We’ve already decided we like St Kitts ...12 days ago it was our first stop and although we’ve been some amazing islands since, this remains one of our favourites.
Firstly, we’re expecting a tender service, so when we read it’s a berth after all we’re happy with the message, even though we’re docked in a container port. Not that there’s anything wrong with tendering, it’s a great part of the cruise experience, but it can cause delays compared to just walking off the ship when one wants.
“Let’s do a shorter walk” we decide, and rip up our planned walk to a Natoinal Park. We head off south from our container port, aiming for the narrow neck of the island that divides the bulbous northern bit from the smaller southern section we explored last week. Going off-plan means I haven’t done the usual prep and soon we’re told by locals we can’t get anywhere on this road, so backtrack (I claim it’s an easy mistake with low-res Google Earth images on my phone in bright sunlight!)
Back on course (we think) we drop down to the coast, only to find our path includes a cliff-side impossible to scale, again hard to see in Google, so we divert through a hole in a fenced-off building site, unfortunately the gate at the other end of this half-built, then abandoned hotel building is very secure so we backtrack once again and find another route round, through a very smart estate of big houses.
Finally we’re through the problems and our walk is progressing perfectly, we drop down through a golf course to a gorgeous bay and beach, before crossing over to the western coast and turn northwards up the Atlantic beach past a run of hotels and restaurants. We stop off for elevenses on a perfectly positioned tree trunk, and then past the enormous Marriott resort and casino, and head towards Half Moon Bay, the next beach. This borders another golf course, and is surprisingly made of volcanic sand, the first black beach we’ve found this holiday. It’s unspoiled and we’re on our own, clearly well off the beaten track.
We wander past a deserted and ruined hotel or apartment block, and further along the beach we find we’re stuck between a lake and a section of trees that have grown out into the water, making it impassible. Once again we backtrack, and have to use the golf course path to get around the bay.
In keeping with today’s theme, at the northern end of the gold course we come across another huge deserted hotel, this one the Koi Resort, which effectively stops our progress once again. We try three different ways out, the first gets us covered in mud and bogged down in a quagmire, the second involves climbing down on to the beach and though the hotel’s grounds, this could get us arrested! Clearly neither actually work, so we’re back on the fairways and looking for Exit Plan C, which we finally resolve by clambering uphill, across a patch of rough land and our Great Escape is complete!
Back on the road we’re still heading north, and rounding the hillside we drop down into one of the older parts of the island, again dotted with ramshackle unfinished homes. Before long we’re into a local estate, by which I mean not for white people, here one gets a wave, a ‘hello’ and the houses are all painted Caribbean colours!
Soon we’re passing the end of the runway and heading back towards Basseterre, the capital of the island, it’s not a pretty town, so after a quick stop at the cathedral we’re on the coast, passing the two multi-thousand passenger mega-ships that are berthed here today, and heading back to our oasis of luxury, it’s just a pile of containers between us and our lunch now.
Today we choose pizza for lunch, before heading aft, collecting Amaretto-laced ice cream on the way. We watch Seranade of the Seas depart and head off into the sunset before we return to prepare for another club event and dinner, tonight in MDR. Tonight it’s beetroot & goat’s cheese, lobster pasta, stuffed quail and chocolate cake, whereas I have seared tuna, celery soup, prosciutto wrapped prawns and lemon panna cotta, all delish.
Oh, and that walk? Only 20.25 km, a whole 1 km less than the original plan!!
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