Our Summer Vacation - Day 6 (St. Kitts) - Blogged by JME

Arriving in St Kitts

St Kitts was our favorite port calls on this cruise. We had a blast! At first I was a little leery.  There were so many vendors here and they were pushier than any other vendors we had experienced. We later found out it is because 3,000 people, close to 10%, of the citizens, had lost their jobs when a local sugar factory went out of business. Tourism is now their number one source of income.

Look what I found!

When we first walked off the port and into the city square, there were so many people trying to sell us things. There was so much to see and, as I looked around, I noticed a man holding monkeys. I thought it was so cool and turned to tell N8. When I turned back around to point the monkeys out to N8, the man was standing right next to me and started putting his monkeys on my shoulders and head.

N8 made some new friends

He asked us for our camera and proceeded to take these awesome pictures. It was the first time either of us had ever held a monkey. It was pretty fun!

Just Monkeying Around

We ended up giving the guy $10 for allowing us to hold the monkeys and taking our pictures. 

We had another guy approach us and offer to take us on an open bus tour. He seemed pretty lagit. He had a uniform (a badge and a labeled shirt with the company name on it) and a flip chart that showed us where he would take us. It was $20 per person for the tour. We paid him up front and we each got a wrist band. The man told us he would meet us by a specific shop in about an hour and then was gone. We walked around a little more and ran into another man asking us if we needed a driver to take us to the beach or around the island. This man had regular street clothes on and looked like anyone else.  We told him we were already set up. He asked if we already paid, which we replied that we had. He shook his head at us shamefully and asked us why we would pay for something before receiving the service. He acted like that was the stupidest thing to do. Funny!  I do that at home all the time.  I started feeling queasy, like we may have been taken for a ride and both N8 and I were kind of nervous that the man we paid would take our money and never show up.

Our Tour Bus

To our relief, that didn't happen. When we got to the shop, the man had rounded up eight other people to go on our tour with us and was true to his word. His name was Troy and he was great and the tour was worth the money we paid. We rode in an open-air bus.  He took us all around the island. He was really nice and played Soca music for us and even provided bottled water for us to drink. Every time he'd show us something or tell us something about his island, he would finish up by saying, "Beautiful island, beautiful people, beautiful tour . . . Don't worry, be happy!" Pretty soon we all chimed in at the end with, "Don't worry, be happy!" when he would say it.

Cemetery

Troy took us around the city as we traveled to our first destination. The roads were really narrow, but he was a great driver and nobody fell out.

Birds of St Kitts

He pointed out the birds, and the national flower. We saw the Brazilian embassy. N8 served his mission in Brazil, and so that was cool to see. 

St Kitts National Flower - Poinciana or Flamboyant

The other cool thing that we saw as we were driving was an little LDS church. We were so excited, you would have thought it was some famous landmark. We saw the little steeple first, and N8 saw the basketball court on the side. It was built just like the ones in Brazil. We both looked at each other and said, "Is that one of ours?" Sure enough it was, but by the time we realized it, it was gone and too late to take a picture.

In the Rain Forest

Beautiful Rain Forest

Our first stop was in the rain forest. It was so cool. There were vines hanging down everywhere. Troy told us that he used to swing on them, just like Tarzan. The air was wet but cool in the shade of the forest. There was a little stream where Troy showed us some crawdads. They like to catch them and cook them in St Kitts too.

Rum Distillery

Near the rain forest was an old rum distillery.

Ruins of Sugar Cane Factory

There was also the ruins of a sugar cane factory that we were able to walk through.  It was kind of creepy. 

There were some little kids hanging around with a monkey. They were trying to sell it to us for $200. Too bad we wouldn't be able to get it through customs. I've always wanted a monkey for a pet.

We had a good time looking around and exploring. I tried to take everything in. Who knows when we'll be able to do something like this again.

Botanical Gardens

The next stop was the botanical gardens. It was very beautiful. N8 loves to take pictures of flowers and plants. He does a pretty good job.

Fun Bench at Botanical Gardens

I took this picture. I thought this bench was pretty cool.

JME by the fountain at Botanical Gardens

It was a really nice place to walk around and enjoy the gardens and fountains.

Traveler's Palm

N8 and JME in Bell Tower

This old bell tower was at the botanical gardens. It was built in 1824, almost 200 years ago.

Constructed in 1824

Overlooking the Rain Forest

The botanical gardens overlooked the rain forest.

N8 was having such a great time taking pictures of the plants, that we were the last ones to get back to the bus. We felt bad making everyone wait.

Government Housing

As we traveled to our next destination, we passed these colorful homes. Troy said that they were government housing and that people would pay $400 for 15 years for these homes.

Our Tour Guide - Troy

The guy in the green shirt is Troy. He took us up to the top of one of the mountains on the island and let us look out over the ocean.

The Atlantic Sea behind N8 and Caribbean Sea behind JME

He brought us to the narrowest spot on the island where you can see both the Atlantic Sea and the Caribbean Sea.

Frigate Bay

This is where we are headed, to Frigate Bay to swim and enjoy the beach.

More Snorkeling

N8 and I bought our own snorkeling equipment on the ship so we could snorkel on our own. They sure came in handy at Frigate Bay.  We also wore the same swim suits and clothes that we wore the day before to the volcano.  We thought maybe the salt water would help take some of the sulfur smell out of them.  Boy, were we wrong.  

Clear Water

Look how clear the water is. Those are N8's feet. It is like bath water.

