1/26/24: The Remarkable St. Kitts!

 

Two behemoths docked in Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts in late January - ours was Viking's The Valiant Lady on the right. Unfortunately, Steven had caught a cold on board and decided to try and get some rest while I went on the shore excursion and explored the island. Huge cruise ships now make frequent stops in Basseterre's harbor after 25 acres have been reclaimed from the sea to create Fort Zante.

I already had a good feel for the island with the welcoming signs, flags, and open arcade.

Their history by now was familiar after visiting Aruba, Curaçao, and Martinique in the Lesser Antilles chain: Amerindian beginnings, Columbus' voyages, and intense colonial battles between the French and English. St. Kitts, also known as St. Christopher, was the mother colony of the West Indies with the French sending colonists to Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Martin and the English dispatching their people to Barbuda, Tortola, Antigua, and Montserrat. St. Kitts and Nevis attained self-governance as an associated state of Great Britain in 1967 and independence in 1983.

Even though St. Kitts and Nevis is one country, they are distinct islands with personalities. Since I didn't have time to also see Nevis, this post will only be about St. Kitts.

What a shame Steven couldn't join the tour of the island as he'd so enjoyed exploring the entire island with the driver and guide, James who went by the name Spooney!

Spooney, gave us a whistlestop tour of Basseterre and pointed out the octagonal Circus based on the original style of London's Picadilly Circus, it made sense that the first English settlement in the Leeward Islands was in St. Kitts and the neighboring island of Nevis.

The Prison and Police Headquarters:

The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Immaculate Conception:

Another nod to the islands' English heritage was the Queen Victoria Statue - however, only the base remained after a hurricane toppled her head. 

St. George's Anglican Church:

This thriving market looked very appealing as we passed by!

A little north of Basseterre was the community of Irish Town, so named because so many Irish emigrated to the islands in the 1600s to work as merchants, indentured servants, and on the plantations. 

The largest cemetery on the island, according to Spooney, was for people of all faiths.

Spooney said that until the 2000s, St. Kitts's economy was based on tobacco and sugar cane but that tourism has now taken over as the island's biggest industry. 

As we headed north along the south coast on Old Road, we passed another Anglican church that represented England's dominant religion.

The community of Challengers, about 10 kms from the capital, was a former slave area.

After witnessing heartwrenching memorials to slaves in both Curaçao and Martinique, Bloody Point, located just west of Challengers, was another dark point in Caribbean history. Its name derives from the massacre of 2,000 Kalinago or Caribs that took place in 1626. Colonial settlements had expanded so quickly that the Kalinago felt threatened and decided to attack the invaders. But, British and French troops in a rare and brief union, jointly attacked the Caribs first. According to legend, so much blood was spilled that it ran for three days straight, therefore, the name Bloody Point. The massacre marked the end of the Kalinago occupation on the island. 

Climate change naysayers need only come to St. Kitts' south coast to witness firsthand how real it is. The coastline is being lost all the time and only these three- and four-ton boulders are saving the area from destruction. Local homeowners have lost their prized ocean views but their property is safe for now at least.

The area now occupied by the 17th-century Wingfield and Romney estates was the site of the first permanent plantation settlement in the English Caribbean. Its proximity to the Kalinago holy places and possible socially unacceptable behavior may have provoked them into attempting to remove the English colonists led by Samuel Jefferson, the great-great-great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, and this country's third president. 

The Sugar Factory was at the heart of the estate for 300 years and operated from January to early summer to convert sugar cane juice into cane sugar and molasses. 

The Blackmsith's Shop:

The native populations in the Caribbean islands grew cotton and made it into fabric. By the 17th century, commercial cultivation of cotton on the Wingfield Estate provided a valuable export to ease the limited cotton supplies in Europe. After sugar cane became king,  cotton was virtually non-existent by the middle of the 18th century, and was only reintroduced by 1900 but never commercially on the estate. 

As the estate experienced an annual dry seasonal and occasional drought, irrigation was critical to growing fruits and vegetables on the estate that could not be imported. Water from the water wheel was recycled and used to irrigate the gardens.

Some Wingfield Estates fun facts: It was the first land grant by King Charles 1 in the entire Caribbean; the first example of British masonry in the New World, even preceding Virginia that was settled earlier but used wood; home of the first manor in the Caribbean; the property supplied canons for the Battle of Waterloo and Admiral Nelson's fleet; and, when the rum distillery that had been completely buried before being rediscovered in 2011, it was recognized as the oldest, standing distillery in the entire West Indies.

Inside the former manor was Caribelle Batik where I watched artisans hand-printing fabrics using a wax and dye process. I also had fun choosing a gorgeous scarf to add to my already too-large scarf collection I've amassed from our trips!

If Steven and I are ever fortunate enough to return to St. Kitts, it would be heavenly to wander around the beautifully landscaped gardens awash in tropical flowers. We'd also want to search out the enormous, 400-year-old saman or rain tree on the property.

