Island Wheels!

Rob and I are the proud new owners of a 1996 Toyota Rav4!  Yay!

Ok, it's old, it's beat up, and it needs some parts. why would we buy and old, beat up car that needs parts? Cause ALL the cars on the island are the same. This car isn't so bad... there are way worse here on St. Kitts.

Right side drive

Check out the sweet, squiggly sticker on the rear door

Pretty Classy, huh?

Monkey Hill Hike

On Mondays a group of VIPs get together and hike somewhere around the island. I decided to join them this past Monday on the Monkey Hill Hike. Apparently is is named for the Green Vervet Monkeys that have been seen there, we did not see any on our trip. There were a ton of cows though... and I do not like cows.

We met at school at about 8am and headed over to the hill, which is over 1000 ft tall... a big hill. we had to walk through a town, I believe it's called Belle Vue, to get to the main trail head. We hiked past a field full of cows, and a big house with some very loud dogs. There are supposed to be ruins of one of the old Great Houses, but I didn't see anything this time. The hike up was relatively easy, but it was very humid. I didn't have a scrap of dry clothing to wipe my sweaty brow with. I had a sheen of sweat covering my entire body. So gross.

View of Basseterre and the Southeast Peninsula. The Atlantic Ocean is on the left and the Caribbean Sea is on the right.

Once at the top we had amazing views of Bassterre, Port Zante, the airport, and the Southeast Peninsula (with the Atlantic Ocean on the left, and the Caribbean Sea on the right). It was beautiful! Check out all the photos here.  I was kind of a nerd and made it Lost themed (the show Lost).

Oh, two more thing, unrelated to hiking. Rob passed his first exam! Hooray! Tuesday nights are trivia here on St. Kitts. Last night our team, Ting Country, won first place!!! Yay!

Sandstorms and Snorkeling at Shipwreck!

Yesterday was a sunny, sandy, snorkel-y day at Shipwreck beach!  Trevor, Candice, Vanessa, Jessica, and I all headed to the beach at about noon (Rob, Brayton, Kate, and Leann came later, after the Microanatomy study session). It was a real nice beach day, sun shining, super clear water- perfect for snorkeling!

Candice and I snorkeled a bit right off the beach and saw some real cool fish and reef balls- concrete balls sunk to create artificial reefs. The reef balls looked pretty new, not to many fish or corals had moved in yet. I can't wait to see how it changes over the next two years.

Shipwreck Beach.

Later in the afternoon Rob, Trevor, Kate, Leann, and Brayton walked to the end of the beach to go snorkeling around some big rocks. They were gone for quite awhile, and they missed what was the closest thing to a sandstorm I've seen since leaving Egypt! It was REALLY windy at the beach, it was blowing so hard the sand hurt when it hit you. It went on for about 20-30 min, with varying levels of wind-speed. By the time it was over I was covered with sand... I looked like a breaded cutlet! I still have sand in my ears.

The non-snorkelers- Candice, Vanessa, Jessica and I decided to go find our fishy friends. We followed their path to the end of the beach, discovering a really calm, clear cove- with a nearly complete restaurant (allegedly opening next month- I hope it's good). At the edge of the cove there was a rocky outcropping with a murky lagoon on the opposite side. We didn't see the snorkelers at first, but eventually we saw them swimming back our way.

Kate and her awesome conch shell

Kate had found a HUGE, beautiful, orange and pink Queen Conch shell. Rob also found a conch shell, but it was smaller and pretty bleached out.  Rob did get some really great snorkeling photos- so, if the vet thing doesn't work out, he clearly has a future in underwater photography. (I kid, I kid! We all know he is going to kick butt in school!) He saw a sea slug (he thinks), squid, and a Lion fish.  Seeing the lion fish is interesting because they are not native to the Atlantic or Caribbean; they are an invasive species and they are harming the local marine ecosystem. Rob's classmate Alyssa said they people are allowed to KOS (kill on site), but I don't know if that is true. Plus, lion fish have nasty venomous spines... so, I not sure I am interested in fighting one to the death!

