Most of you who know Anne and I are probably aware we just returned from 8 days on one of our favorite islands ... St. Maarten ... better known as SXM and an aviation photog's Heaven. There were a couple of things different about this year when compared to our last visit in 2005. This was an early trip from October 26 to November 3, a Sunday to Monday to guarantee a weekend. Two weeks before our visit St. Maarten was hit by a hurricane and sustained quite a bit of damage. Most of the hotel we stayed at was closed because of the damage. We stayed 6 days at the Little Divi where we have timeshare exchange privileges and the remaining two nights at the Sonesta Maho Beach. The main hotel at the Sonesta was not damaged, but the entire section behind the restaurants was closed because of damage.
The damage didn't keep us from enjoying the island and all that it had to offer. As you might expect we spent most of the days shooting on Maho Beach or around the airport. We managed to take quite a few photos, but traffic definitely seemed light compared to other years. We hope you enjoy this snippet of some of the photos we took ...
This first photo was taken from our hotel room of the Sunset Beach Bar. You can see where the bar area was virtually destroyed and is being rebuilt. We definitely missed the beach umbrellas and reclining chairs that extended from the bar on the beach. Now there was nothing but rocks by the bar.
The first day we were there it was absolutely clear as a bell. One of the best days I've ever seen on the island. So we took the trip up the mountain to get the scenic view ...
It was absolutely gorgeous up there, but ... let's face it, we went to SXM to be up close and personal with the planes. So the next stop was Maho Beach. We spent most of our time on Maho. We did make a few exceptions, but not for many shots. The traffic seemed a bit low this year, especially with biz jets and cargo flights, so we just moped around a lot waiting for the next flight. And here are some of the intersting ones ...
A couple of new airlines since Anne and I were here in 2005 ...
The old standbys ...
You know we love those cargo flights, but there really weren't all that many that we saw during the week.
You know it's not just all about planes when you see a scene like this one ...
But you know we all come to see the heavies. The A340s, 747s and MD-11s that ply the skies of the Caribbean in search of those tiny airports to land on, and SXM is one of the best by far. Did I say "one of the best," I meant the best. :D
Cloudy days ... clear days, no difference.
KLM's MD-11 did make one appearance while we were there, late but still enjoyable ...
We didn't spend a lot of time off the beach, but we did manage one nice series of the AF A340 one night. Unfortunately she was departing in late light, but not at sunset :(
Of course there is always one that is late ... Thank goodness :mrgreen:
Of course the beach action was good at times ...
And the company superb. Thanks Big Den for an enjoyable time.
Big Den and I by the famous action board (which was always wrong while I wa there).
Anne, Big Den's wife and I by the board.
SXM ... one of the best places to enjoy our sport.
Anne and Art
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