SABA
Tiny Saba (SAY-ba) island is so unique it's known as the Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean. What makes it special? For one thing, you won't find your typical white sand beaches here. Instead, as the tip of a huge underwater mountain, Saba rises straight up out of the ocean, offering beautiful scenery, great hiking and pristine diving - but no beaches. For another, Saba's capital, The Bottom, is in the crater of a volcano.
Saba's uniqueness affects every aspect of its history and culture. Despite being claimed by the Dutch since 1632, the Dutch government allows the school system to use English as the principal classroom language. Very few islanders are of Dutch descent and a third of them are named either Hassell or Johnson. Saba was the first Caribbean island to outlaw slavery. There are less than 1,500 permanent residents.
There's only one major road - called, simply enough, The Road. Until the 1940s, Saba's four villages were connected by footpaths. When Dutch engineers told residents their steep terrain prohibited road building, Josephus Lambert Hassell took a correspondence course in civil engineering and for the next 20 years lead island crews in building the 9-mile concrete road by hand. The first car arrived in 1947.
The Road runs from the airport at the northeastern side of the island through the villages of Hell's Gate, Windwardside, St John's and The Bottom, then down to Fort Bay, the island's main port. The Road is secured to the mountainside with hardy stone walls but driving can be an adventure: many of its curves are extremely tight. A second road completed in 1958 connects the Bottom with Well's Bay on the island's northwestern side.
Equally daunting is the airport's landing strip, the shortest commercial runway in the world. Only three models of airplane are approved for landing, but consistent air service from St. Maarten is available. For the less intrepid, there are also ferry services from St. Maarten into Ladder Bay. Until a few years ago, all transport up from the bay was done by hand.
Despite its tiny size of five square miles, Saba is home to more than 60 species of birds, while 200 kinds of fish swim near its shores. Saba's highest peak, Mt. Scenery, stretches over half a mile into the sky, and the thousand stone steps hand-carved into the mountain beckon climbers up to the highest peak in this outpost of the far-flung Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Manually carving steps into mountains - they also carved 800 stone steps from Ladder Bay to The Bottom -- and hand-building roads have given Saba islanders a well-earned reputation for being hard-working and resourceful. Not to be outdone by these predominantly masculine achievements, Saba women have been holding their own economically with a lucrative lace-making practice for more than a century.
Also called Drawn Thread or Spanish Work, the lace makers were taught their trade by Mary Gertrude Hassell Johnson, who learned the intricate craft in a Caracas convent school. In 1884, when mail service was established on the island, the women of Saba began a mail-order business. They copied addresses off of shipping containers from the United States and sent samples to the businesses. By 1928, the women were exporting $15,000 worth of lace each year, and it remains an important cottage industry for the island's economy.
If you're looking for casinos, white beaches and a rollicking night life, keep looking. But if a majestic, secluded haven in peaceful and friendly surroundings is on your wish list, Saba can make your dreams come true. The island is a monument to the best nature has to offer above and below the ocean's surface.
Saba Map
