The Butterfly Farm

The Butterfly Farm
St Martin
(La Ferme Des Papillons)
Le Galion Beach Road
Quartier D'Orleans
Saint Martin 97150
French West Indies
Tel/Fax +599-54-43562 (Office)
Tel: +590-590-873121 (Farm)

I love the Butterfly Farm - I wrote a little about it on my other blog.

Lucky Stables

Lucky Stables
Traybay drive 2
Cape Bay, Sint Maarten
Tel: (00599) 5445255
Cell: (00599) 5557246/526-3632
E-mail: info@luckystable.com

Lucky Stables has been operating on SXM for many years now and has built a reputation as a professional horseback riding and training stable.

Lucky Stables offers:

-Equitation instruction
-Doma Vaquera (Spanish dressage)
-Trail rides (mountain and beach)
-Boarding
-Bar and BBQ
-For beginner, intermediate and experienced riders!

Lee's Roadside Grill and Deep-Sea Fishing

Lee's Roadside Grill and Deep-Sea Fishing
Welfare Road #82
Simpsonbay
St. Maarten N.A.

Tel:(599)-544-4233
Email: info@leesfish.com

This is a busy restaurant close to the bridge in Simpson Bay. You can go there to eat and listen to the occasional band they have playing (usually too loud for my taste!) or go to do some deep-sea fishing.

Some folks love this place and say it serves the best lobster they've had (Caribbean spiny lobster, not the New England type). I've enjoyed lobster there in my day for sure, but I have not been there for years, crowded out by toursits, loud music and no parking. Oh well.

If you are going fishing and plan to feed your family of 15 with your catch, check with the boat captain first. From what I am told, they keep the catch, though they'll give you a piece.

TriSport

TriSport
14B Airport Blvd, Simpsonbay, St.Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Tel 011(599)545-4384
Fax 011(599)545-4385
Email trisport@caribserve.net

Buy a bike, rent a bike, take a bike tour, check out the island race calendar!
Also, rent a kayak! Take a lagoon tour!

Superbikes NV - Rent a Harley

SuperBikes N.V.
Harley-Davidson Distributor for the Caribbean
71 Union Road Cole Bay Sint Maarten
Phone (599) 54 42704
Fax: (599) 54 42854

Bayside Riding Club

BAYSIDE RIDING CLUB
Rue du Le Galion, (Coconut Grove)
97150 St. Martin
French West Indies

French phone: +590 590 873664

Dutch cell phone: +599 557-6822

Dolphin Swims

Dolphin Swims are on offer in Anguilla, but I am against this activity and I have no interest in posting information about it here. If you are thinking of trying this out, do some research on it first, perhaps read this ABC News story or The Dolphin Project - here is some info from their FAQ page:

How is a dolphin captured?

The capture of dolphins is a violent procedure. Pods of bottlenose dolphins are chased to exhaustion; surrounded with a net and dragged onto the capture boat where the capture team searches through the terrified group for the specimen they want. The lucky ones are thrown overboard. Those selected are taken ashore. They will never see their ocean world and their pod again.

According to dolphin captors, the most desirable dolphins are between two to four years old and still associate with their mothers. Many bottlenose dolphins have been brutally separated from their calves, regardless of the fact that a bottlenose dolphin normally protects and remains with her calf for at least five years. The violent and permanent separation is a traumatic experience for both mother and calf, and while the exact number of animals killed during the capture procedure remains unknown, we have documentation to show that dolphins have died from shock during capture. (Documentation available upon request.)

How do dolphins communicate?

Dolphins communicate by hearing and emitting sound, and by reading body language.

Dolphins are sound oriented. They communicate with sound by producing a large spectrum of sounds in the form of clicks and whistles. Furthermore, they constantly send out bursts of sounds of many different frequencies to navigate, forage, and explore their diverse ocean environment. With reflected sound, called echolocation or sonar, dolphins can 'see' elements that are invisible for animals -- including humans -- that are sight oriented, depending on reflected light for vision. This is how dolphins searching for food can easily detect a fish that's hiding under the sand.

The use of sonar is as important to dolphins as eyesight to humans. Chris Catton in his book Dolphins writes:

'The ability of dolphins to make a wide range of sounds and to hear clearly underwater is important because they rely on these faculties in almost every aspect of their daily lives.'

Captive dolphins are severely restricted in using their sonar. They can't use it to catch live fish, as they are fed dead fish as food rewards. They can’t put it to full use to explore their underwater world, because there isn't much to explore in a barren, concrete tank or a cage in the sea. They certainly can’t use it to navigate, because they aren’t going anywhere.

Depriving dolphins of the ability to use their most important sense -- their sense of sonar -- is stressful for dolphins. The sensory deprivation imposed on captive dolphins is one of the most damaging aspects of dolphin captivity.

Aqua Mania Adventures

Aqua Mania Adventures is a great site to check out for anyone coming to visit the island who wants to do day sails, snorkeling trips etcetera. They do it all - they have activities they offer themselves such as a kid's water playstation with slides, and they are agents for other venues such as horseback riding trips and the Butterfly Farm. They bill themselves as a "one stop vacation shop" and that is absolutely accurate.

AQUA MANIA adventures located at Pelican Marina, Simpson Bay
PO BOX 5262, Simpson Bay | Sint Maarten | Netherlands Antilles
Ph: (599) 544 2640 / 544 2631 | Fax: (599) 544 2476

Email us at: aquamania@sintmaarten.net