Thursday March 07 - At Sea on a Catamaran

 

This was supposed to be a full day of sailing on a 78 ft catamaran. We did spend the whole day on or by the ocean but unfortunately they didn't even hoist the sails but motored all the time. There was probably not enough wind to make it worthwhile. It was nevertheless a wonderful day. There were just enough people on the boat so as not to be crowded. The crew was very friendly and there was an open bar all day long. Some people really took advantage of this. After a few hours of boating we stopped for swimming and snorkeling. The water is great but there wasn't much to see.

When everybody had enough of snorkeling we continued along the coast of Nevis for another couple of hours. We saw a big whale frolicking in the water and also many flying fish. The boat was then beached and we could all just walk off the boat to a waiting BBQ on the beach. They had chicken, chicken hot dogs and several salads and the food was delicious. We probably spent a couple of hours on the beach until it was time to return to St.Kitts. By the time we got back to the hotel we were very tired. Too tired to go to a proper dinner. Gunilla and I went to the pizza shack for pizza and Kim and Charlie got out so late that only the coffee shop was still open. Friday is our last day and we plan just to hang out. Check out is at noon and our plane is at 4.20pm.

 

 

 



Wednesday March 06 - Day Tour to Nevis

Today we had booked a full day's tour to Nevis, the sister island to St.Kitts. It was mixed weather which actually was great. A little bit of sun, a little rain and mostly cloudy which made it quite pleasant. We were picked up at the hotel and brought to the harbor at Brasseterre. Gunilla and I had bought new bags as you can see. The ferry over to Nevis took about an hour. It was an interesting day with many stops. We visited Montpelier Estate where Horatio Nelson got married to Fanny Nesbeth 1787. It is now a very posh hotel and the late Princess Diana stayed there during a visit to Nevis. The view is incredible and the grounds were lovely as were the common areas where we were allowed to visit. We also visited another hotel, but the name escapes me. This one also very special with wonderful plants and trees. It had previously been a sugar plantation.

 

Lunch was served at a beach restaurant called Lime. Nice place but not fancy at all. The staff was very friendly and it was a nice time. After lunch Gunilla and I went to the beach where we befriended an adorable little girl called Asia. She was fascinated by some bracelets we were wearing and played with them probably for an hour! We had decided to be picked up a bit early to have some time to shop in Charlestown, the capital of Nevis. Oh well, there really was no shopping to be had. The islands here are very beautiful but unfortunately the beauty is spoiled by lots of trash everywhere. Old rusty car wrecks, discarded building materials and general trash. Of course everything is very clean at places like the Marriott, but outside of the resorts you can of course see the poverty and the shacks people live in. It doesn't seem like they even care.

 

When we got back to the hotel we had dinner at the Italian restaurant here at Marriott. It was an all you can eat buffet where they cook whatever you like and there was a lot to choose from. Delicious! After dinner we made a short visit to the casino. Did not win anything, of course!

 

Tomorrow we are going sailing the whole day!



Monday March 04 - Sky Safari Zip Line

 

Today we had our first adventure during this trip. The day started early with being picked up from the hotel at 7.30 am. The van took us through Basseterre and out the other side. It was maybe a half hour ride.

Once we arrived at the base camp we walked up a hill to get our gear, get instructions and have a short training ride on the zip line. You wear a helmet and an interesting contraption harness. Weird to walk in but quite comfortable once you hang from the line. After all of us were in our gear and had had the short little practice zip we got loaded onto an open truck and started up the mountain on barely there roads and it was very bumpy. Then we started the descent that consisted of 4 segments and you are flying over the rainforest at I believe it was 250ft up in the air. It was great! You can see my first ride on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1iaBGO6VnU&feature=youtu.be

 

The only problem was that it was over way too soon. I could have been zipping all day long! But, we were back at the hotel around 10 am and could still spend the full day on the beach.

 

Jimmy, the monkey came by to see us again. He really likes to visit with us because we play with him and he jumps all over us. He especially like to sit on my head grabbing on to my hair. He drinks water from our hands, loves bananas and caramels (!) Here are some pictures of him.

 



Friday March 1 - Another Lazy Day

 

We started the day with an hour's walk on the beach. Prior to the walk we staked out our place on the beach and put towels and books to mark our spot in order to get closer to the water than we had previously. Well, nowhere is far from the water but still . . .

 

It is amazing to walk along the beach hardly seeing another soul. There are a few other people walking but they are few and far between. We basically have the place to ourselves. The water is incredibly clear and the color is beautiful in different shades of turquoise. After the walk we had a huge brunch with so much food that it lasted us the whole day. We did have a pina colada in the afternoon though :-)

Later we decided to take a cab to Basseterre, the capital of St.Kitts. Unfortunately we arrived there at the wrong time. It was Friday afternoon and everything was closing as well as the visiting cruise ship leaving. The cab let us off in the center of town, the Circus. We tried to find some stores The first place we found was supposed to be a Mall. Well, we do have different opinions about what is a Mall. There were a couple of stores open, but hardly anything to buy!

