Working on a small island is fun. Everything is closeby, but “small” also means going somewhere involves flying, as I did Wednesday with a co-worker. We currently have a small office/business on Sint Maarten, which could use some assistance. So, we planned a trip for 2 days (there on wednesday, back on thursday), and left for the airport. The flight itself was quite different, as all “local” flights are done by relatively small aircrafts that carry 40 to 50 people (Or some even less).

Anyway, after a 2hr flight, we arrived at the airport where our SXM-colleague was already waiting. We decided to drive to Phillipsburg first, to check out the colocation facility and pickup a server to be reinstalled. The landscape is great by the way, lots of hills, trees, and stuff. Oh, and a -lot- of traffic. Seemed their “main road” consists of only 2 lanes, so it was quite busy. After a little while we stopped at some little building on the side of the road. About 20 square meters in size, it contained a rack or 4 and an airco unit. We pulled the plug on the server, took it with us and went for the office.

Like the colocationroom, the office wasn’t that big either. But no need for more space, as only 3 people work there ;) Really nice location, at Maho Beach, which also was the hotel we stayed in :) We did some work, discussed many things, and at around 7 decided it was time for dinner and some drinks. At that point, I realized St. Maarten is divided in 2 parts, as we drove to Marigot (French Side) and saw the “Welcome to France” sign. Different license plates, different people, different language. Hell, they even pay with euros.

We had dinner at a great French restaurant near the bay (great view!), and afterwards went to some casino where the others wasted some money. Final event for the night was having some drinks at a local bar, just across the office at Maho. We didn’t stay too long though, as we had to work the next morning ;)

So, another day of work later, it was time to fly back “home” to Curacao. We went to the beach behind the airport for a final drink, grabbed some quick dinner and went for the check-in desk. Nice beach by the way, as you can see all planes landing and taking off. We realized the “middle” of the beach was empty for a reason, when the KLM flight (Boeing 747) took off: people were litterally blown away by the jets ;) The airport is quite small, but fun to see planes leaving. Lots of small planes going to Saba, St Lucia, St Barths, Tortola, and more. Apparently, this was the last flight of the day, as we actually took off early, and in a rush it seemed. Again 2hrs later, we landed at Hato Airport, where I saw another typical thing for these local flights. Normally, they unload the luggage, transport it to the arrivals hall where you have to wait, etc. In this case, everyone went to the other side of the plane to take their luggage out, and walked away with it themselves. I think they really wanted to go home, and rather not wait .. ;)

We landed at 22:40, and I got home at 23:18 (Yes, I timed it.). Had a great lot of fun, but it’s good to be home :)