On Statia, an empty road doesn’t mean you can keep driving. Here, anything with four legs, two legs, or scales is free to cross – and usually does.

During the day, there are the iguanas. Green giants that slowly cross the chewed-up concrete without looking left or right. Some stop halfway, as if trying to remember why they wanted to get to the other side in the first place.

Then there are the goats, moving in small groups as if heading to an appointment, but just as likely to linger in the middle of the road – especially if a puddle has formed after a rain shower. Cows and sheep always take their time, usually chewing or re-chewing something of uncertain origin. Donkeys are the true masters of the road: they pick the nicest stretch of concrete, stand there – and stay.

And at night after rain, the road turns into a crab path. Large land crabs crawl slowly across, sometimes with a shell for a home, sometimes with a random found object – and sometimes completely naked. Cars stop, lights dim, and everyone waits patiently until the creature decides to move on.

On Statia, it’s simple: the animal goes first, then everything else.