The bell tower was used to control the key moments in the lives of the slaves on the estate - to start the day, to return from the fields, to go to sleep. Because of their negative connotations, most bell towers on St. Kitts were destroyed when slaves were emancipated. However, the estate's owner was considered to be more benevolent for emancipating the slaves immediately, and, as a result, this was the only bell tower left on St. Kitts.

After leaving the estate, Spooney pointed out one of many retaining walls on the island that had been built by slave labor.

The oldest Anglican church in the Eastern Caribbean was St. Thomas Anglican Church located in Middle Island. Its cemetery was the final resting place for the island's first English governor and also Samuel Jefferson, 

Slaves were regularly beaten under this banyan tree.

Steven and I have rarely been in any place where there was little or no demarcation from one village or town to another - it was as if one village just rolled right into another.

No massive boulders blocked our ocean views - just almond trees which were so much prettier!

The further west Spooney drove on the south shore, the hillier the terrain became and more limestone cliffs became visible.

In a feat of extraordinary driving, Spooney somehow wielded the large bus on 200-year-old cobblestone roads built for horses and buggies through the gate to Brimstone Hill National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with just inches to spare.

In the distance was the Dutch island of Sint Eustatius, so tantalizingly close and yet so far!

The English erected a battery on a majestic site overlooking the ocean in 1690 after routing the French. By 1736, the fortress included 49 guns, earning the name of Gibraltar of the West Indies. About 50 years later, 8,000 French troops laid siege to the stronghold only defended by 950 English militia and regular troops. The English surrendered only to regain control a year later. After the fortress was severely damaged by a hurricane in 1834, it was evacuated and dismantled in 1852. Its lovely stones were carted away to build homes.

Given that my broken femur still hadn't healed, I'm not sure Steven or my physical therapist would have approved my trudging up these steps but I was bound and determined to get to the top for more stellar views.

Gobsmacking views in every direction made the effort up the stone steps worthwhile.

The plaque marked the 38-acre fortress which was designated as a national park by Queen Elizabeth II when she visited in 1985. 

Limestone cliffs provided the mortar for the Artillery Officers' Quarters.

I admit to not being a huge fan of military fortresses but the exquisite stonework at Brimstone Hill had been very impressive as was the bravery of the soldiers on both sides of the conflicts that took place there.

When the island's volcano erupted 300 years ago spewing lava everywhere, there was no town, no development in the area. If that were to happen now, people would have to be evacuated from the community of Sandy Point. Goats run wild in the streets here and the area has become popular for sports figures to build their homes.

Spooney commented there aren't enough driveways in the Caribbean so people park wherever they can! "It is the way it is in the Caribbean," he said.

Spooney said that the community of Queenie's Well was a Labor Party stronghold.

On the northwest part of the island, 3,792-ft-high Mont Liamuiga strato volcano had blown its top.

Aptly named Black Rock was a series of lava deposits that had been spat into the Atlantic when the volcano erupted. 

We only had a few minutes at Black Rock but I couldn't pass up the great souvenir stands en route to the rocks. The prices were unbelievably cheap for what I considered good-quality dolls, quilted beach bags, and another baseball cap for Steven's growing collection from our time island hopping.

I missed you, Steven, being by my side at this photo op!

The hamlet of Keys was home to a turtle nesting site.

After the spectacular natural sights on the west and north sides of the island, I don't think anyone on the bus was thrilled to experience manmade sights quite yet. The East Caribbean Bank represented eight islands using the East Caribbean dollar.

Thank goodness I got to experience the tour's last hurrah from atop Timothy Hill where I could gaze agog at more breathtaking ocean and mountain views. If you grew tired of one view, you could simply turn around a few inches and admire equally arresting views. My head felt like it was on a swivel, just taking in this beauty.

Before hurrying back to the ship and seeing Steven, I walked to a few sights I'd only seen from the bus window at the beginning of the tour - the Circus, the Prison, the interior of the Catholic cathedral  - as I wanted to take better photos than through the window. I also walked through Independence Square, where the fountain marked the site of the city's former slave market.

It was just as well the National Museum was closed for renovations as I had no time nor interest to dawdle any longer.

The tour of St. Kitts had been perfect in almost every way with Spooney providing a captivating and enthralling tour of the island. The only thing missing was not being able to enjoy Basseterre's sights, and learning about St. Kitts' military and heartbreaking Bloody Point history and the island's natural beauty with Steven. I'd return in a heartbeat to St. Kitts and would also love to spend a day over in Nevis, the country's other half!

Next post: Not quite sure yet - you'll have to wait!

Posted on April 3rd, 2024, after we drove home yesterday from our month in suburban Phoenix via Utah's Monument Valley and Colorado's own jaw-dropping Million Dollar Highway. I hope that you and your loved ones are enjoying peace and good health.