the Lesser Antilles.   We bumped into one another at the supermarket on the day of her return.   And in typical local fashion, as a greeting, we kissed one another on both cheeks.   She invited us to dinner for the following week.   That dinner was postponed, as our landlady and her son had come down with the flu.   “But don't worry,” she said, “it is not the Coronavirus.   Our doctor said that there are no cases here on the island. ” - - Only months later, did we discover, that their "flu" had in fact been Covid-19, with both of them testing positive.  

The second week of February, friends of ours arrived from Marseille, France with an April 1 return.   We met for dinner three weeks later, the first week of March. The conversation briefly touched on the virus, and how fast it spread in Asia.   We all considered ourselves lucky that we were physically far removed from the epicenter and there were as of yet no reported cases on the island.

The following weekend, our landlady and her husband invited us to dinner at her beachfront house to have dinner under the stars.   Rather than the customary greeting kisses on the cheek, we engaged in an elbow bump, as had been recommended on national television on the evening news.

We started to get worried about how to proceed and protect ourselves.   I went to the pharmacy, to see about purchasing face masks and disposable gloves for our flight in April.   Hearing my accent, the pharmacy personnel remarked that Americans are always so germ-phobic.   They commented that the virus was just like the flu, and the media was overreacting.   “You know, Lady, each flu season, vulnerable people die from the flu.   This virus is just like the flu. ”    Then I was informed that masks are not available for the general public.   Unless I could produce a medical care worker identification card, I could not purchase any masks.   They were reserved only for medical personnel. I left the pharmacy with the gloves, disinfectant wipes and disinfectant hand gel.

The next day, March 13, the first Coved-19 case was officially recorded for our island.   On March 16, a strict curfew was decreed in the Lesser Antilles.   With a sworn statement attesting to the date and time one had left their residence, one could only leave one's home for 5 reasons within a 1-kilometer radius and only for one hour: to work as an essential worker, to go for medical treatment, to purchase food, as a caretaker for children or vulnerable persons, or to exercise.

It was strongly recommended to wear a mask in public in order to help contain the spread of the virus. I started to investigate how to make our own masks. (See my blog post: " Protective Mask - Corona Virus ".)

Our friends rebooked their flight home and pushed it to mid-April, so they could have a direct flight to Marseille, without a stop-over in Paris.   They thought it would be safer.   Two days later, they phoned us in a panic.   The airline had canceled all future flights, they had to get on a flight in 4 hours!

We too were contacted by our airline, but only via email.   They simply advised us that our flight to North America had been canceled and presented us with a travel voucher valid for 24 months.  No opportunity was given to rebook at an alternate date to get off the island.   Although the island in the Lesser Antilles falls under EU mandate, where airlines are bound by EU regulations if they service that market, they have refused to issue a refund. The airline claimed that the Covid-19 situation is a force majeure event.   In other words, the passenger has no rights!   Since then the airline has been teetering on bankruptcy and been a takeover target by a rival. 

So, we are stuck on the island, comprised of beaches with crystal clear water, quaint towns, and agricultural lands with sugarcane fields.

Island Fever

Some folks think that life on an island may be too confining.  After all, there is the concept of “Island Fever”, or some people know it as “Cabin Fever”.  If you think about it, an island is only so big.  Island fever refers to the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person is stuck at an isolated location or in a confined space for an extended period of time.  Let’s be real, some folks have been experiencing the same phenomenon during Covid-19's home confinement periods!

However, for us, life on the island has been quite interesting.  So we are confined on the finite expanse of the island.  Then you may ask, what else can happen on an island?

Sargassum

In the spring, unusual currents brought us another surprise.  Blankets of Sargassum littered the beaches. (Check out my blog post: "In Search of the Perfect Beach, or Where did all this Sargassum Come From?".  The locals are doing their best to clean up the beaches, however, funds necessary for this kind of operation have been diverted to deal with the health emergency.

Saharan Dust Clouds

The next extraordinary event that happened was that the Saharan dust clouds darkened our normally brilliantly blue skies (Here is the link to my blog posting: "There are Clouds, and Then There are Saharan Dust Clouds").  One week, the air quality measurements were actually the worst ever registered in the region.  They went off the scale and exceeded the measurement of the red alert: “Very, Very Bad”.  Air quality was so bad for several weeks on end that we had to stay indoors as not to cause permanent damage to our lungs or suffer other permanent negative health effects.  Although we stayed inside most of the time, the dust is so fine, that I developed a painful hordeolum on my eye. (see my post: "Have you ever had a Stye (Hordeolum) or Chalazion in your Eye?") 

I felt really sorry for our neighbors, namely the cows grazing on the meadow just across the street.

 

No trick photography here.  You can see, how gradually the “Saharan Mist”, as the locals call it, seems to settle in.  In that regard, we thought we had landed on Devils Island!  For a while, the Saharan Dust clouds had not only caused bad air quality, but the condition itself caused quite a drought affecting the local agriculture.

Hurricane Season

And if that is not worrisome enough, we ended up spending several hurricane seasons while we were "stuck on the island".  In 2020, there were a total of 27 tropical or subtropical cyclones, 26 named storms, 9 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes.  2020, with 26 named storms, has been the second most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, behind only the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.  Knock on wood, the Lesser Antilles have been more or less the birthplace this year of tropical storms, that had developed into hurricanes menacing points due west of us. 