 As far as we could see we were the only white people in the whole town except for one lady buying tomatoes off a truck! After stocking up on beer and snacks at a local food store we took a cab back to the hotel. Dinner was an expensive disappointment.

Tomorrow Kim and Charlie will arrive an we will plan some excursions, which will make the blog a bit more interesting!

Second Day St. Kitts - mostly about Jimmy

 

 

We started the day with a walk on the beach. We walked for 1½ hours. Clear blue skies, turquoise water and rather windy. The sand has many different colors from almost white to black (from the volcano). After the walk we went to the beach to hang out under one of the little huts.

 

Then Jimmy arrived. On the shoulder of a Rasta man sat this adorable little monkey called Jimmy. He was wearing a diaper and I immediately fell for him! I have wanted a monkey since I was a little kid and here I could hold Jimmy and take pictures for 5 bucks! At first he just wanted to play and pretended to pinch and bite me (it was easy for him with my loose old skin!). Then I could give him a cookie and he was happy hanging out with me. Gunilla took lots of pictures and then I realized I had a banana in my bag. I gave it to Jimmy and he was so happy. Sat on my shoulder, peeled the banana and ate it. I was over the moon! So now I am in love with Jimmy. Hoping he will come by another day as well.

We had lunch at the same restaurant as yesterday. But somehow they lost our order and after an hour we were not so happy. They apologized and asked if we wanted to have something to munch on while they made our lunches and we said we wanted nachos at no cost, which we got. Yum. Shortly the food arrived but now our beers were warm so we asked for new cold beers (at no cost) which we also got.

Back to the beach chairs. The wind is so strong that it feels cold. Every now and then I had to go out in the sun to warm up :-) We decided to stay in tonight because we were both quite tired. I did not take any pictures so will only show you more of my darling Jimmy!

Travelling and First Day at St.Kitts

I was picked up at 4 am to catch a 5.30 am flight to Miami. It was an uneventful flight, I slept a little as I had opted not to got to bed Sunday night as it would be such a short sleep. As I was waiting for the train to go to the gate for the St.Kitts plane, Gunilla got off the train going in the opposite direction. One minute later and we would have missed each other! So - pretty good timing. So we headed to Starbucks (of course!) for breakfast.

The plane to St.Kitts was full and the flight was fairly smooth. Immigration took quite some time. The papers you had to fill out were very extensive and the island people were not very fast, as is customary in the tropics.

We took a taxi to Marriott and the driver was trying to be a guide and telling us about what we were passing. Neither me nor Gunilla understood a word of what he said, although it was supposed to be English! Upon arrival at the hotel we were welcomed with fruit punch or ice cold beer. We opted for the beer :)


We are at the tiny red dots below the palm on the right

We checked in and went to the room to unpack. The room had a balcony and was supposed to be an "upgrade". However, the balcony was right by the airconditioning units and that was a horrible view as well as noisy. Anyway we decide to explore a bit and we set out to find a store to buy some food to stock our refrigerator with breakfast stuff.

We found the store and stopped for dinner at a nice little restaurant. Back at the room we started to be upset a our room and come morning, we decided to complain and insisted on getting a different room. We didn't care about a balcony as the one we had we would never use due to the noise and view. After a little while, they realized that we would not give up and they "found" a room in one of the garden houses with view over one of the pools (there are 3 pools here).
We decided to explore our surroundings a bit and look for a place to have lunch. We found this great weather station. Quite funny, I think. We found a great restaurant by the beach and had some lunch. There is always a breeze by the beach and we decided that it was really too hot to sit by the pool as the breeze doesn't reach there.

We went back to the room to change to go to the beach, but on our way back we found several small shops inside the hotel and spent an hour shopping :)
We went down to the beach that has a lot of little cabanas so you can have both sun and shade all day long. We stayed at the beach for a couple of hours and then went back to change and go to dinner. Tonight they had all you can eat Northern Italian buffet and everything was made in front of your eyes. You could pick whatever you wanted and could choose between lots of different sea food, chicken, meat sauce or Alfredo cream sauce, veggies and different pastas. It was delicious and we both ate too much. Now back at the room and I have finally started my blog.
We have to pay for internet which really sucks! $104 for the 12 days we are here! Can you imagine!!?? But it is impossible for me not to have access to the internet. I am going to complain to Marriott. Because this is really robbery!!

Time to travel again!

Early on Monday morning I will be leaving for St.Kitts and Nevis and will report daily about our adventures! We will be staying at the Marriott of course!