Day 11 Wednesday, January 30, 2019 Basseterre, St. Kitts
What a fun day we had on this island, our final port, due mainly to our entertaining tour guide, Bertrand. In this photo, we were visiting the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO Heritage Site. Some call it The Gibraltar of the West Indies. In the distance are the Dutch islands of St. Eustatius and Saba.
The country is formally called The Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis. The Narrows separating the two islands is only two miles wide. It became independent of Britain in 1983, making it the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere in both area and population (40,000). It's only 18 miles long and 5 miles wide.
Out tour guide said that Columbus passed by in 1493, but didn't land, yet still decided to name the island after himself. "Kitts" is just a shortened nickname for Christopher. The French and British alternately seized control during the 17th and 18 centuries, with the Brits finally retaining it as of 1783. Alexander Hamilton was born in Charlestown on Nevis in 1757.
With the long cruise from Barbados, we arrived at 11:00. So, we had a leisurely morning. When we headed into the dock, there was a Carnival ship also landing just in front of us. Earlier, it was cool for me to get to see us pass by several islands while I was riding on the cycling machine. Normally when I would cycle, it was just open ocean. But today we passed by Montserrat Island (British Territory), Redonda Island (uninhabited territory of Antigua), and then Nevis. By the time I was finished cycling, got our coffees, and made it back to our room, we were heading in to our dock.
It was a gradual approach with a strong wind blowing from the south (the right), and only a narrow path of water in which to work.
The other ship has landed, but we are still inching forward. Straight ahead on the shore, we could see all the tour vans lined up:
There they are, waiting for us.
Welcome to St. Kitts! In a few minutes, there would be huge crowds of us lined up for our tours inside that building. We waited in lines and walked together here and there, but finally got on our van.
This was what we saw as we walked to our bus. My oh my, those are huge boats. You can see our room, up there at the top right window below the bridge.
Janet and I were lucky, as it turned out, to board the van last, because it meant I got to sit in the very front seat, and Janet was behind me in the nearest seat to the door. I loved this because I had clear views forward all day, and could get good pictures too. (My seat had not been occupied because it required some "gymnastics" to climb over the engine cover to get to it.)
Right off the bat, Bertrand was a talkative crack-up. We headed through this circle that he said they call Piccadilly Circus after the one in London, but he joked that it looks nothing like London at all. This Berkeley Memorial Clock is a combined water fountain and clock erected in 1883, in memory of
a respected business owner in the area.
Evidence of British heritage in the Circus, but the phone is long gone.
This is Independence Square, a big park in mid-Basseterre, that used to be Pall Mall Square, but the name changed once they got their independence in 1983.
This is the Co-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1928 (but the first church was built there in 1706).
I thought this was a cool-looking building, and since I was sitting in the very front, why not? Kind of reminds me of an old U.S. western hotel, except for the color. Just south of us was a track stadium and boulevard named for Kim Collins, a local who was a world-famous sprinter in the early 2000s. Since I was still a huge track fan then, I actually do remember him.
Heading northward, and here comes another cruise ship out there. Note that we are driving on the left side of the street, which is normal because this was a British island. Come to think of it, all the islands on our cruise had left-side driving except for the first two, Puerto Rico and St. Maarten.
This is their War Memorial honoring those lost in WWI. Princess Margaret dedicated it in 1955.
As we drove, Bertrand entertained us with stories about his daughter, history, education, government, and people. Here was our first stop, the Fairview Great House.
It is believed to have been initially built in 1701 by the French, and had many owners and inhabitants over the years. It provides a representation of the island's colonial past.
I will just post my pictures without captions.
Once we were back headed north on the river highway, I snapped some photos from my vantage point. This old small cabin was interesting.
The sign says that this was the site of the earliest Amerindian settlement in the early 1500s before the Europeans came, and that it then was the site of the first European settlement in the entire Caribbean (in 1623).
However, Bertrand told us a horrible story that occurred here. In 1626, the Carib chief became uneasy with the increasing number of English and French settlers occupying their native land. This led him to plot the
settlers' elimination with the aid of other Island Caribs. However, his
scheme was betrayed by an Indian woman called Barbe. Taking action, the English and French settlers forced 2000-4000 Caribs into the
area of Bloody Point, where over 2000 were massacred.
Cool-looking Fan Palm tree.
More interesting sights from my front seat on the van.
Several times that day, we saw groups of goats, sheep, or both alongside the road.
Probably a newly fixed-up home following Hurricane Irma, which also damaged this island to the tune of $20 million. Fortunately, no deaths here.
Our next stop was the Brimstone Hill Fortress, first begun in 1690. Just inside the narrow gate (we don't know how the vans got through them unscathed), was this Barrier Redan where four cannon protected the road to the fortress.
It's also a great view of St. Eustatius Island. Its population is 3900. The official language is Dutch, but English is what is spoken, and education is solely in English. In the 18th century, the island sold arms and ammunition to anyone willing to pay. It was one of the few places from which the brand-new United States could obtain military supplies to fight its war against England. The
Andrew Doria flew the Continental Colors of the U.S. when it arrived in November, 1776 to purchase munitions for the American Revolutionary forces. When the Dutch replied with a 9-gun salute to our ship's 11-gun salute on arrival, it marked the first international acknowledgment of American independence (international protocol required a two-gun-less acknowledgment of a sovereign flag). Cool historical trivia!