Sea Slug (we think)

Lion Fish

We all stopped to get dinner at Pizza Boys, one of the local pizza joints. Verdict? Meh. As anyone who has met me knows, I am something of a pizza snob. It was better than Egypt, but not as good as back home. Oh well...

Rob and I stayed in last night so he could get some more studying in before his big test Monday.  We went to bed around midnight, and at 7 this morning Rob had me awake. For the first time in over 5 years, the first time since we have been together, Rob was sick. My poor hubs was so dizzy he could barely stand, and when he did try to stand, the dizziness was so bad it made him sick-physically sick. Rob said it felt like the world's worst hang over... which is unfortunate considering he didn't have any alcohol yesterday. Rob has been in and out of bed all day, all while trying to study without the room spinning. He is now attempting to study with Brayton downstairs in the study room. I was not pleased since he was swaying down the steps. Oh well, Mr. Stubborn Pants does whatever he wants. I just hope he's better by 10am tomorrow when his test begins.

If you would like to see the rest of our pictures from yesterday, click here!

One month down!

Rob and I have been living in St. Kitts for a whole month already! 

Only 84 days til we are home for Christmas!

Rob finished his third week of classes today, and next Monday he has his first test (in Microanatomy).  He also has a mock exam on Thursday in regular Anatomy.  Feel free to email, call, or facebook him a good luck message. Even though he studies like a mad mad, I'm sure he'll take all the good juju sent his way. :)

I am settling into housewife/VIP living pretty well. I don't mind cooking, or doing laundry, I could do without the sweeping, mopping, and I hate our bathroom. Dirty dishes I hate the MOST. We have a tiny sink and every time I turn around there seems to be a sink full of dirty dishes. Bleh. I am trying very hard to do all of it myself so Rob can study all the time.

Being a VIP is easier and more fun. Tuesday was volleyball at Elvis' again, Wednesday I went to the food market here on campus (several fruit, veg, and meat vendors, including the Rastafarians, come to campus to sell goods), and on Thursday Trevor and I went to a pool party at Kori's apartment complex (she's a 7th semester VIP). Today Trevor and I managed to wake up and get to the gym on campus before it got busy.  I headed back up to campus to have lunch with Rob, which was fun.  This afternoon Trevor and I ran by port to buy some local rum (yay for duty free), and the grocery before our spouses got home. I was able to secure the necessary ingredients for some super yummy chili! Our friends are all going to see the movie Contagion tonight, but Rob and I were feeling like homebodies, so we are in for the night.

Carnival ship Victory from our apartment.

As the sun was setting tonight, I noticed something sparkly out our window facing Port Zante. The Carnival cruise ship Victory was leaving port and was all lit up! Victory starts out in San Juan, Puerto Rico, then visits ports in St. Thomas, Barbados, St.Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. It was really pretty to see, and I get to see the ships leave every week!

She was much closer than she looks in the picture.

Tomorrow is hopefully another beach day. I think we are going to try to go snorkeling at Shipwreck beach. This week we are supposed to get hit, or nearly missed by Tropical Storm Ophelia. I'm not to worried as of yet, but we shall see if she strengthens.

Next Thursday Rob and I will have something exciting to share! Don't get your panties in a wad. It's not really exciting, just kind of.

Finally, in 31 days my cousin Lia and my friend Mauri will be visiting me and Rob for my birthday! I cannot WAIT to see them. They are two of my best friends and they were both in our wedding. I am very excited to share our new home with them! Lia is also really excited that there is no revolution like when she came to Egypt!

Holidays, markets, and beachfest

This week has flown by! Rob was stuck in class all day, but I had some adventures with my fellow VIPs.

