The Second Leg
Moored at St Maarten. We stayed aboard, and since most of the passengers disembarked, and the new ones weren’t boarding until afternoon, we had the ship pretty much to ourselves. Very relaxing day.
When the boat departed St Maarten we went to the shop aboard. I bought a t-shirt, Mary found some nice things and fell in love with a certain pocketbook, but more on that later.
Nevis
The itinerary lists the stop as “Charlestown, St. Kitts.” That is a bit vague. Charlestown is on Nevis, the smaller of the two islands that make up the nation St Kitts & Nevis. Nevis is famous as the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. The island is famous for always being topped by a cloud hanging to the peak of its old caldera. That morning the sight was spectacular. The glow of the sun was too bright for me to depict it in paper. I had to try using the iPad.
Mary and I went ashore to take a look at the town. We were stopped at the dock and told to put on our masks. Two musicians were setting up, I guess to provide a welcome.
Walking through the town we saw a bust sitting on a plinth in the center of an intersection. It was of Simeon Daniel, Nevis’s first premier.
The sight of this distinguished, understated statue immediately brought to mind two other statues of local heroes: the imposing bronze of St. Martin’s first PM, and the colorful statue of Antigua and Barbuda’s first premier, the largest of the three. Three former colonies in close proximity, with a shared history. What do these three effigies tell us about their differing character?
Being a Sunday, the town was very quiet. We saw and heard multiple church services being conducted. We found the site where Hamilton was born. The original had been washed away in a hurricane; a stone building, housing a museum stands there now.
On the way back I just had to stop and sketch this local fishing boat.
The ship extended its watersports platform, but the water was very choppy, so while Mary went in—and stayed for well over an hour, as the weather did eventually calm down—I stayed on board to finish my digital painting.
The “Nature Island”
At 8:00 am we arrived in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, which people of the other islands describe as “the nature island.” The island is volcanically active (last eruption 200 years ago), with hot springs, fumaroles, a “champagne reef.” It also has a rainforest in its mountains, with enough rainfall to power the island with hydroelectric power.
Mary and I signed up for the “4×4 Waterfall & Rainforest Expedition.” Two old military trucks, painted island-style, carried 24 guests up into the mountains. The first two stops were boring, but they offered a chance to do a few sketches of the island’s people:
The Waterfall
The star attraction was high up in the hills, at the inlet of one of the “anaconda” pipelines that funnel water to power the biggest of their hydroelectric plants. We were given water skier-type belts and led to a pool with a rocky and very slippery bottom. A stream emerged into it from a crevice in the cliff, and at the opposite end of this pool was an iron gate preventing anything large (or anybody) from being sucked into the “anaconda.”
We paddled up the twisty stream, very pretty, with the forest overhead sending down creepers. At one point we were told to stay left, and the water on our right was quite swift. The stream became very shallow, rocky and narrow. Suddenly the crevice ended, with a quite powerful waterfall we were invited to stand under. Very exciting!
Pigeon Island, St Lucia
Up at 7 for breakfast. The excursion heads out at 8. But it’s pouring rain!
We’re off to zip-lining!
Mary’s nervous about this. But it’s a prime bucket list item, and she’s determined to see it through. The excursion is listed as “Strenuous,” with lots of warning: lots of climbing, crossing rope bridges . . . The bridges scared her half to death. But she did it!
We decided to go to dinner a later than usual, at 7:30 to avoid the 7:00 rush. We were given a different table and had a new waiter. He calls himself “Muddy” (more likely something like Maadi, though I’m sure it’s not Mahdi).
At the end of our meal Mary folded her napkin into a rose, like she always does. Well, Muddy and Jerry, the maitre d’, took that as a challenge. A different rose appeared, then a sort of fleur de lis, a boot . . . We went home with a swan and a nesting bird!
St. John’s, Antigua
Arrived 1:00 pm, after a relaxing morning at sea. We joined the afternoon excursion to a beach on the other side of the island: Beautiful beach, lovely water. After going in with Mary I went back to the umbrella and did a pencil/wash sketch of the view. Before we left I went for another dip.
Bassettere, St Kitts
Arrived at 8 am. We went ashore after breakfast. Another couple of cruise ships were in port, big ones. So the cruise terminal, with all its tacky shops, was bustling.
For me, Basseterre had a wealth of subjects and scenes to capture. Once we got past the cruise terminal to the town itself we came on a magnificent clock in the middle of the intersection.
Like the other islands we visited, St Kitts has been a colony and is proud of achieving independence. It’s been fought over repeatedly, and there are still ruins of fortifications and government buildings, like this ruin, overrun by a beautiful flowering vine, near Independence Square.
There are other, less sinister reminders, like this (derelict) pink London-style phone booth. (It’s not just faded red; there are more pink ones around town.)
In the center of Independence Square is a fountain whose colors remind me the square in St John’s.
Everyday Basseterre also provided me with subjects. Here is a building which has only one sign, a small piece of paper stuck on one of the shutters, saying “No Mask/No Service.” I’m guessing it’s a pub for locals; they know where to find it, after all.
Right there I saw three locals walking purposefully along the sidewalk. I caught a quick snap of them.
St Barth’s redux
Returning to St Barthélemy, the ship moored in pretty much the same spot as last week. After breakfast we went ashore. There wasn’t anything in Gustavia to hold her interest, so Mary went back to the ship. I continued to walk around. It’s a nice, clean and tidy town. People watching? I didn’t feel the locals would stand for me to be taking their pictures. Here, on a side street, is a colorful scuba shop.
And here is the bar where Jimmy Buffet is said to have written “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”
To be honest, I’ll take Manhattan.
Going Home
At about 7 am we put our luggage out our stateroom door to be collected, and went to breakfast. Took a cab to the airport ~8:30, landed in New Bern at 11:48 pm. Long and tedious.
It was a great trip; it’s good to be home.
