Colombier

After our bumpy ride from St. Martin we were thrilled to arrive at the beautiful, semi-secluded anchorage of Colombier on the northwestern coast of St. Barts. While in St. Martin we were anchored in a lagoon which did not allow us to swim off the back of the boat, so it was nice to be able to hop in once again with the turtles. This particular beach can only be reached by water or by hiking in. We took a 40 minute hike along a ridge leading from the beach at Colombier over to a stunning stretch of white sand and the next town. The road that we were on ended at a gorgeous but understated hotel that had an undeniable air of exclusivity. We tried to have breakfast there but were told that it was for hotel guests only. I looked it up in our guidebook and this is what they had to say: “At the end of the beach is the ‘well hip’ and idiosyncratic hotel Taiwana. It’s difficult to recommend personally because guidebook writers (along with anyone else they don’t like the look of) are unceremoniously booted out, but the place seems to have an easy exclusivity about it. If you stump up the loot, there’s pretty well anything you might want, from hellicopter transfer from St. Martin and champagne breakfasts to famous acquaintances in the next-door room…” So there you have it.

Back at Colombier, on the hill on the south side of the anchorage was a cool Frank Lloyd Wright looking house that was originally owned by Rockefeller and was recently purchased by Donald Trump. The scandal here is that while the current mayor (?) is praised for his strict building laws and for his commitment to preserving the island’s green space, he granted Donald the permit to build a road to his new property.