Tuesday is volleyball day at Elvis's bar for VIPs. So, Trevor and I got a ride from our friend Anthony and headed over. I was the only lady there, and the boys were playing a bit to intense for me, so I pulled up a lounge chair and relaxed with my book by the water. Even though I didn't get to meet/hang out with any other VIP ladies, I did meet some guys that I hadn't met before. Tuesday night I headed to trivia with Trevor and Kate, and Matt. It was quite possibly the absolute worst game of trivia ever. I can't even talk about it. It wasn't that we lost badly, the people running the game were complete morons.

Wednesday was another beach day. Nothing special, just a couple hours at the beach. Thursday and Friday were stay at home days for the most part. I had my first VIP book club meeting (we are reading Game of Thrones). Rob and I also test drove some cars, one we hated, one we liked. Neither are great cars, but they are decent enough for island cars. We shall see how that pans out.

Today I went to the local food market with Cassie, Candice, and Vanessa. The market is in Basseterre and not for the faint of heart. There are lots of fruits and veg, REAL cinnamon (the kind that has recently been ripped off the tree in really big pieces), lots of spices, and the creepiest meat section.  This is the kind of market where none of the fruit is perfect- bumps and bruises are commonplace, but the price is right and the people are nice! I really wish I had had my camera... next time I promise to obtain photo-documentation. I bought a huge avocado, some tomatoes, bay leaves, and some free tarragon (which I have not used before).  It was really cool! The meat house... not so cool. I was not creep-ed out by the skinned goat head on the counter (I've seen that in Astoria), nor was I creep-ed out by the whole sides of beef and pork (with heads still attached- I've seen that in Egypt... well, not the pigs). I was, however, real grossed out by the WHOLE, smelly, not fresh looking, string ray sitting on the counter. I cannot stomach meat in hot and smelly (NOT refrigerated) environments. Same reason I had a difficult time buying beef in Egypt after watching them butcher the side outside in the heat. Gross.

This afternoon was Beachfest, hosted by the SCUBA club and held at Reggae Beach. It was alright, but it was way to crowded for my taste. For $70EC, it was all you could drink and a hamburger or hotdog and fries. There were a ton of Rossies there, so it was hard to find anywhere to sit, and the beach was packed with drunks students. It was still fun to hang out with our friends; I don't get to see a lot of my student friends during the week, and I miss them! We swam, played bag-o (or corn hole), some people played volley ball and frisbee... it was nice. I also got to read a lot of my book for book club. Around the agreed upon leaving time it began to POUR... torrential downpour. We rode with Sackville, our taxi guy, so we had to wait until the rain let up a bit; the roads are very dicey out by Reggae Beach.

We are hanging out at home now, I think we are meeting up with friends later and getting some Chinese delivery for dinner. It's certainly not the best Chinese food, but it is WAY better than the kind we got in Egypt!

Oh, I totally forgot to tell you about the Kittitian holidays this weekend! Friday was Hero's Day here is St. Kitts. It is a national holiday here, honoring their heroes (I assume war heroes, but I'm not positive). Most businesses were closed, but not Ross University.  Monday is St. Kitts Independence day! Hooray! Happy 28th Birthday St.Kitts! Yup, St. Kitts is the same age as me! Ross University is closed Monday, so all the students have a three day weekend. There is a big parade planned for Monday. It starts at 7am... so I don't know if I will make it... :)

Sorry that there are no pictures today friends, I didn't bring the camera to the market, but I promise I will next time!

Olympics, Mustaches, and Tropical Storm Maria

When last we spoke, I told tale of Rob and the Red semester's soccer prowess.  Since that first day of the Olympics, we have been having more fun! Thursday was kickball day, both Rob's team and my VIPs were out first round. Rob was a good boy though; since we got home early he went and studied his butt off at the anatomy lab with his friend Brayton.  I watched TV and ate cookies. My life is hard too.  Friday was flag football. Red won their first game, lost their second, and was SUPPOSED to play for third place. However, they skies opened up, and people scattered. Unfortunately, the rain didn't last and Red had to forfeit because they did not have enough players.  The Yellow VIPs played a great game against the 7th semester Orange team.  However, flag football turned into tackle football. We were winning, then close to the end of the game Orange scored to grab the lead. Yellow was able to make a last second touchdown, only to be told, oh sorry time already ran out! We never win.

