In reality, the largest of the archipelago, with its own international airport, a cruise port, and a collection of National Historic Parks and National Monuments, is enviable.
Surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, perhaps if we want to find a flaw, it is the least frequented by the “rich & famous,” does not provide gossip, and prefers to preserve its nature as an original island. But those who do not know its inhabitants cannot appreciate it: the “Crucians”, island residents, are a vital part of it. Mrs. Delta M.Dorsch, for example, is proud to preserve island traditions. She is the only one who knows “Anansi,” the stories and legends of the African oral tradition.
Mr. Olasee Davis, on the other hand, is the spokesperson for the beauty and natural ecosystem of St. Croix. Walking with him on an excursion is to discover biology, natural resources, and the coastal environment. He is an active environmentalist, an expert ethno-botanist, a farmer, and a historian. From him, one learns for example about the African baobab found on the island or the ruins of Estate Butler Bay, what remains of the largest sugarcane plantation of the Danish West Indies in St. Croix.
Mr. Bradley E. Christian is a master dancer who can lead you in traditional dance steps such as the quadrilla.
He is the president of the organization St.Croix Heritage Dancers, which has been operating for 27 years and preserves historic island dance. Mr. Willard John, on the other hand, is a passionate “Guardian of the Moko Jumbie Culture,” a folkloric character who dances on stilts and who arrived in the Virgins from West Africa in very ancient times. Mr. Richard A. Schrader is very famous among the islanders: poet, writer, historian, and conservator of the oral tradition of the historical past of St. Croix. With him, no historic building retains secrets either in Christiansted or Frederiksted. Not even the magical windmills, the “pyramids” of St. Croix, which dot the landscape, can hide the history of the 18th century.
Mrs. Elizabeth “Betty” Lynch is an expert in “Crucian” gastronomy. She can tempt you by recreating dishes she learned by watching her mother in the kitchen.
