The Bottom

The Bottom is Saba's capital and sits in a bowl of ground below the mountain, its name a corruption of the Dutch botte, a bowl, rather than a reference to altitude. White houses with red roofs and green shutters stand in gardens along a handful of streets, a form the island applies to everything it builds. Government offices and the medical school are here, and the walls are dry-laid stone.

History

Colonists from Zeeland first settled Saba around 1640 and, after a landslide wrecked their first village, settled in this valley, which they called De Botte, the bowl, a name English speakers turned into The Bottom; Irish, English and Scottish settlers and enslaved Africans followed, and English became the island's language. In 1865 the village had 616 people, the men farming, fishing and building ships and the women making hats and Saba lace; a navigation school ran here from 1909 to 1922, emigration in the 20th century nearly halved the population, and the Saba University School of Medicine opened here in 1992 (Wikipedia, The Bottom).

What to look for

• The white houses - red roofs and green shutters, the island's uniform style.
• The bowl - the flat ground below the mountain the village sits in.
• The stone walls - dry-laid boundaries running through the settlement.
• The government buildings - the administrative centre of the island.

When to go

December to April is the drier season. Cloud sits on the mountain above through much of the year. Hurricane season runs June to November.

What to expect

The village is very small and half a day covers it easily. There is little in the way of shops or dining. Getting to Saba means a short flight or the ferry, both weather-dependent.

Nearby

Windwardside is northeast, and The Ladder is below.

Key facts