The Culps of the Caribbean

Amazing Atlantic Today we went to a beach area that Amy had not been to before.  It was in Canada Estate which is along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline.  A very old foundation was sitting right in the ocean being constantly bombarded by the violent ocean waves.  Our 1828 map of St. Kitts indicates that this specific area was the site of a former slave encampment.  We found our way to the top of small mountain northeast of the town of Basseterre.  An impressive view of the town.  Even more impressive was how the cruise ship which was moored at the port dwarfed the town.

On Thursday, we went to the grocery store(s) for our weekly needs.  Of course, one cannot go to a single store as some of them carry some products but not all. So multiple stops for groceries. I bought a dozen eggs at Best Buy (here it is not an electronics store and the guys at work became engrossed when I directed them to Bestbuy.com) .  When I got home I indeed was surprised.  However, this picture rather typifies St. Kitts, in that it exceeds expectations, but in unexpected ways. White & Brown Eggs, Large and small sizes. Surely a selection meant to accommodate everyone's needs. Recent Activities It has been a while since I posted something from St. Kitts.  The main reason is that my camera was damaged.  Now I have a replacement and take it everywhere I go.  Mainly this means that I take a lot of boring photos.  Example:  This morning's sky: A view to the west.  The Sun was not quite up yet. There ...

Today, Sept 19 is Independence Day.  St. Kitts' version of the 4th of July in wrestling their independence from England occurred 30 years ago today.  All over the island there were celebrations.  At work, some of the employees threw some money together and had a picnic on the beach.  Not everyone showed up but several brought their families. The rustic kitchen was set up amongst the sea grapes.  George Riley (AKA Twojon) is the grill master.  A giant plate of food included marinated, grilled chicken, beans and rice, breadfruit casserole, macaroni pie (more commonly known in the states as macaroni and cheese casserole), and pumpkin and orange casserole.  There was also a great deal of beer and bootleg rum. [George Riley is the rum runner]. Twojon and Yvette (AKA Verna) prepared all of the food. Clive Browne (Blackie) put up a tarp to prepare for rain (which did not make an appearance). The men played dominos.  Cloc...

We spent a few hours at Shipwreck Beach today.  Was not very populated despite the clear skies. The entrance to Shipwreck Beach Bar is fairly unassuming And when you get into the bar it is even more unassuming. The Caribbean Sea at Shipwreck, view to the north. There is a rain squall in the distance. The Caribbean Sea view to the south at Shipwreck. This picture doesn't look like much.  I am snorkeling on the left and Kyle is snorkeling on the right.

Much Ado About Nothing...really.  I was very concerned about the imminent tropical storm that was headed our way.  All day I kept a wary eye on the weather radar and had spent a couple of hours lowering the hurricane shutters at work. While it was not predicted to hit us directly, I fully expected hours of drench rains and extreme winds.  Well the wind did pick up, but not enough to topple a trash can.  And it did rain, but was only heavy in isolated spots.  At one location in the town area, there was a long puddle about 6-8" of deep water.  We went to the grocery store and in usual Michigan-esque pre-storm fashion expected to see gobs of people buying supplies to get them through the storm.  Not so.  The grocery store was no busier than usual.  At work not one local person even brought up the impending disaster.  When we got home, the wind was calm, there was no rain and we had dinner out on the veranda.  Went swimming in the pool ...

There are no pictures of me snorkelling, but here are pictures of the beach about a mile and half from our house where I went snorkeling for the first time.  It was amazing.

We spent the afternoon at a sleepy little fishing village on the northeastern edge of St. Kitts.  On the way through the village we saw lobster traps being constructed and I would have taken pictures but that seemed intrusive at the time.  While beach combing I observed a local fisherman with a dozen conch that he was extracting from their shells.  Very interesting.  He did not want his picture taken. On the way to this village we passed a large number of lobster buoys just off shore on the Caribbean side.  When the restaurants say "fresh lobster", indeed it is fresh, as are the conch fritters. A reef protects the shoreline to make this a natural safe harbor for the local fishing fleet.  Mount Liamauga in the background. Amy and Kyle in the distance doing some beach combing.  Amy has a huge collection of beach glass from this trip. Looking south along the Atlantic coastline. Kyle is rescuing a Portugues...