The Best Kept Little Secret in the Carribbean: St. Kitts : Part 1- An Introduction
For our 1st anniversary, we took a trip to St. Kitts, or St. Christopher as it is officially called. A little known Caribbean island with an Atlantic coastal side and a Caribbean coastal side.
I was amazed at how much history, nature and culture could be packed on one itty bitty island.
I have just had time to sit and sort through the 700 or so pictures I returned with and I am going to try to take you on a trip with me over the next few blog posts.
First of all, a little geography.
It is a straight flight from Miami. Leave Birmingham at 6 am or so and you can be soaking up the afternoon sun on St. Kitts.
The main city is Basseterre, where the airport is located. It is also the city center and where cruise ships dock 2 days a week. Otherwise, it is pretty deserted except for the locals hanging out and barbecuing on the sidewalks in the evenings.
We stayed at the most amazing place I have ever visited.
A little place called Ottley's plantation. You can see Ottley's on the map on the Northeast side of the island. The plantation is on the mountain side- overlooking ancient sugar cane fields and the Atlantic. Lest not forget the rainforest in the back yard. What more could you ask for?
The Keusch-Lowell family had been visitors to St. Kitts for a number of years when in 1988, they made the decision to purchase the modest great house set on extraordinary grounds. Booksellers from Princeton, New Jersey, USA, they sold everything and started their St. Kitts adventure, which continues to this day.
The owners are very visible, coming by to chat a dinner, give advice on things to do and places to go, offering to pack you a cooler for your next days adventures, or just offering stories about the plantation and island. The original structure is there, has been restored and added on to to create a fabulous place to be.
AND... THIS WAS our little front yard of our cottage.
Where I would LOVE to be at this moment.
So are you interested yet? Check back soon and often to see the adventures we shared and the amazing photographs
we took on the beautifully unique little St. Kitts.
Oh, did I mention there are monkeys??
Wild African green vervet monkeys to be exact. They are the little ones in the picture ....:.)
I was amazed at how much history, nature and culture could be packed on one itty bitty island.
I have just had time to sit and sort through the 700 or so pictures I returned with and I am going to try to take you on a trip with me over the next few blog posts.
First of all, a little geography.
It is a straight flight from Miami. Leave Birmingham at 6 am or so and you can be soaking up the afternoon sun on St. Kitts.
The main city is Basseterre, where the airport is located. It is also the city center and where cruise ships dock 2 days a week. Otherwise, it is pretty deserted except for the locals hanging out and barbecuing on the sidewalks in the evenings.
We stayed at the most amazing place I have ever visited.
A little place called Ottley's plantation. You can see Ottley's on the map on the Northeast side of the island. The plantation is on the mountain side- overlooking ancient sugar cane fields and the Atlantic. Lest not forget the rainforest in the back yard. What more could you ask for?
The
inn is located on a property known as Ottley's Estate. Drewry Ottley of
Yorkshire, England settled here in the early 1700's, and established a
sugar plantation here. The Ottley family continued to live on the
property through the 1800's. Four families owned the estate in the 20th
century before it was purchased by the current owners. It had remained a
sugar-growing estate for most of that time, and the Great House was a
private residence.
The Keusch-Lowell family had been visitors to St. Kitts for a number of years when in 1988, they made the decision to purchase the modest great house set on extraordinary grounds. Booksellers from Princeton, New Jersey, USA, they sold everything and started their St. Kitts adventure, which continues to this day.
The owners are very visible, coming by to chat a dinner, give advice on things to do and places to go, offering to pack you a cooler for your next days adventures, or just offering stories about the plantation and island. The original structure is there, has been restored and added on to to create a fabulous place to be.
AND... THIS WAS our little front yard of our cottage.
Where I would LOVE to be at this moment.
So are you interested yet? Check back soon and often to see the adventures we shared and the amazing photographs
we took on the beautifully unique little St. Kitts.
Oh, did I mention there are monkeys??
Wild African green vervet monkeys to be exact. They are the little ones in the picture ....:.)
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