After football was the BOSP, or the beginning of the semester party. It was located at the "Dome House" which is literally a house in the shape of a dome. It was a bit weird. There is a theme each semester, and this semester's theme was mustaches (I have no idea, don't ask). If you wanted to get in, you had to have a mustache. Rob, Brayton, Leann (Brayton's wife), and I all banned together and made matching 'staches. They were very fancy. We were some of the first people there, and it looked like it was going to be quite lame. After an hour or so, things really picked up and tons of people were there.  We hadn't eaten dinner, and I was starving. Since other people also mentioned being hungry, we decided the only course of action was to order pizza. To a stranger's house, in a neighborhood we didn't know... After about 45 minutes and several phone calls from the delivery boy, we finally got our pizzas and promptly scarfed them down. Best idea ever. We headed home around midnight, which might have been the second best idea ever because it started to pour after that.  Rob and I went to bed assuming that Tropical Storm Maria was upon us.

Mustachioed friends.

When I awoke Saturday morning, I saw the clear, blue, sunny sky and immediately thought I was dreaming. We were told Maria was coming Saturday, and I was prepared to spend a rainy day in my pajamas watching movies.  I was not dreaming, it was, in fact, a clear, blue, sunny day. I called up our friends and we planned a beach day. We figured we wouldn't waste a beautiful Saturday just because a tropical storm was headed our way! The Marriott beach, on the Atlantic coast, was our destination, and we were not disappointed. We spent several spectacular hours in the nice warm, clear water. The waves were a bit choppy, but not the worst I've seen.  The Marriott beach is artificial, so there are several areas where they have placed rocks as barriers. We stayed in front of the rocks; the water was calmer, and the waves crashing on the rocks was really pretty. After rinsing in the pool, we headed back to Ross via the grocery store. Due to the alleged tropical storm, everything was shut down and we had to try three store before we found one open. Oy Vey.

Waves at the Marriott Beach

Last night Brayton and Leann had some people over for what was supposed to be a hurricane party, but Maria failed to make an appearance. We drank a lot of rum, ate salad, guacamole, and buffalo chicken dip. We also played a lot of card games; Rob and I realized that out of the five card games we brought we forgot our beloved Phase 10! Devastation. Despite the lack of Phase 10, a good time was had by all (especially the boys).

It's like we're back in college. Yikes.

This morning when I woke up, I realized that Tropical Storm Maria must have gotten tired of all the trash I was talking because it was cloudy, rainy, and the surf in the Caribbean was pretty high. My first thought was, "hey, why don't we go down to the beach and take some pictures and video?" Luckily, I have a wilder-y husband and off we went with our friend Trevor. The rain had slowed, but the wind was so strong I needed help opening the door to our building!  We made the trek down to the water meeting some angry looking cats and millions of very adorable hermit crabs along the way. Once down at the beach gazebo, we were not disappointed by old Maria. The waves were really cool, exploding into mist upon hitting the rocks. The water was neatly split into three colors: murky green near shore, bright aqua just off shore, and deep dark blue farther out. After we had our fill of splish-splashing we headed back home. On the way we met a super cute lizard hanging out upside down on a palm tree. His body was bright green, but his tail was reddish brown. Rob took about 100 pictures of him; Hurricane lizard likes to model.

Ross Beach during Tropical Storm Maria

Same shot as above, different wave!

Now we are all settled in for the day. Rob is studying like the vet school nerd he is, and I plan on watching food network for the next 8 hours! Hopefully Tropical Storm Maria will spin out today and we'll be back to beautiful weather!

Close up of Lizardo the fantastic Hurricane Lizard.

For all of the pictures from the last few days click here.
Side note: my cousin Lia has booked her trip down here for my birthday! I can't wait to see her in October!

Semester Olympics!

