Frigate Bay, St Kitts

Seb and I spent a couple of nights in Antigua so we could make our day trip to Montserrat but after a day exploring English Harbour we caught an evening flight across to St Kitts to meet Sara and Lily. We arrived about 30 minutes after them but were in the arrivals hall at the same time. The kids had a hard time obeying the immigration rules but once we got to baggage claim there was mayhem - the kids had really missed each other and were super excited to see each other again. We made straight for the Marriott Beach Resort in Frigate Bay, which would be our home for the next five nights.

ST KITTS HISTORY
Columbus sighted St Kitts & Nevis on his second voyage to the New World - the larger one was originally called Liamuiga by the Caribs but Columbus chose to name it after his patron saint, St Christopher, shorting it to 'St Kitts' to make it quicker for tourists to complete immigration documents. The smaller of the two was known as Oualie to locals but seeing the clouds covering the volcano, Columbus used the Spanish word for snow (nieves), translated to Nevis for English speakers, but pronounced nay-vis.
The British and French fought over these islands for the best part of two centuries, culminating in a siege at Brimstone Hill where 8,000 French troops won a decisive battle in 1782 only for the Treaty of Paris to hand it back to the British the following year.
In 1983 St Kitts & Nevis became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth with the stipulation that Nevis could secede if a two-thirds majority ever should choose to. There was a close call in 1998 but for now the two remain joined in relatively happy union.

We rented a car for two days to explore both of the islands - Bullseye car rentals was an excellent choice and they picked me up from the hotel but I was given a left hand drive car for driving on the left hand side of the road. It took a little getting used to but at least it was an automatic. First on the tour schedule was St Kitts and it's unspectacular capital, Basseterre. There were three cruise ships in town that day so we didn't stop carrying straight up the western coast to Brimstone Hill Fortress (excellent), Black Rocks (missed it first time) and finally fish'n'chips at Ottley's Plantation on the eastern coast.

Brimstone Hill Fortress

The cannons atop Brimstone with the island of St Eustatius on the horizon

FERRY TO NEVIS
Lily and I took a day trip down to Nevis to see some of the famous sights and to take a ride on the Sea Bridge Ferry that connects the two islands. The drive through the southern part of St Kitts down to the ferry terminal is quite scenic with a number of huge mansions along the way and the odd mega-yacht parked offshore. We were 30 minutes early for the ferry and it left 30 minutes late - the same would happen on the return journey as well. I was told that this phenomenon was common. It cost around US$60 round-trip for the two of us and the car. Once on Nevis we stopped at a few plantations and pretty churches including Fig Tree church where the marriage of Horatio Nelson and Fanny Nisbet is documented. On the far eastern coast we found the wonderful ruins of the New River Sugar Mill overrun with goats and chickens. We saw loads of mongoose on the roads, most scurrying across from one side to the other, but no iguanas.

Fig Tree Church

Deserted sugar mill at New River on Nevis

Waiting for the Sea Bridge Ferry between Nevis & St Kitts

Sara and I had been to St Kitts on our Honeymoon cruise in 2001 but we didn't really see anything. From what I can remember we climbed aboard a catamaran and started drinking rum punch in the morning - next thing I remember performing a really bad solo haka followed by a conversation on a porcelain telephone back on the cruise ship toilet.

ST KITTS QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Basseterre
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar
Language: English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Skol