The Culps of the Caribbean

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...

We live on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean.  Today I went snorkeling at the bottom of the cliff to see what was there.

The 2014 Hurricane Season is upon us.  What does that mean?  Before now and the end of November there is a chance of being hit by a hurricane.  We live in an all concrete house that is dug into the side of a mountain. Sounds rather nutty survivalist, but that is how most of the new homes here are.  Internally we will collect some 1-gallon containers of bottled water.  Last year Amy amassed 16 gallons of bottled water.  Well we still have 8 gallons left.  My Kittitian friends store about 3-gallons. Last year the closest hurricane was about 30 miles south of us and it did not even rain here that day.  So, who knows what will be in store for us this year.  We have a satellite phone in case the island phone/internet system is down.  That way we can keep our families informed.  Below are some photos of the last hurricane that hit here.  Hurricane Georges.

We went beach combing today along a long vacant stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.  We spotted a ginormous buoy tangled up in a tree branch and a big wad of ropes.  Amy suggested we find a piece of broken glass to cut the ropes.  Seriously?  We see that fictional stuff on TV.  Tried it. It worked!!  Now the buoy will retire as our swimming pool toy.  Markers on the buoy indicate that it floated here from Nigeria.

An afternoon adventure revealed some hidden beauty, history, and amazement.  An unplanned trip down a two-track towards the sea... 1828 Map of St. Kitts.  We found that we had happened upon Larionitz Bay.  If you look closely you will see a windmill and two other buildings.  The mill base still stands today... 2014 Google Map of the area.  They match pretty well given one was drawn using colonial instruments and the other with arial photos. As we headed down the two-track towards the north end confluence of the Atlantic and Caribbean, we were met with coconut palms and a great view of St. Eustasius (AKA Statia). Under the palms someone had created a small picnic area,  A wooden fence surrounds it to keep the wandering cattle out. 10 miles out is St. Eustasius. Towards the northeast is a shear cliff that points towards the Atlantic Ocean. As previously mentioned and seen on the historic map is a windmill base/foundation...