Marion & Leontine
Marion Schroen is an avid , passionate hiker and trail runner . She has explored in brief and at length Curaçao , St . Maarten , Saba , Columbia , Venezuela , New Hampshire ’ s White Mountains , Vermont ’ s Long Trail , as well as New York ’ s and Maine ’ s segments of the Appalachian Mountain Trail . She worked on behalf of the Netherlands in St . Eustatius in a two-year advisory position . This gave her the opportunity to appreciate the island and to explore it in depth , on-foot . She regards Statia as an exciting mix of highlights from all her previous hiking adventures . With every breath , she appreciates the island . With a keen eye for detail small and large , she shares her experiences of the “ Golden Rock ”.
Leontine Durby is a gifted photographer . As a young girl she helped her mom in the
Mazinga Giftshop . Her mom started this giftshop on Sint Eustatius in 1969 , and Leontine eventually took over the management of the business . Along came Marion Schroen who introduced her to hiking and she was immediately hooked to this new adventure and in awe of all that she saw . Although living her whole life on Statia , she looks at its nature in a new light and is still amazed and overwhelmed by each hike , and the incredible diversity in the scenery , wildlife , nature and history .
Wanting to let everyone see all that Statia has to offer , Leontine started making posts on Facebook with the photos of the hikes her and Marion made . The feedback was so inspiring and so they continue to share their hiking experiences .
Hiking on Statia
Read about one of their hikes here .
Marion once hiked alone and sometimes would take one or more colleagues and friends along with her . Since she met Leontine in 2020 , hikes are done mainly with their husbands . They do at least two big hikes per week , sometimes more .
While hiking , they would make plans for their next hike because they may see a goat trail or a nice pool somewhere down the cliffs and want to explore it . Sometimes they have to try four times to finally get to where they want to be because on some spots you can only pass if the sea is calm .
You can only see how difficult it is to climb the cliffs when you get there . They both have gullies , descends and ascends on their bucket list that they have not yet tried .
Exciting discoveries on their hikes
Beautiful intact slave walls , cisterns and a beautiful natural infinity pool . But also , the baby of a Red-billed tropic bird whose development they followed for weeks . On every hike , they discover a flower , a fruit , an insect , butterflies , a bird-dance that they never saw before .
Baby of the Red-billed tropic bird in its nest in the cliff
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Red-billed tropic bird