St Kitts - Unspoiled and authentic

From my Disney Southern Caribbean Cruise - 10 Oct 2014

St Kitts was island number 5, out of 5 islands visited in 5 days on the magical Southern Caribbean Disney Cruise I took with my husband, Mike, last month. To me, this was the most exotic of the Caribbean islands on our itinerary and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I did know that it would be our only port day not spent on or near the water.  For a water-lovin' lady living in land-locked Colorado, I should have known this was not a good way to end a great cruise. But alas, I opted for a rainforest hike far from the sea and our up-until-then charmed cruise hit some speed bumps.  Was it a bad omen?  Or were we just due?  

After waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 am for the last 4 days, I was relieved that we didn't pull into port until 11:00 am, allowing us to sleep in until a leisurely 7:30 am.  After morning room service, we went up on deck for beautiful views of St Kitts as we pulled up to the island. Because it was a later arrival, the Disney characters were up on deck mingling with the guests.  We saw Mickey and Stitch.  I was delighted at the surprise Mickey sighting because I had been unsuccessful at getting a good picture of him up until that point.  This time I got the "money shot" of him decked out in his Caribbean attire up on deck with St Kitts in the background.

The Mickey "money shot" with St Kitts in the background

After a much needed slow paced morning, we went to meet up with our tour group in the D Lounge.  We left right on time with a group of 38 people.  We were taken to a colorful, open air bus for our drive up to the trailhead. It was a very nice drive with excellent views of the town of Basseterre and it's colorful, pretty buildings.  As we drove further up the mountain, we could see lovely views of the sea and countryside.  St Kitts was much smaller than the other Caribbean islands we had visited, both in land size and population. Our driver pointed out various points of interest along the way, among them a local brewery and low income housing that was set on the side of a mountain with most incredible views of the sea.  I was thinking I should move here!

Our ride to our rainforest hike

After a fairly short drive, we arrived at 17th-century Romney Manor, an old sugar plantation rich in history and once owned by Sam Jefferson, great, great, great grandfather of our 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson. To get to the grounds, we drove through beautiful rainforest on a fear-for-your-life, steep and narrow road.

The 400 year old Saman tree

Our driver gave us 25 minutes to explore the scenic estate and beautiful gardens. The grounds were nothing short of spectacular with so many different tropical plants including a huge bougainvilla tree, survivor's palm, lipstick palm, and a huge 400 year old Saman tree. Unfortunately, the grounds were very crowded since there was a Carnival ship in port that day as well.  On an island with a population of 35,000, 2 cruise ships carrying around 3,000 people each made a difference! For me, the crowds made it hard to enjoy the beauty. Luckily, we found a tour group selling beer out of the back of their bus, and bought 3 bottles of the local Carib beer for $5. That took the edge off but not for long as it turned out.

Romney Manor

After our 25 minutes were up, we met up with our group and proceeded to what would become the most miserable hike of my life.  We had 2 guides so our group of 38 was split into a group of 18 and a group of 20.  We were in the group of 20 and took up the rear of the line walking towards the rainforest.  I saw that there was a zipline right above us as we walked. It was fun to watch pairs of people come zipping and screaming down the line until I realized that half of our hike would take place underneath all of this commotion. I think of a forest as a place of beauty and peace and while I was getting plenty of beauty, it was hard to appreciate with no peace. 

Vines hanging in the rainforest

While the zipline became annoying, what really made the hike unbearable for me was that it was no hike at all, but rather a stand-around.  The best thing I can compare it to is waiting 2 hours in a long line at Disneyland, only this time there was no fun ride at the end.  This excruciating pace might not have been so bad if I could hear our guide, who seemed very knowledgeable, and if I wasn't so darn hot and sweaty.  I needed movement in order to create a breeze, if nothing else! I tried hard to enjoy the beautiful rainforest, which is actually expanding in St Kitts, despite my discomfort but I finally gave in and just wanted the darn "hike" to be over already.  I decided right then and there that while I was in the hot and humid Caribbean, I would stick to water activities! 

Remains from the Sugar Plantation and Aquaduck

The walk finally ended and we were rewarded with delicious snacks including passionfruit juice, banana bread, plantain chips, local fresh bananas and fresh coconut.  The guides kept bringing out one food item after the next and then they outdid themselves with local rum mixed with passionfruit juice.  It was really tasty and refreshing after the hot and disappointing hike.  I think that with a group of 10 people or less, it could have been a great hike.  Once we finally got past the zipline, the forest really was spectacular.  Had we been in a smaller group, we could have heard the guide and moved at a better pace.

Low income housing with views of sister island, Nevis

This was the first time having an experience like this during a port of call and I realized that picking the right tour can really make or break a destination.  I had such a wonderful time in Barbados and Grenada, that I couldn't wait to return.  I had little desire to return to St Kitts until I realized that there is still so much to like about St Kitts if I don't let that horrible hike grow bigger than what it really was.  I do want to go back to St Kitts and check out the beaches, and visit neighboring island, Nevis.  It really is a wonderful, authentic Caribbean island that deserves a second chance!

The pretty town of Basseterre

Click here for more pictures from my adventure in St Kitts!

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