Historic Hurricane Damage

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.

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The Trek to Sofa Stone

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...

The Leper Colony (aka Fort Charles)

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...

Beach Combing at Dieppe Bay, St. Kitts

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...

The Culps of the Caribbean

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