Day 5:
Wednesday the 30th of November
 |
| Approaching St Kitts, Nevis under clouds in the background |
An early arrival after a short hop over to Port Zante,
St. Kitts got us up at 6am and we were off the ship by 8am, trying to avoid the
inevitable hawkers as we wandered into Basseterre, the capital of this pretty island. It was obvious from our first sight of St. Kitts that it was cleaner, greener and better off than St. Maarten - perhaps it was the British influence through its recent history. I had the opportunity to meet the governor of the island who had come out in his car to greet the ships passengers. He was a very large man and stayed seated in the back of his limo, but allowed Marie and I to reach in and shake his hand, nodding sagely as I said it was a delight to be there and meet such an important personage!
 |
| Mabreeka! (welcome!) |
Originally known as St. Christopher when the French and English settlers arrived in the 1620s, the town of Basseterre, then part of the French colony, is one of the oldest in the eastern Caribbean. In the 1700s as the rest of the world was falling in love with sugar, St Kitts, with its rich volcanic soil and tropical climate, had just the right conditions for a booming industry. At one time. over 68 sugar plantations dotted the 68-acre island! Those days are long gone but there are still remnants of the old plantations so we decided to book a tour by bus to Clay Villa Plantation House and Gardens to see some of this history.
It was a half hour drive by bus – they drive on the
left like in England – past the ancient volcano of Mount Liamuiga, wild goats grazing on the rocky
soil and roosting egrets that were clustered in acacia trees along the roadway
like great cotton balls to the former sugar plantation that was run by a very
friendly couple, Philip and Bridget. Philip was ex-RCN who had been here 13
years, married to Bridget who was of Caribe
Indian ancestry and who told us the plantation and house had been in her family
for 5 generations.
Clay Villa was an earthly delight hidden behind high stone walls and majestic bougainvillea bushes, an oasis of life – every type of flowering shrub, tree and bush imaginable: frangipani, alamanda, plumbago, ginger lilies, mango and avocado trees, sugar apples, lemons and bananas, a bird of paradise plant and a huge coffee tree.
The views of the distant Caribbean shimmering in the bright sunshine and distant Nevis, its top hidden in cloud, were spectacular!
Philip invited us into the welcoming coolness of his bar that faced the garden and sea for a cold Carib Beer before we boarded the bus and headed downhill to a nearby black volcanic sand beach for a quick swim, lunch and then back to the ship for a 5pm sailing to San Juan, Puerto Rico. gws
 |
| Clay Villa |
Clay Villa was an earthly delight hidden behind high stone walls and majestic bougainvillea bushes, an oasis of life – every type of flowering shrub, tree and bush imaginable: frangipani, alamanda, plumbago, ginger lilies, mango and avocado trees, sugar apples, lemons and bananas, a bird of paradise plant and a huge coffee tree.
The views of the distant Caribbean shimmering in the bright sunshine and distant Nevis, its top hidden in cloud, were spectacular!
 |
| Me and Jesus, Clay Villa |
Philip invited us into the welcoming coolness of his bar that faced the garden and sea for a cold Carib Beer before we boarded the bus and headed downhill to a nearby black volcanic sand beach for a quick swim, lunch and then back to the ship for a 5pm sailing to San Juan, Puerto Rico. gws
 |