Mosquitos & Dengue Fever

After the drought period ended, the rainy season started.  And we certainly had our share of rain.  This has brought about an additional health epidemic, this one of Dengue fever! The mosquitos are thriving.  And as with Covid-19, there is no vaccination against Dengue fever. Large-scale insecticide spraying, besides being bad for the environment, is not effective. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is now resistant to vector control.  The only thing one can do is protect oneself from Mosquitos (see my blog post: "Understand your Enemy: the Mosquito"). Below is a comparison chart of the “dueling” health epidemics in the Lesser Antilles:

Once again, our landlady and her family were affected and came down with dengue fever. For three weeks, they suffered debilitation headaches (they felt like their head was about to explode!).  This was accompanied by high fevers, muscle, and joint pains.  This part they described as having been run over by a tank, which then backed up over them, and then forward once more.  - - The only prevention is not to get stung by a mosquito in the first place and to slather on lots of insect repellant.  I make it a habit to pretty much bathe in the stuff. 

Nineteen Active Volcanos

 

Mount Scenery on Saba

Not to be fatalistic, but what else can happen?!  Did I tell you that the Lesser Antilles is a volcanic island chain?  The Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc includes nineteen 'active' volcanoes: of note are Soufriere Hills on Montserrat; Mount Pelée on Martinique; La Grande Soufrière on Guadeloupe; Soufrière Saint Vincent on Saint Vincent; Mount Scenery on Saba; and the submarine volcano Kick 'em Jenny which lies about 10 km north of Grenada.

During this time, one of these volcanos has erupted.  Namely the Soufrière Saint Vincent on the neighboring island of Saint Vincent.  In December 2020 this volcano started to erupt culminating with a series of ever-increasing menacing explosive events occurring through April 2021.  Major portions of the island were completely covered in ash resulting in 16,000 residents having to be evacuated from their homes.  Need I mention, that on top of that, the agricultural sector suffered immensely, with the crops for the year completely destroyed?

Marooned

So, let's face it.  For the time being, we are marooned.  We do take comfort, that we are not the only ones far from home.  There have been scores of Canadians marooned on the island.  For a short period of time, there were a limited number of flights to/from Canada and those folks were lucky enough to head back home.  However due to travel restrictions to Canada for non-Canadians, we were prevented from even boarding those flights to head back to North America.  A neighbor couple here on vacation from Madagascar, like us still has no way to return home. The same is true for scores of visitors from Tahiti and several other countries.

On the Other Hand

I do not want to keep highlighting the negatives, that is just not in my nature.  However, I had to list the negatives in order to present a balanced view.  I must tell you that the local folks we have met, have turned out to be the kindest and sweetest people making sure we are comfortable and our needs are met.

Other Neighbors (or local Fauna)

Other “neighbors”, as I said above, on the meadow across the street are a breed of cows called Creole cows.  Unlike the black and white Holstein cows of my native Germany where only the males have horns, the adult Creole cows and steers both have horns and have a light tan hide.  This breed is remarkably adapted to the particular conditions of the hot and humid climate of the island. It is resistant to parasites (namely ticks).  The animals are traditionally raised on a stake.

Keeping the cows' company are these birds, called Cattle Egret.  It is a species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. This bird removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them, which benefits both species.

During the period of drought, when there was not enough vegetation for the cows, we have also seen a flock of goats was grazing the meadow.  Can you say “Chevre”? (Goat cheese, yum!)

Another visitor to our back patio was this Iguana, which decided to hang out (pun intended) with my laundry:

 The iguana’s color is the same as the foliage on our back patio.  

I was just surprised that he did not change colors to blend with the brown towels.

One day as I was about to go swimming in the backyard pool, I discovered that I was not alone!  This little fellow had fallen into the pool and was desperate to climb back out.  But the gap between the water level and the pool decking was too high.  I came to his rescue and fished him out.  

He just sat there on the decking for a while.  Perhaps to catch his breath, or to wait for a kiss. 

  

Being happily married, I did not kiss him to see if he would turn into Prince Charming.  I don’t need to complicate my life any further!

Another visitor to the pool decking has been this tiny little lizard, from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail he was about the size of my index finger. 

I’ve also spied him, or one of his relatives joy riding on the electric gate to our driveway, 

and another one is guarding our garbage cans.

There are lots of beautiful birds here on the island.  I invite you to read my post about a particular species, the Banana Quit (Coereba Flaveola) also known as the Sugar Bird, on this post called: "Say Hello to my Little Friend(s) - the Sugar Bird".

Hummingbirds built this little nest nestled in the unusual pine tree that grows adjacent to the pool. 

Sometimes, when I am swimming, the little hummingbirds come almost dive-bombing over my head and zipping with lightning speed just centimeters over the pool water or my head on the way to the nest.  Their speed is incredible to witness.

This white egret usually hangs out at our favorite beach.

Speaking of beaches, the water is crystal clear and the temperature ranges between 26 and 29 C:  absolutely perfect!  Most days, we have the beach all to ourselves.

On the other side of the island, the coastline is less accessible, but the scenery is still spectacular.

Local Flora

Besides the beautiful beaches, of course, there are also the sugar cane fields.  The islands are famous for their sugar and rum production.

In the photo below of a sugar cane field, you can see in the foreground where sugar cane has just been harvested, and the next rows are still intact and growing.  

And, I must admit, that during my daily walks (after spraying myself down with mosquito repellant), and wearing light-colored clothes, I have come across the most beautiful flowers just growing wild.  It seems that after the rains, blossoms just pop out all over.  

These beautiful flowers are a source of joy for me.  They help take my mind off all the strange things that have happened this year and the challenges we have experienced.  They are able to recharge my batteries, so to speak.  It is a different way of coping, unlike my grandfather's approach. (see my post: "Stay Positive")  Below are some of the unusual, beautiful flowers I have come across.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

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