Day 7 St. Kitts

So much happened today that it might be tough to fit it all in, but I will give you the Coles Notes version.

St. Kitts is part of the Commonwealth (as was Antigua) and seems to have pretty advanced government support. There were 3 other large ships in port and we wanted to ensure that we found a taxi to take us there. We got off the ship about 8:30 am today and found a taxi driver willing to take us to Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, graced with the designation of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Jeffery was our man! We had negotiated a rate of $40 US per hour - driving or waiting. I had researched this on Tripadvisor and knew this was a fair price. 

Jeffrey drove about 30 minutes outside the city of Basseterre to get us to Brimstone. Once you started up the winding hairpin road, it was apparent that you needed to be a capable driver as there was 3 or 4 inches to spare when drivng through various archways up the road. The Fortress opened at 9:30 am and we were the first in line to pay at 9:22 am. So when we got to the top - we were the first to have magnificent, unobstructed views!

A person did have to travel up some steep steps - but there weren't too many of them.

The first cannons were mounted on Brimstone Hill in 1690 by the British. The British realised the potential of the Hill as a place of defence and proceeded to fortify it. The Fortress was designed by the British Army Engineers, and built by African slave labor. It is not a pretty picture of history - but that is part of the world of travel - we learn about history - the good and the bad - and hopefully we are more enriched by the lessons taught.

In January of 1782, during the great struggle among European colonial powers and American republic for control of the rich Caribbean sugar islands, 8,000 French soldiers attacked the island and besieged the Fortress. About 1,000 defenders drawn from the Royal Scots and East Yorkshire Regiments, local militia and escaped slaves, fought valiantly for a month before finally surrendering on the 12th of February. A year later the articles of the Treaty of Versailles returned the island to the British and fortifications were continued until 1794. In 1852 British troops were reassigned and the Fortress was abandoned.

The Society for the Restoration of Brimstone Hill was founded in 1965 and in 1973 HRH Princes Charles (present day King Charles) reopened the first complete restoration, the Prince of Wales Bastion.

In 1983 St. Christopher and Nevis became an independent country. In 1985 Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a plaque signifying Brimstone Hill Fortress as a National Park. This was affirmed by legislation in 1987.

The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

This pristine setting and Officer quarters building housed just two officers. The barracks housed hundreds.

After spending 90 minutes at the site, we found Jeffery and drove back to the port.

We stopped at the Cariloha store and bought a pair of bamboo sheets. Years ago both of our boys bought themselves a set of these sheets with their allowance money and loved the sheets. I decided it was time we had a set for our bed!

J realized he lost his sunglasses once we were near the ship. We backtracked to the taxi pick up area. Another taxi driver was kind enough to call Jeffery for us. He returned to meet us, we all walked to his van and found J's sunglasses on the car seat! We gave a $5 tip and said thanks, then returned to the ship.

Once back on the ship, we ate lunch in the buffet. We decided to try recreating a treat I learned about. We got soft ice cream in a cup, walked back to the buffet and added some coffee - and then enjoyed our custom made affogato! The movie Barbie was playing on the big screen by the pool, so we sat with our affogatos, and tried to keep in the shade while watching the final hour of the movie. That was fun.

We returned to our room and because I was dripping in sweat, I put on a bathing suit and headed back upstairs to take a dip in the pool. J decided not to as he only has one swimsuit and didn't want to start out tomorrow in wet trunks!

Once back at the room, we finalized our plans for Tortola tomorrow. I went to the Princess Captain's Circle cocktail hour at Skywalkers on Deck 18 Aft. I am now a platinum member of Princess so this is one of the perks. I clearly have never even set foot on this part of the ship, because I was stunned to see the moving ramp that takes a person up to Skywalkers (I thought it was an area for Ship's officers).

The cocktail hour is offered every day between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. It really doesn't hold that great an appeal to me since we eat dinner every day at 5 pm - but I wanted to check it out. I was pleased to meet a woman from Alabama who was on her own attending for the first time so we lined up for some hors d-oeuvres and found a table together. The food included fresh sushi, and a selection of other hot and cold appetizers and desserts. Discounted drinks are available too. The views from Skywalkers were amazing - allowing us to look down on three other ships in port.

I raced down to meet J for supper at 5:05 pm. Our waiter Christian and his assistant Nigan are really wonderful servers, anticipating our every need - like preparing chamomile tea for me and decaf coffee for J, before we even ask for it!

After supper, we went to another Theatrical production show called "Born to be Wild". It featured music from the 70's and 80's and a pink cadillac onstage!

We have an early alarm tomorrow - 6 am, so I must get this posted soon. Life is treating us well!