At the beginning of each term, Ross hosts the Semester Olympics. For four days each semester AND the VIPs compete in various sports. Different colors represent each of the semesters and the VIPS. Rob's class color is red, and the VIPs (my team) is yellow.

The Olympics began today with soccer. Initially, I planned to make one post at the end of the games with general recap. However, plans had to be changed.

Red made it all the way to the finals, beating Pink (5th semester) and Green (3rd Semester). In the finals they faced Blue (6th semester). Unfortunately they did not win first place, but given this was Red's first semester and first Olympics and had the fewest supporters, I think they did great!

Go Red!

Rob was an enthusiastic part of the soccer team, playing in each game and earning a skinned, bloody knee. Yay Rob!

The VIPs did not fair so well, and we were eliminated in the first round. Tomorrow is kickball. I am considering playing... A scary move for an "athletic supporter" such as myself.

Rob's White Coat Ceremony

At the beginning of each semester, Ross University honors its new students in the White Coat Ceremony. The new first semester veterinary students are giving their first white coat and they take the veterinary oath.  Yesterday was Rob's White Coat Ceremony.

Monday marked the first day of classes for Rob and his fellow first semester students. The last class of the day was canceled in order for the ceremony to be held. The program opened with a welcome from Dr. Saint Jean, large animal anatomy professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. He was followed by Dr. Cindy Lichty, a 2002 Ross graduate and the evening's keynote speaker. Then Dr. Gilbert Burns, the interim Dean, explained the significance of the white coat. Finally, the white coats were given out. Rob's class has about 170 students, Ross's largest class to date! After the class had donned their coats, they all stood and took the Veterinary Oath.

Getting his white coat

He already looks like a vet!

I was so excited and proud when Rob received his coat; he is only three years away from attaining his goal and becoming Dr. Robert Seerley, DMV!

The soon to be Dr. Seerley, DMV!

Click here for all the pictures from the ceremony!

Catamaran trip, snorkeling, and zip lining!

We have had quite the weekend! We began with our island tour on Friday with Sackville (the subject of my last post), went on a catamaran/snorkeling trip Saturday, and did some rain forest zip-lining Sunday!

Saturday morning we headed to Port Zante to catch our boat- the catamaran Swaliga. One of the crew is on St. Kitts' national football team (by which I mean soccer), and had played in an Olympic qualifying match the night before!  All of the incoming Ross students were invited, so there were three cats all together.

We left port and started our fun in the sun! Not 10 minutes after leaving, we saw a dolphin (according to our captain- it was kinda far off) doing some serious jumps, twirls, and flips off the starboard side of the cat! Unfortunately, I didn't have our camera out, and our aquatic acrobat had finished the show!

Shipwreck at Shitten Bay

We headed to Shitten Bay (yes, it is pronounced the way you are thinking) for some snorkeling. Shitten Bay (stop laughing) is a rocky beach with a shipwreck! The ship is on it's side on the beach and in the water, and is basically split in half. The water was so clear we could see to the bottom while still on the cat.  We donned our goggles and fins and jumped in.  Rob and I, plus some of our new friends, headed straight for the wreck. We saw urchins, puffer fish, squid, zebra looking fish, rainbow looking fish, a half purple/half yellow fish... I sound very knowledgeable, huh? I even saw a yellow snapper that looked to be a couple feet long! All I could think when I saw him was, "yum, you would be delicious in my bouillabaisse!"  Swimming around the ship was really neat because the waves echoed as they were breaking in the hull, and there was some kind of pipe (which was once on the deck of the ship) that would spout out water every minute or so.

Hello Squidward!

I could have snorkeled there all day, but alas, it was not to be. Once back on the cat we were treated to a tasty lunch prepared by the crew. We had pasta salad, red beans and rice, coleslaw, hot dogs, and bbq chicken. Yum yum yum!  From snorkeling we were to head to the island of Nevis, sister island to St. Kitts. Unfortunately, there was an unusually high swell and the catamarans couldn't (or perhaps wouldn't) make the journey. So, instead we went to cockleshell bay, home to Reggae Beach! (which you should ALL remember from my earlier post). My favorite part of the whole day was when the crew let Rob play the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song on his ipod. I felt like a pirate... of the Caribbean...

