WINDWARDSIDE, SABA--24 OCTOBER 2020: The island of Saba shut its borders on March 15, 2020. The lucky residents remain Covid-free and are going about their lives as normal on this beautiful nature island. But they haven't just been sitting around wondering when the tourists will return!
What should tourists expect when the island re-opens? Not only will this nature paradise be ready to welcome divers, work has continued to protect Saba's nature.
The Moreef project is in full swing. Learn how resident scientists are propagating urchins on land and making new homes for them in the ocean. The diadema had a massive die-off in the 1980's throughout the Caribbean. The loss of these important herbivores was one of the first issues to stress reefs in the region. Re-introducing urchins back to our dive sites in addition to continuing work with coral nurseries is another way to save coral reefs. Sign up with Sea Saba to dive this area and better understand the delicate balance in our oceans.
Starting from the top of Saba at 3,000 feet of elevation, this unique cloudforest is dripping in orchids, epiphytes, giant banana tress and ferns. Visitors will now be able to more easily access areas and without causing any damage as a wooden boardwalk has been created by the Saba Conservation Foundation.
Saba Conservation Foundation rangers have been participating in more training for Saba's resident and transient bird populations. There are new sightings every week! So add a birding tour to your to do list!
Thanks to generous Dutch funding and a donation from the Edward Arnold family, a botanical garden should be completed by the time Saba's borders re-open. Located just beyond the Trail Shop in the main village, there will be easy access to observe and better understand the grand variety of Saba's species.
Years ago, Saba put all its electrical and telephone wires underground making the island that much more beautiful and protecting our infrastructure in storm season. The Adopt-a-Box initiation (started by Lynn) promises to take this a step further by creating a walking tour while protecting the distribution boxes with secure doors and highlighting Saba's cultural heritage and interesting nature at these locations. Professionally created signage will be secured on each box with the result being a walking tour where anyone can view a map and go "box-to-box" to learn more about Saba's history, culture and environment. Now that's thinking outside the box! If you are interesting in adopting a box, simply reply to this message and look forward to following the program on Facebook.