Here we are on the fortress grounds. Bertrand made us laugh as he described how the French starved out the British in 1782 to obtain a surrender, but then did not learn the lesson because the British did the same thing to the French a year later. The grounds were vast, but the main citadel is up there behind, with Fort George as the centerpiece.
From Fort George, another view to the north.
The moated entrance to Fort George.
Interior of Fort George. It happened to be empty when I took this picture. We later walked through most of the exhibits, which are inside each of those doors.
Hallway leading down into the floor of the fort.
Looking south, with Nevis off in the background.
My shirt seems appropriate in a fort with a prison.
Other parts of the fortress looking southward from Ft George. In the foreground is the Infantry Officers' Quarters, while the ruins beyond (with the arches) were the Artillery Officers' Quarters. They certainly enjoyed nice views!
Another view of the Infantry Officers' Quarters, with columns facing the ocean view.
Looking down at the Prince of Wales Bastion in the foreground, and the Orillon Bastion farther down. The former held the Main Guard Barracks and Powder Magazine, while the latter had the hospital.
Descending the steep path to the citadel. Janet's poor ankles!
A close-up of the Orillon Bastion. The cemetery can be seen in the grassy scoop below the steep wall, and tombstones are still there. I think the cannon at the far tip looks sort of lonesome.
As we left the fortress, we had to drive back through the narrow gates. This time I took pictures, and we must have had only an inch of clearance on either side.
Heading back down, to yet another narrow gate.
That's our companion van, and this time there are about six inches clearance on either side. No problem! Just before we reached the main road, Bertrand pointed out some monkeys by the road, and then proceeded to tell us many "bad monkey" stories, such as how they will strip a mango tree taking one bite out of all the fruit on the tree seeking the "best one." He did
not like those pests at all.
On the road headed back south, we saw more sheep/goats.
Our next stop was the Romney Manor and Botanical Gardens. There is Bertrand, with his Rastafarian head piece, as he points out some items in the gardens.
The old stone foundation in the middle is what remains of The Red House (1626), owned by Sam Jefferson, ancestor of Thomas Jefferson.
A super-large 350-yr-old Saman tree on the property.
This manor now has Caribelle Batik, the leading company that makes batik artwork. As you can see, it has its own style and is very colorful. The women were demonstrating how they make it.
I saw a framed art piece I liked and would have bought for our house, but they did not have it without a frame to be able to carry home.
This photo was on the wall to show off one of their batik dresses.
Also on their wall was something that probably only I would find interesting: Photos and a thank-you letter from Prince Phillip's visit there in 1993. The posting address is from his H. M. Yacht Brittania, which was then anchored in Anguilla (a British island just north of St. Martin).
Outside they hang the fresh batik pieces to dry. Janet is pointing up to The Golden Showers tree, although it seemed to be different than the tree in Thailand with the same name.
We then drove south, through Basseterre, and toward the isthmus heading to the island's south end. Cool four-masted ship out there, and the tall Nevis peak in the background.
We passed through Frigate Bay, close to where Janet stayed here for a week in 2007 with Steve and Shannon. Then we arrived at this touristy overlook, where lots of tour vans were stopped. This shows the isthmus with the Atlantic on the left and the Caribbean on the right.
Now the two stars grace the scene! There were vendors there with monkeys and a donkey so you could pay to have your photo with them.
As we descended the hill to return to the ship, we could look down on North Frigate Bay with its expensive hotels, homes, and resorts. Somewhere up there in the hills is where Steve and Shannon lived and where Janet stayed for a week.
Once back to the ship, we headed to our now-favorite spot for departures. Directly across from us was that Carnival ship, so we got to watch many of them on their balconies.
The Carnival ship had a cycling apparatus for its guests, which circled around part of the top of the ship. It looked like some people were racing them since there were dual tracks.
Here we are backing out.
Now our ship is turning, to head north to NYC. What else to drink from the 5 o'Clock Somewhere Bar than margaritas!
Next stop, New York City, as we cruise up the west coast of St. Kitts. We watched the coastline clear until we had passed by St. Eustatius Island.
Sometime in the afternoon, we learned about the temperatures we were missing in Monroe. It had dropped to below zero, and they cancelled school. Aaron stayed home too, so Tyson did not have to go to day care. They were thinking school would be cancelled the next day too. It was, and Friday too as it turned out. Wow, we sure felt lucky to be in 80+ degrees. Just the luck of the draw, since we had reserved this cruise 16 months earlier. We had always been anxious about bad weather messing up our departure and arrival back in NYC, but at least the departure weather was fine. At this point, we feared our return, and whether we would be able to fly home since Chicago had minus 30° wind chill.
The theater show was a hypnotist. We had another prime rib dinner in O'Sheehan's but again, it was so loud in there based on the atrium games they were playing. I watched JR in the District, but Janet stayed in the room.
Looking forward to a day at sea while still in warm weather. Visiting eight islands in eight days was pretty remarkable!
