The Culps of the Caribbean

St. Kitts is that little chicken leg of an island near the eye of the hurricane.

From Undeveloped to Developing St. Kitts is widely considered undeveloped for the tourist industry.  This is despite that between November 1 and April 30, at least 1 (and up to 5) cruise ships dock here for the day.  Typical cruise ships carry 2500 passengers but it varies between 300 and 4,500 passengers depending on the ship.  A single day can bring bring 10,000 tourists to an island of 40,000.  Cruise ships are here for the day and those passengers that come on shore have about 6 - 8 hrs to get their sight-seeing completed.  "Undeveloped" also means that when a passenger leaves the cruise ship port (mall), there are really no retail businesses set up for visitors.  They are just regular stores that you would find in your town and they really don't carry souvenirs.  The cruise ship port (mall) area is a large collection of jewellery stores and t-shirt shops.  Of the 80 businesses, 65 are jewellery stores and 15 are t-shirt shops.  I am not...

A ruin of a sugar mill and chimney towers high above the eastern coastline of St. Kitts.  This area is called Canada Hills.  Rather hidden from view, the remants of this old (late 1700's) estate of James Davoren is chiefly visible from the coast as it sits so high atop a mountain.  What one discovers along with the ruins are waves of rhino grass, a cool breeze off of the Atlantic Ocean, about half a dozen free-range cattle and SPECTACULAR VIEWS.  It was evident that The perilous two-track, rock-strewn drive up the mountainside rarely sees vehicular traffic. The 1828 map of St. Kitts.  The mill is noted in the center of the map below. Same location below from Google Maps Same view but with my geo tracker map. The Windmill Base. The windmill and the chimney, looking southeast with the Atlantic on the left and Nevis far in the distance. Looking southeast to the peninsular and Nevis beyond it. The Atlantic Ocean coastline ab...

I visited a friend a few miles away at The Christophe Harbour development.

This crab has come to our back door on a couple of occasions. 

We took a trek to Sofa Stone... About 5 miles from home is a 1000 ft high mountain which has a rock formation on it called Sofa Stone.  It is shaped like a sofa.  It is rumoured to have spectacular views but very few people can accurately describe the route to get there. Our friend Mike, formerly an American resident of St. Kitts, had returned for a visit.  He took us on what he recalled was the route there.  He was 85% correct.  Fortunately Mike had brought along his machete and he bushwhacked his way to the top of the mountain and we followed his newly blazed trail. It was quite a climb with a rise of about 500 feet from the trail head.  But the result was spectacular. Despite the cloudy day, the view was great. Sofa Stone Selfie Looking to the south peninsula, the cloudy day obscures the site of Nevis. Looking to the Atlantic to the east. Looking at the valley below us to the north. The sof...

History, Upon History.  St. Kitts is loaded with history and sometimes the remnants of it are dissolving into the earth with little chance of rescue.  Today we visited Fort Charles near Sandy Point.   From 1670 to 1854 Fort Charles stood below it's much more highbrow brother Brimstone Hill.  In 1854 and up until 1996 it was a Leper Colony.  These Leper Colonies were also known as Hansen House(s). Wasting away and being overtaken by foliage and the ravages of the tropical environment, the wooden structures are going to be short lived.  The fort itself has 20 foot brimstone walls and will stand for quite sometime to come.   The very infrequent visitors are greeted by the most magnificent of entry ways. My leper colony-selfie. An old fountain. A hospital bed being overtaken by trees. An old bed frame amongst the rocks. A colonial church stands ju...