Living Sand Dollar

We found a living sand dollar. I've only seen the ones that are dried up, like the ones we saw in Oregon.

Crab Eating Dead Fish

N8 and I both enjoyed looking at the bottom of the ocean. N8 found this dead fish with some brown spots on it. As he looked closer, he could see that the brown spots were little crab eating the fish. He called me over and we both got to see the crab. N8 tried to touch the crab but it took off. After about 10 minutes of N8 chasing it, it finally got away.  You can see the crab in this picture at the top by the fish's head.  

More Monkeys

There were monkeys all over the beach up in the forest area.

Momma Monkeys

The people would throw out some peanuts and the monkeys would come out and eat them. If you look closely, you can see babies holding on to their momma's bellies.

The Biggest Monkey on the Island (Wearing the Green Shirt)

I guess I am bringing home a monkey! Lucky me!!!

Need Directions?

This sign was on the beach and was fun to read. I don't know how accurate it is, but it sure was cool.  We found Rio de Janeiro on there, which was fun.

A Mongoose Feast

There were also mongoose on the beach. They locals would set out plates of fruit for them.

Beautiful Island, Beautiful People, Beautiful Tour . . . Don't Worry, Be Happy!

It definitely was a beautiful island with beautiful people and the tour was great! 

Beautiful Sunset in St Kitts

The sunset was amazing!!!

Goodbye St. Kitts

It really was our very favorite stop.

Our Summer Vacation - Day 5 (St. Lucia)

Meaning of the Flag

Cerulean Blue represents fidelity. This blue reflects their tropical sky and also their emerald surrounding waters— the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.


Gold represents the prevailing sunshine in the Caribbean and prosperity.


Black and white stand for the cultural influences - the white part, the white culture; the black part, the black culture -the two races living and working in unity.


The design impresses the dominance of the Negro culture vis-à-vis that of Europe, against a background of sun­shine and ever-blue sea. This is represented by the three triangles in the centre of the flag, symbolising three pitons.


The Triangle, the shape of which is an isosceles triangle, is reminiscent of the island’s famous twin Pitons at Soufriere, rising sheer out of the sea, towards the sky -themselves, a symbol of the hope and aspirations of the people.

Arriving at St Lucia

On day five, we arrive in St. Lucia, were we have booked another shore excursion.  We are excited for the adventure that awaits us. 

'Kodac Moment'

First we stop to take in the scenery and have a 'Kodac Moment,' as our guide calls it.  That is our ship in the background in the port of St. Lucia. 

The Carnival Victory

The Governor's Mansion

Across the street from our panoramic view is the Governor's Mansion.  Very beautiful. 

Chuck Norris and George Foreman's Summer Home Neighborhood

Our tour guide told us a lot about the island, explaining what their flag symbolizes (see top) and showing us the summer home neighborhood of Chuck Norris and George Foreman.  What a hard life they must have.  She also showed us some of their school that are painted green and named after the owner of the New York Jetts, because a hurricane had come in there and destroyed their schools, and he came in and helped rebuild them. 

One of the Locals

St. Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, and northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 238 square miles and has an estimated population of 173,765. Its capital is Castries. Because it switched so often between British and French control, St. Lucia has adopted many French customs and many British customs. They drive on the left side of the road like they did in St. Thomas.

Banana Trees

We drove past a banana plantation. It was the first time I had seen banana trees. N8 had seen them before when he lived in Brazil. At one of our stops, we were able to taste one of the locals favorite foods: Banana Ketchup. They also let us try Banana Bar-B-Que Sauce. It wasn't half bad. While at this stop, we had people trying to sell us stuff. That happened a lot on these islands; however, N8 had someone try to sell him weed. That was a first.

Fish Leaves

Instead of buying weed, we bought these leaves that they had made to look like little fish.

The Smelly Volcano

We finally got to the volcano. It smelled just like rotten eggs. The smell was strong and made our eyes water.

Mud Bath

We hiked down a trail for a bit and stopped to take a mud bath. We were told that this mud bath was the cure to almost all ailments. It would help sun burns, cure bug bites, and even help us look 10 years younger. We even heard a tour guide from another group tell us it was a natural aphrodisiac. (Almost everything in St. Lucia was, we learned. They even had an alcoholic beverage that they used as their "Viagra." Our tour guide told us that is why they have so many people living on such a small island.)

Do I have anything on my face?

I'm just trying to blend in

Did I get it all?

It was hard to get all the mud off of our bodies. They had little showers that helped a little, but the stream was so low, it made our progress slow.

Do we look 10 years younger?

I don't know if we looked any younger, but the mud bath did do one thing that was promised. It sure kept the bugs away, and anything else that was within smelling distance. We stunk!  We smelled like a book of matches. Once back on the ship, we threw our bathing suits in the wash, then brought them up to the deck to sit in chlorinated water. We even washed them more when we got home and swam in the pool at our apartment, but even today, two weeks later, they still smell.

The Pitons

The volcanic island of St Lucia is more mountainous than many other Caribbean islands, with the highest point being 3,120 ft above sea level. This picture is of the Pitons. They form the island’s most famous landmark. They are located between Soufriere and Choiseul on the western side of the island.

N8 and JME with our tour guide Jayan

We really enjoyed ourselves in St. Lucia and really enjoyed our tour guide. At one point, she had the bus stop close to her house. She ran inside and brought out some hot homemade bread she had just cooked that morning. It was the best bread I have ever tasted. It was warm and buttery and chewy on the inside, and then was flaky like pie crust on the outside. It was delicious.