CARIBBEAN
movie screen that can be lowered from
the ceiling above the window facing the
bed.
However, the bathroom sort of
stumped me. It’s located on the open
wooden deck off the bedroom.
ST. KITTS
Continued from Page 51
There’s no door, so the clawfoot porcelain tub, a small marble basin and the
toilet are right out there, not far from the
neighboring cottage.
In all fairness, there is a white linen
curtain that can be pulled to shield the
loo and surround the tub.
How will that play with guests?
“We’re planting big banana plants all
around the deck,” said Valmiki Kempa-
doo, CEO of Kittitian Hill. “They grow
fast, tall and are very thick.”
Next stop on Grey’s tour was the Brim-
stone Hill Fortress National Park, de-
signed by British army engineers and
built by African slave workers in 1690.
diers in 1782. The French won that battle,
but the island was returned to the British
a year later.
Last stop, and a must for anyone who
loves colorful island-made fabrics, was
Caribelle Batik at Romney Manor, which
dates from 1626.
I contributed a fair share to Kittitian
coffers at Caribelle and toasted my purchases that evening with a shot of molas-ses-based Brinley Gold rum, handcrafted
by the local Brinley family.
A fitting end to a day on St. Kitts.
SISTER ISLANDS
• The Federation of St. Kitts and
Nevis is a federal two-island state in
the Leeward Islands in the northern
Caribbean.
• Although independent from Great
Britain since 1983, it is a member
of the British Commonwealth with
Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.
• It’s the smallest sovereign state
in the Americas, in both area (261
square miles) and population
( 51,000: 38,000 on St. Kitts, 13,000
on Nevis).
• The capital city and government
headquarters is Basseterre on St.
Kitts. The capital of Nevis is Charlestown.
• The Kalinago Indians named St.
Kitts Liamuiga, which means “Fertile
Land” and is the name of the island’s
volcano. Christopher Columbus
named it St. Christopher, later shortened to St. Kitts.
T W PHO TO B Y GA Y NAGLE M YERS
Visitors arriving by ferry into Nevis have a view of
Mount Nevis in the background and Charlestown in
the foreground.
It’s time to change your status.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.
GoDominicanRepublic.com
• Nevis’ original name was Oualie,
“Land of Beautiful Waters.” Columbus and his sailors called it Santa Maria de las Nieves because the cloud-covered peak of the volcano reminded
them of a snow-capped mountain.
Nieves in Spanish means snow. It
later became Nevis.
• The earliest celebrity sighting on
Nevis was Alexander Hamilton, first
secretary of the U.S. Treasury and one
of the framers of the Constitution.
He was born in 1757 in a house that
now is the Museum of Nevis History
and the Nevis House of Assembly.
• Nevis has no traffic lights, but it
does have charming old sugar plantation inns renovated as luxury island
accommodations, including Nisbet
Plantation Beach Club, Montpelier
Plantation, Hermitage Plantation Inn
and Golden Rock Inn.
