St. Kitts and Nevis

It’s just about 25 miles from Statia to St. Kitts and we enjoyed a broad reach across the passage.  No need for the engines until we were midway along the  west coast of St. Kitts.  We arrived early afternoon, anchored at Basseterre, and went ashore to clear in.

Since the harbor is quite rolly, we inquired about docking at the marina, found excellent rates.  We signed up for a few days on the dock.  We started the air conditioning, hooked up the water, and I remained in the cabin catching up on laundry and blog posts while Jeff scrubbed the deck and cockpit.  We seldom have access to enough fresh water for a through deck cleaning project and, since Port Zante Matina charged a flat rate for water usage,  Jeff took the opportunity.  It may have last been thoroughly cleaned way back in Titusville Florida.  Marinas in the island’s most often meter electric and water usage and charge accordingly, here only electric is metered.

After about two hours Jeff popped in to alert me to the fact that we had visitors, “a lot of them”.   I went outside just as the last of six uniformed and heavily armed customs agents were boarding Echo.  Although we were already cleared in, they took the opportunity for a closer look while we were on the dock.  They explained that the inspection was for our own safety and convenience (same reason Costco checks your receipt before you are allowed to exit.)   Jeff provided all the necessary documents while each man seemed to take a look, one was tasked with filling out a report.  This process took some time as there were many questions and as is often the case, some confusion with language.  St. Kitts is a former British island, and is English speaking, but we have to work at understanding the island speech.  Once the form was completed the guys went below for a safety inspection where they did a cursory check of cabinets and lockers.  I stayed out and spoke to one of the agents about his training.  He was a young man and had spent time in both Florida and California with US agencies and had been to several other islands.   Jeff seemed a bit stressed by the whole ordeal but I think it was mostly due to the fact they came aboard wearing their big black boots and he had just finished his cleaning effort.  All in all, they were very nice professional guys.  Several times during their visit I was tempted to ask if I could take a picture but never did.   Too bad since I do think they would have been agreeable.

 

We did some wandering around Basseterre a bit.  It’s a large, busy city which is the site of the original European settlement in the early 1600’s.  According to Chris Doyle (author of our “Leewards Islands Cruising Guide”),  the French and British teemed up to massacre 2000 Carib inhabitants then began fighting amongst themselves.   The British prevailed and ruled for many years although today St. Kitts and Nevis are an independent  state. Basseterre is also where the cruise ships land and has an large restaurant and tourist shopping area beside the dock.  This area can be convenient but it should be noted that there are two bars that play VERY LOUD music till 5:00 am on some nights…the marina is right beside them.

 

We chose to rent a car to see a bit of the island.  Our first stop was Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. It is quite an impressive spot.  First, the drive in is a bit wild, you are going up the original road which is quite steep and curvy, plus there are several very narrow arches or gates you drive through.  Lots of horn beeping, hopefully to alert other vehicles coming the opposite direction to our presence.  Once at the top of the 800 foot volcanic cone you reach the fort which “Lonely Planet”  identifies as one of the largest forts in the Caribbean.  They say it’s nicknamed ” the Gibraltar of the West Indies” and it played a key roll as a British garrison.  Queen Elizabeth II visited in 1985 and inaugurated the fort as a national park.

 

 

We also visited beaches and spots mentioned in our guides but we’re less than impressed.  The beaches seem to all be laid claim to by bars, restaurants and hotels.  The are lined with lounge chairs which can be rented for the day, no beautiful sandy beaches that we saw.  We also encountered a man with a monkey outside a place we stopped for lunch.  He was quite persistent that we should hold his monkey.  We did not want to touch the monkey even though is was wearing a diaper.  We politely said no and went in for a nice lunch.  We must have made quite an impression since he was waiting for us right outside the restaurant and accompanied us back to our car while he continued to flip us off and hold the monkey’s tail up to show the monkey’s butt right beside his finger.  Another time I wish I would have pulled out the camera but I just smiled and waved as we drove away.

 

In our exploration we did find some monkeys in the wild near Ballast Bay.  Our pictures don’t show it but there were at least a dozen in the area, several very young.  There’s a large population of Vervet monkeys in St. Kitts and Nevis which are descended from ones brought as pets from Africa in the 1800’s for European settlers.  Their population had grown quite a bit over the years and have at times been a popular food source.  We did not see any on the menu.

 

We left the marina after 3 nights and dropped anchor in Ballast Bay in the southern part of St. Kitts.  You may have surmised by this point that we were less than enamored with St. Kitts but we did very much enjoy our time in Ballast Bay.  It was quiet, provided a beautiful sunset spot and had great snorkeling.

 

Nevis is a short journey and a completely different atmosphere.  We picked up a mooring ball at Piney’s beach near Charlestown.  The moorings are paid for when you clear out but cost only about $6 per day and seem well maintained.

 

We we choose to tour Nevis with Sam, a cab driver Jeff met at the dinghy dock.  Sam spent almost four hours with us and gave us a very good tour and history.  We stopped at a few churches, one which the crucifix has a black depiction of Jesus.

 

 

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We stopped at the Nevision Heritage Village on Fothergill’s Estate where we were given an introduction to the village and it’s history then encouraged to explore on our own.  Pat’s introduction was so well done, she clearly takes pride in her island and it’s history – this was a great stop!

 

 

 

 

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We visited a farm market where the owners were proud to show us their crops, the land is rich and fertile.  We bought several tomatoes and cucumbers which we savored for the next few days.

 

 

 

Sam also showed us two of the island hotels.  The Nisbet Plantation Beach Club has cottages spread out around the property along with a beautiful pool and a very nice a beach area.  The manor house is the office and restaurant and there are some ruins of the mill on the property.  This was the home of Fanny Nesbit who became the wife of Horatio Nelson, a famed British naval officer.  Montpelier, also a former plantation, was up on the mountain with a very nice pool too.  It looked to be beautiful accommodations and was where Princess Diana choose to stay with her sons in 1992.  Apparently this was also the location of Franny and Horatio’s wedding in 1787.

 

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Last stop on the tour was the Bath Hotel and Spring House, there is a magma vein on the property which heats a river.  It is believed the water has healing properties and many people have visited for “the cure”.

Sam’s tour was wonderful!  We may have had a better impression of St Kitts if we had a similar tour but we will never know.

 

 

I should also point out that Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis and his home houses a museum.  It’s right in Charleston but we did not visit.

 

The afternoon was spent walking and relaxing on Piney’s beach.  We watched the sunset from an upper level of one of the restaurants.  It was a perfect view and had live a steel drum player.  For dinner we had a wonderful lobster meal at Sunshine’s Beach Bar and Grill.  The food, atmosphere and service was great.  The Nievians are proud of their signature “Killer Bee” drink, we tried it at Sunshine’s and did enjoy it.

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In Nevis we felt that it would be a nice place to stay for a bit and would recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a place to visit in the Caribbean.

Next stop Montserrat.

 

~ Jeff and Mary ~