Today's port of call was Basseterre, Saint Kitts. And another new island in the Caribbean for us. The island is 65 square miles, and the neighboring island of Nevis is 40 square miles. Nevis is accessible by a ferry from Basseterre, or a water taxi. These islands were the first permanent English settlement in the Caribbean.
The island's history follows that of most of the Caribbean islands in that Columbus came across this area, which was inhabited by indigenous natives. Fierce battles between the French and the British ensued, and the Brits won. And it was the British that imported African slaves to harvest the sugarcane. What we see today are mountainous rain forests, ruins, and dormant volcanoes. Even the green vervet monkeys live here, their numbers are reportedly as large as the human population. They were brought here by the French for some unknown reason. Could not locate the number of citizens that live here today, however.
There is a golf course, horse racing track (Nevis), and a large Marriott Resort. Many of the old plantation houses were converted to bed and breakfast places, and are located up high in the mountains. Many of the beaches are dark sand, but they are free to the public. The most important historical site is Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located near the tallest inactive volcano, Mount Liamuiga at 3793 feet high.
One point of interest is the fact that Alexander Hamilton, the First Secretary of State under George Washington, was born in Nevis in 1755.
Breakfast was at 8am, and when we went to the elevator lobby, we were about to enter one, when we looked up and there was a hazmat person in there. He motioned to us not to come inside, which of course, we did not. We have been seeing too much of this recently, and now we are wondering how many cases do we have? No one will confess to that number.
We were late in arriving today at 11am, since we had quite a distance to travel from our last port of Grenada. We docked at Port Zante at a pier that measured 1434 feet long, big enough to handle the bigger mega-vessels. We were the only ship in port today. Port Zante is a 30 acre cruise ship and marina terminal. There were more shops, restaurants, and bars than we could count. All the usual suspects were there as far as island souvenirs go. And there were dozens of taxi drivers vying for our business. There were even two of them carrying baby monkeys, in diapers no less. Did we wish our photo taken with them? No way. These little guys have sharp teeth, and we don't trust them.
There were some tours here, but we have to remember to check them out on our interactive TV the day before arrival. Once the ship is in port, the tours disappear. If we come back here again, we will do our homework a little better. We did see a hop on hop off open air trolley, which may have been a ship's tour. All we wished to do was explore on our own, and with the help of a map we got in the terminal, we could locate the center of town.
Once out of the nicer Port Zante, it appeared seedy. Many old and empty buildings were crammed on narrow streets, and trash was everywhere. Walking on Bay Road took us to the Ferry Terminal, crossing over canals that were dumping who knows what kind of water into the bay. We did walk into their produce market, but not before we used sanitizer, and had our temps taken on our hands. That was different. Most all of their veggies and fruit were sold for the day, so we took some photos and left. Never did see a fish market.
Backtracking, we located The Circus, which turned out to be a clock tower. Further over, we entered their Independence Square, where many locals were having lunch under the mature trees. We did read that this is the spot where slaves were bought and sold. Across the street, we saw The Co-Cathedral, which was closed to the public.
Back at the port area, we heard Carnival-style music, and found a group doing a carnival dance. They were dressed in brightly-colored ribbons and wild headdresses. One had peacock feathers, reminding us of home.
All in all, the walk took us 1 ½ hours, and we knew that two tall draft beers had our names on them in the Dutch Café. We added our usual sandwiches and fries also. Then we spent most of the afternoon relaxing on the veranda or doing photos.
All aboard was 7:30pm. The reason for a later exit was due to the fact they were bunkering fuel all day. It was around that time, that Captain Eric came on the speakers to announce the cancellation of our next port of St. Thomas. He explained that many more staff and crew, as well as passengers have tested positive of Covid. We also learned from our travel agent that Crystal had cancelled all of their sailings today. We figured something was up, since we did not receive our When & Where for tomorrow. In fact, it never arrived tonight.
Dinner was so much fun tonight. We met Barb in the Tamarind Restaurant, and had a wonderful dinner. When the Amsterdam had this venue, it was a pop-up in the Pinnacle Grill. So we think Barb had never tried it. The appetizers we ordered were tempura shrimp (Barb loved them), noodle soups, and one Thai salad and the rib plate. Good thing they were conservative in size. Barb liked the shrimp crackers, but was probably afraid to try the dips. Two of them are spicy/hot, and the first thing Barb said was where is Heo? Our tablemate likes the hottest peppers in the world.
All of us ordered the wasabi-crusted tenderloin steak, and once again, it was tender as could be. We all liked the crispy onion rings that come with it. Desserts were one cheesecake, that does not resemble any cheesecake we know. We both had the sorbets…very tart and refreshing. It was 10pm by the time we left.
Passing the Rock & Roll stage and the BB King's Blues stage, we noticed there may be new musicians and singers onboard. The lounges were full of people for a change. But then there are only a few days left on this cruise, and most everyone will be going home soon.
Actually looking forward to a sea day tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Report #33 Basseterre, Saint Kitts Wednesday - January 19, 2022 Mostly sunny & 80 degrees