Snorkeling near the shipwreck

At Reggae we played some frisbee (or Bee as Rob and Trevor call it), did some more swimming, and just hung out. There was even a little sea snake swimming around with us. He was one cool dude, especially since he decided not to bite any of us!

Sea Snake at Reggae Beach

At around 4pm, we got back on the cats and sailed back to Port Zante.  We saw a bunch of flying fish on the way back. Those little suckers are fast, no way I could have snapped a picture of them if I tried!

Once back on dry land we got ready to go to Elvis' Love Shack for a beach bbq hosted by the upper semester Ross students.  We hung out for awhile and played bag-o (or bean bag toss, or cornhole, whatever you want to call it), and then walked up the beach to the Shiggidy Shack for karaoke. Our group was very brave; Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, Rehab by Amy Winehouse, It must have been love, Jesse's Girl by Rick Springfield, and Lean on me were ALL performed by  various members of our group. We had a few more songs planned, but putting your name on an organized list was a waste of time. The karaoke man basically called people in whatever order he deemed fit. By far the best part of karaoke was Rob and Trevor singing ALL of the songs from the side lines. Although I had a great time, I also had a wicked headache due to dehydration (and crappy singing), and was ready to go when Sackville picked us up at midnight.

Just when I thought the fun was over Trevor and Vanessa got into a friendly argument over how to Dougie (it's a newfangled dance) in the taxi just as we were pulling into Ross. Vanessa made mention that she was a black and/or orange belt in karate and Trevor took that as a challenge. Once out of the taxi, Trevor and Vanessa "stretched" and then began what I assume is drunken karate. It was freakin' hilarious. It looked as though Trevor was to be the victor, when Vanessa's friend Aaron threw Vanessa's sandal at Trev. I thought I saw the sandal wiz by Trevor's face and he fake fell. Apparently I saw the sandal ACTUALLY hit him the in right eye, and I totally missed the second sandal hit him square in the nuts. Of course I missed it; anyone who knows me knows that I was laughing my ass off. I always laugh when people get hurt- not my best quality. Things only got funnier when Rob insisted that he bounce Trevor up and down on the ground because he would feel better faster.  Oy vey. I was on the floor laughing. Literally. I couldn't stand I was laughing so hard.

Saturday was a good day.

Sunday we had even more fun! We went zip lining through the rain forest! We did five different zip lines (including the Monkey Trainer). The first one was "De Boss," the longest (1350 ft) and the slowest. It is 250 ft above the rain forest! I have never "zipped" before and I was a bit nervous.  They put you in this crazy harness, and clip you to your little wheelie thingy (the thing that rolls on the cable), and let you go! Once I was on my way, I realized being scared was ridiculous, because it was so much fun! I could see the rain forest below me, the mountains to my right, and the Caribbean sea to my left. Amazing.  After De Boss, we zipped on Mango Tango (1000 ft), then Brimstone Blast (900 ft, going 45 mph and a view of Brimstone Hill Fortress), and finally the River Rocker (only 500 ft, but really fast!). On the River Rocker there are double cables, so Rob and I got to race each other to the end.

Coming in for my zip line landing

Of course, my favorite part of the day was after zip lining. Sky Safaris is located on part of Wingfield Estate, and there are some amazing ruins from the sugar production buildings AND last year an excavation team discovered the remains of a rum distillery dating back to the 17th century! Jack Sparrow would be thrilled! The excavation team was volunteer based; I plan on doing some sleuthing to see if I can find the leader and maybe join up!

Wingfield Estate Ruins

After returning to Ross our group had to say goodbye to our wonderful orientation leader- Cassie. She has been friend/mentor/guide/badass volleyball player/dance partner/karaoke ringleader to all of us for the past 11 days.  I hope that once school starts and she is back with all her 6th Semester friends she still wants to be seen with all us "first-ies."

