The Culps of the Caribbean

Donkeys, often overlooked and underrated, are animals with an incredible spirit and a heartwarming ability to bring joy and healing to those who care for them. These gentle creatures have been domesticated for thousands of years, serving as beasts of burden, transportation, and loyal companions. However, not all donkeys are fortunate enough to have a loving home. Many find themselves in dire situations, neglected, abused, or abandoned. This is just such a donkey. His name is Biscuit. I live and work on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.  St. Kitts is rich in history and we are surrounded by that history daily, some of that history is painful.  Peppered all across the island are remnants of sugar cane processing structures that date back to the 1700's.  Notably these are stone windmill foundations from the 1700's and from the 1800's, in very close proximity, are 50' tall stone chimneys. It was exploring the site of one of these ruins a few years ago when I came acro...

The science lab at Cayon High School on the island of St. Kitts was found to be in a serious state of disrepair and neglect.     The staff of St. Kitts Biomedical Research Foundation/Virscio donated labor, materials, and scientific equipment to refurbish the Biology/Physics and Chemistry labs. From the maintenance to scientific staff, many many hours were invested in providing the students with a fresh start for this school year with an environment that fosters learning.   Maintenance and Construction team members completely refurbished both labs and fabricated new storage cabinets and countertops.  Repaired and replaced experiment tables.   Air conditioners were installed where there previously were none.  Coordinating with the St. Kitts Bureau of Standards, the hazardous chemicals were disposed.  Exterior doors were repaired, de-rusted, and painted.  Lab glassware was scrubbed to a like-new state. Many new instruments were donated.   St. Ki...

At the foot of the Brimstone Hill Fortress on the island of St. Kitts, the St. Kitts Marine Works stands ready to shelter and repair your mighty craft. The tug boat Uranus is currently in drydock for hull repairs.  Interestingly, some of the crew remains living on board.

A Short Visit to the Island of Nevis The drive into the Four Seasons Resort The Lime In the Coconut Boutique at Pinney's Beach Conch Chowder at Golden Rock Restaurant Fountain-side Dining at the Golden Rock Fountain-side Dining at Golden Rock Amazing Gardens at the Golden Rock Amazing Gardens at the Golden Rock Amazing Gardens at the Golden Rock No Worry, Eat Curry!!! The project entails how to keep the monkeys from eating your crops.  Solution seems to be electric fencing. Load up the car ferry from Nevis to St. Kitts The Nevis-made hot sauce.

Much like Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea, St. Kitts was spared the wrath of Irma and Maria which were swirling on each side.   St. Kitts, on the whole, was very fortunate. I spoke with every employee about their experiences as they endured both storms one week apart.   The first on the Atlantic side and the second on the Caribbean side.   Most people had water forced into their homes, but not a flood.   Several people said that water was coming right through the concrete.   All said that they could not believe that Maria blasted them for 24 hours straight with driving rain and wind without a let up.   The very next day they reported that it was calm and sunny like nothing had happened. A few employees had lost some shingles and that was the extent of the damage to their homes.   Same at work were a couple of pieces of roofing had come off but no other damage.   Unless of course you are talking about tre...

 Flat Stanley Explores St. Kitts

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...