Our Egypt BFFs come to town!

Rob and I have been really lucky to have a lot of friends and family come visit us since we moved to St. Kitts. My cousin Lia and friend Mauri came down in October for my birthday, my cousin JP came in Feb/March, my parents visited the beginning of April, and most recently, our friend Beth and Damian visited from the UK.

Damian and Beth by the river at Wingfield Estate.

We met Beth and Damian in 2010 when we moved to Egypt. Beth, like me, worked in Dr. Zahi's office. The four of us quickly bonded over living abroad in Cairo. We hadn't seen each other in a year; since Rob and I moved back to the states last April. I was really excited when B&D booked their trip to St. Kitts! The best part was they planned a nice long 10 day vacation!

They arrived on Tuesday April 17th, smack in the middle of Rob's finals! Luckily, he only had two finals to go (and yes Rob passed all his classes, is moving up to 3rd semester, and has a 3.0 GPA!), and was able to spend time with our guests for the majority of their trip. The first full day they were here was a beach day- Rob had a final and I had to work. So, I dropped them at the beach at noon and picked them up at 4. Thursday was Rob's last final of the semester, so Beth, Damian, and I met Rob and his fellow students at port from some salted cod johnny cakes and some frozen cocktails. Salted cod johnny cakes is local fare, and Damian was eager to taste one. Beth opted for a chicken johnny cake, I don't blame her (salted cod=
yuck).

Since Rob was done with finals, he had plenty of time to hang out with our guests. We had a beach day and Beth and Damian went snorkeling. Beth had never been before, and I was pleased that they were able to see some cool stuff. Damian found a bunch of sand dollars, and once back on shore he promptly sat on and broke all of them!  Rob also took Beth and Damo on an island tour, driving them completely around the island and giving them a lay of the land. We visited Brimstone Fortress and learned about its history AND saw loads of monkeys! That night we ate at Sprat Net's and watched a beautiful Caribbean sunset. Life is hard in the islands.

Sunset from Sprat Net

On our second trip into town we had more Johnny cakes, and Beth was the victim of an exploding hot sauce bottle. She twisted the top off, and it sounded like a champagne bottle being uncorked. Hot sauce flew all over Beth and the wall next to her. The hot sauce was coming out of the bottle like lava erupting from a volcano. It was gross. Needless to say, no one used THAT hot sauce. After lunch, we visited the National Museum, housed in the old Treasury Building. It was a small museum, only three rooms, but very interesting and educational.

Damian, me, and Rob at the Main Ordnance Store at Brimstone

We also went on two turtle walks. We went out to Keys Beach at 8pm, and met up with the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network, in the hopes of seeing some Leatherback turtles come on the beach to nest. The first night we were there from 8pm til 1:30am. No turtles. Well, we found out the next day one came up at 2am!!! We tried to go out again on Wednesday night, two days later, we stayed from 8pm-2am, NO turtles!!! We were really bummed out. Apparently, this year has been a very slow nesting season. I guess usually there are 1-3 turtles a night, and this year they will go days with no turtles nesting.

Wednesday during the day Beth and Damian went on a mini hike to the Bat Cave (although, they didn't climb over the boulder). They did enjoy the jungle-y scenery, the petroglyphs, and Beth got a wicked bruise on her thigh (although, I don't think she enjoyed that).  Thursday I took B&D to do some more sightseeing at Wingfield Estate and Romney Manor. They were able to buy a few souvenirs and gifts for people back home at Caribelle Batik. Friday morning we did a bit more gift buying in Port Zante, and then we were headed to Reggae Beach.  Of course, my wonderful island car decided not to start. It seemed the battery had died. I called Ross security, and they sent the mobile unit out to jump the car. Interestingly, it seemed that when the guy pulled the plastic off the terminal the lights came on... weird. But just to be safe we connected and jumped. Success.

Down to Reggae we went! We had some lunch, waited for a small rain shower to pass, then grabbed some beach chairs and lounged away. Well, I lounged away. Beth and Damian did some more snorkeling alone and with Rob. They found some really cool shells, including a small conch that was perched atop a large sponge. They couldn't figure out how it got there, but it looked cool so they grabbed it. Later, as we were packing up to head home, Damian was deciding which shells he should keep. Rob had found the one sitting on the sponge, so Damo handed it to me to hold. All of a sudden the shell jerked in my hand. I, being a huge baby, freaked out and threw it on the chair. Beth peeked inside, and sure enough there was a HUGE hermit crab living in the shell! We decided to set him free, and put him back in the water so he could climb up his sponge to his penthouse apartment in the sea.

Beth and me at Brimstone

Saturday was the day Beth and Damian had to fly back, but first Trevor and I took them over to SNAPPER, where the rehab turtles live. We got a "free" tour since those selfish Leatherbacks refused to show during our night walks! Beth and Damo got to meet some cute little hatchlings, Brimmie and Frodo (my two favorites), and poor two flipper Olivia. No giant, wild, Leatherbacks, but I am glad they got to see some sea turtles nonetheless.

Damian and Rob and a cannon.

Later that afternoon we had to say goodbye and part ways at the airport. It was so great to have Beth and Damian here that it was hard to say goodbye to them. I hope we don't have to go another year before seeing each other again. Maybe next year, Rob and I can make a trip to England... even though it will probably be cold and rainy... ;)

Oh... and if you haven't hear, I'm pregnant! If you are interested, I have created a pregnancy blog, and you can follow it here.