St Kitts

We departed our dock the next day and cruised south for about 4 hours to St Kitts. 

We had absolutely flat seas and some gorgeous sunshine...what a great day for a cruise!
It was the calmest waters we've seen since last September.
This island was much drier than others we've been to in the French West Indies island chain.

The marina in St Kitts was brand new and outfitted like anything we had experienced to date. It also had the strongest Wifi (FINALLY!) of any anchorage we've encountered in the last 20 months of traveling. That's saying a lot...and includes the U.S. too.

After getting settled that afternoon, we were told the best place to catch the sunset was at
Salt Plage on the beach.


We walked there from the marina and as we passed an open field, we saw
a ton of Green Vervet monkeys running about. What? Are we traversing the Serengeti?

Turns out it was their feeding time.

But once we arrived at Salt Plage, that place was THE ticket.

It was the perfect spot to watch the sunset and let the day go by...

They even had over the water hammocks attached to the dock. Great concept!

We loved this place.

Getting our fill of namaste!

Sunset was gorgeous and Salt Plage didn't disappoint. We were picked up by the marinas' "courtesy driver" named Chester when it was time to head back to the marina and get ready for dinner.
He was sweet as sugar, but the slowest driver ever. EVER.

Chester got the tires stuck in some mud en route, and couldn't get the car out of it. Then the tires started spinning. It was the tiniest area of mud too. 

Brad couldn't stop cracking up..it was a side show really and we were all laughing.

We readied for dinner, then Chester picked us back up in the marina and drove us
5 minutes down the beach to their private resort restaurant for din din.
It took 15 minutes however since Chester drove like a turtle.
The resort was gorgeous and quite the stunner.

Dinner was superb.

We toured the grounds after dinner and walked down to the windy beach.

Fancy Nancy found the fire pit and...

did her best Stevie Nicks impression.

The next day was spent touring the island. But first...Nancy inspected their new Illy expresso bar at the marina.

Our tour guide then picked us up and drove us into the main part of town
where the cruise ship terminal was and... dropped us off? What?! What about the TOUR?He didn't happen to mention that he would be doing this when we booked the tour, and that we would have to wait while he hustled for more cruise ship tourists to join us. Good times and SO funny!
Nancy and I took in the sights and spotted this local taxi...

And there were oodles of guys tempting you to "pet their monkey" ...

Wait, what?

They had baby monkeys (in diapers no less) that they would offer up for a "Kodak moment". Interesting...it sure seemed to work for the tourists. I couldn't help but wonder what vermin were hiding in their fur as the  monkey canoodled your face. Eeeeow.

We were supposed to have a 4 hour tour..yet it turned into a 5 1/2 hour tour and started out with the boys hanging at the town's Rum Barrel while our guide still hustled for biz.

The boys were good sports & didn't mind...

Soon we were off and finally back in the van with our new found friends. 

Then we came across these new cuties...all huddled together. A strong family vibe I'm feelin'.

We stopped at a 17th century rum distillery and I loved seeing their archeological dig...

The 800 number you could call with questions was funny.

Nancy & Buddy perused the jungle section...

Then I found Bish & Buddy at the fruit juice stand..getting what? A smoothie of sorts.

This was the bartender / I mean juice purveyor.

Nancy and I walked over to check out the pareo making factory on site. These women painstakingly used hot wax on top of their designs to set it into the fabric. After it dried, they would then soak them in dye and hang to dry. Then those nuggets would hit the showroom floor to be sold.

Impressive artistry.

Afterward, we all went to the lookout on the plantation to check out the scenery.

And then it was time for a snack that Bish had packed for us.

Here's an old church that was quite the historic relic. I can't recall what at this point since this trip is from 2 weeks ago... Whoopsie!

This was an outdoor tent in a field that we spotted.
Brad recalls his dad preaching in one like this when he was young.

Our drivers wife had offered everyone one of her über special rum punches to cool off with. 

It was HOT as anything outside and super humid.

After drinking Anna's rum punch, Nancy & Bish were DFC. (down for the count)

Somehow I was smart & skipped that punch. Phew.

We arrived to a lookout point and the view was glorious.

and then...one of those furry little fellers found their way into my hands while 

Nancy jumped on the nearest donkey. So like her...haha!! 

Nancy was brave...that rum punch was working its magic!

We posed for our family vacay photo. HA!

The owner of the donkey was all too proud to get his pic taken. 

That poor donkey is by now undergoing therapy for humiliation I'm sure.

We headed back to the boat after a long and exhausting tour de force. 

We learned that we didn't exactly care for St Kitts 

(lots of poverty, citizens not too friendly and the island was very dry and not too lush.) 

We weren't going to miss it.  

How on earth they created such a bedazzling megayacht harbor was astonishing.

We sure were happy to get back to the boat finally.
We hurried out the dingy to get some snorkeling in...

We found the perfect little cove and in we went.  Poisonous lionfish be dammed.
We watched a few spear fishermen catch a couple when we were there.

I've been told that a sting from this fish won't kill you, but will make you wish you were dead. 

No thanks. I'll pass!

Buddy was first one in...that little water bug.

It was a perfect day out!

We cruised down the coast after our first snorkel and spotted these black spiny things below the water... Sea urchin of course.  Oodles of them!

Glad we weren't getting out to swim here. 

I've been stung by one before and those little suckers hurt like mad.

This guy was naked just before I snapped the photo and pulling up his drawers. 

He was busy bathing in the water and washing his clothes when 

I first spotted him...living La Vida Loca!

Nancy & Buddy spied too...

Brad & I navigated the shoreline looking for more entertainment.

We didn't find much more and the wind was really picking up, so we headed back 

to Salt Plage of course...it's the best spot on the island!! 

Nothing like casual wear when you go out.

And another fantastic sunset.

We weren't the only ones there..and were sad to depart.

We all headed back to the boat as Bish was whipping up something fab as usual.

Safely back at the marina 

doing our best to escape the Zika mosquito this time of day. and spraying down like mad.

This was a fantastic new marina! Probably the best one of the trip and there was hardly anyone here.

Tomorrow, we explore Nevis. Stay tuned!