Quill

There goes my A to Z challenge.

The schedule was as follows:

Thursday April 17: the letter O for On our way to St. Croix, swimmers take your mark!

Friday April 18: the letter P

Saturday April 19: the letter Q

Sunday April 20: RELAX on Easter Sunday

Monday April 21: the letter R

Instead, this is what happened:

Thursday April 17: the letter O for On our way to St. Croix, swimmers take your mark!

Friday April 18: I was off and moved to my new house with two bags of clothes and bed sheets, and my laptop. The internet guy was supposed to come by to check which trees need to be trimmed to get an internet connection in my new house. He did not come.

Saturday April 19: Weekend! I planned to go back to my old house, by scooter, with my laptop to post my P and R. The scooter broke down and the bicycle had a half flat tire. I did not feel like walking up and down between houses with my laptop under my arm. Instead I painted some purple.

Sunday April 20: RELAX on Easter Sunday morning and moved more bags and boxes in the afternoon and started unpacking.

Monday April 21: I was off, nobody available to fix a poor girl’s scooter. The whole island was partying on the beach. I joined them. On a half flat tire downhill, walking uphill.

So, my apologies, I did not stick to my A to Z challenge. But in my defense, I did not plan moving in April. I still would like to contribute with a belated Q, which might be a complicated letter for some of us. But not if you live on Statia, where the everyday life is influenced by the presence of the volcano Quill. I would like to reblog my post about the Quill today: going green inside the crater.

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In my last post I wrote about a new endemic plant species being discovered on the inner slopes of the Quill. The Quill is the dormant volcano on Statia, soaring to a height of 600m (1,969 ft) at the Mazinga Peak. The name Quill comes from the Dutch word Kuil, which means ‘pit’ or ‘hole’. Thanks to the English settlers who couldn’t pronounce Kuil properly, we now have a volcano named Quill. I admit, it does sound more exotic and exciting than Kuil.

After reaching the rim at 380 m (1,246 ft) you can descent into the crater, which contains a lush tropical rainforest with enormous trees, like Fig trees and Yellow Plums.

The national park is managed by Stenapa and the crater trail is well maintained.

Here’s an impression of the crater trail.

My new bag – thanks mom & dad! 😀