Tonight  we had a bunch of our group over to eat dinner and watch Pirates of the Caribbean (come on, can you blame us?). It was a great way to end our transition to island life.

Tomorrow is Rob's first day of vet school! Make sure to wish him luck!

As always, you can see ALL of our new pictures by clicking here for the catamaran trip, and here for the zip lining!

Island Tour with Sackville

Since we arrived on St. Kitts, our orientation group has been lucky enough to have been driven around by Mr. Sackville Grey.  Sackville owns a taxi and gives incredible island tours. Also, he's a really nice and funny guy.

Today Sackville treated the group to an island tour. We began at Ross' campus, and drove west north west along the Caribbean side of the island, around the "fat" part of the island to the Atlantic Coast, and cut across the island to Basseterre, and then back to campus. There were so many beautiful things to see and A LOT Of history to learn about.

I was most excited to see the petroglyphs found on the island. We did a drive by of the petroglyph representing fertility, and I was really upset to see that the carving had been painted over in white so that they could be seen easily. Ugh. I hope that I get another chance to see them... even if they are painted.

Fertility Petroglyph

Our first stop was Wingfield Estates, originally owned by Samuel Jefferson, the great great great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson (the 3rd US President). At some point Sammy sold a portion of his estate to the Earl of Romney, so it is also known as Romney Manor.

The old bell tower at Romney Manor

Currently the estate has a beautiful garden, and it is home to Caribelle Batik. They make different products using the batik dying process; it involves using wax and multiple dying to create a multicolored, layered design. Their products (clothing, pillow covers, placemats, oven mits... actually, there are WAY too many to list), are amazing. I will be doing some Christmas shopping there!

Our next stop was Brimstone Hill Fortress.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is known as the Gibralter of the West Indies. the fortress was built on a hill made up of lava and limestone that had been thrust up from the ocean, reaching about 800ft. There are sulfurous vents- these vents (and their smell) is how the hill got it's name of Brimstone. The fortress was started in the 1690s and construction continued intermittently until the 1790s.

Rob at Brimstone HIll Fortress

The fortress itself is amazing, but the views it offers are mind blowing. You can see for miles, and we were able to see the islands of Saba and St. Eustatius (both belonging to The Netherlands). It was a bit rainy while we were there, and we could see the rain pass between St. Kitts and St. Eustatius.

View from Brimstone Hill Fortress

we continued our driving tour around the fat part of the island, and made our third and fourth stops along the Atlantic Coast. Our third stop was along the coast, and we could see the islands of St. Barth's and St. Martin/St. Maarten. Our forth stop showed evidence of St. Kitts' volcanic past (many other islands in the Caribbean are volcanic). We were able to see the Black Rocks- volcanic rocks that once poured out of Mt. Liamuiga (Liamuiga means fertile earth, and was the name the Carib Indians originally gave St. Kitts).  The Black Rocks have cooled and hardened into a variety of shapes and a multitude of sizes. The waves crash and swirl around them, it's hypnotizing.
We continued along the Atlantic coast, cutting across the island to Basseterre, the capital, past the harbor, and back to Ross.

Black Rocks on the Atlantic coast

One sad note to its history involves the massacre of the native Carib Indians, known as the Kalinago, by the French and British in 1626. There is an area on the southern part of the island called Bloody Point; this is said to be where the extermination of the natives took place. Sackville said that legends holds that the nearby river turned red with blood so many lives were lost.

St. Kitts was the first colony in the West Indies, and it was from here that other colonies were settled. Due to this, it is known as the mother colony (or according to A TSHIRT I SPOTTED- THE HISTORIC CAPITAL OF THE WEST INDIES).

I love St. Kitts. It is rich in beauty and history.

***For more pictures (there are TONS more) please go to these two links: St. Kitts I and St. Kitts II***