As we headed back to the pier to board the ship we passed by a man with a Green Velvet monkey.
Everyone loves Green Velvet monkeys, they're a cute non-face-eating type of monkey.
The kids each got to hold the monkey and have him perch on their heads while the monkey had a snack.
He was a cute and well behaved monkey and well worth the few bucks the experience cost and the kids loved it.
We then boarded the ship and said goodbye to St. Kitts.
Next Stop: Tortola.
After the unfortunate cannon deficit in San Juan, I was hoping to get some history in St. Kitts of a military and canonical nature and I was not disappointed.
Batik factory and a plantation house/hotel were very nice for my traveling companions, but there needed to be a fort and cannons on this tour, and there indeed was.
The Brimstone Fort is known as the Gibraltar of the Caribbean.
A dry moat separates the Citadel from the rest of the fort.
The first cannons were mounted on Brimstone Hill in 1690 as the English and French fought for control of the island, and the English kept on adding to the fortress after that and kept on upgrading and expanding it for a hundred years.
In 1782, a force of 8,000 French besieged the fortress with its 1,000 defenders from the Royal Scots and East Yorkshire regiments as well as local militia. The fortress held for a month before surrendering on February 12. The French, in recognition of the British force's gallantry allowed them to march out with all the honors of war. The fortress was ceded back to the British at the Treaty of Versailles and it was in use until abandoned in 1852.
The bastions had interlocking fields of fire for the fort to command the seas and ground near it.
The fort with its Citadel and multiple bastions has a commanding view of the town.
And views of the seas and neighboring islands.
Interestingly, the fort featured multiple shear drops in various locations, without any "watch your step signs" or safety railings, it was a rather different and healthy view on liability due to tourist stupidity should they fail to watch their step, I suppose.
Cannons were everywhere you looked, including a line of small ones to keep the parking lot and approaches under control.
Brimstone Fortress is a very impressive edifice at the top of a hills and a very nice restoration has been done by its historical society, making it a fantastic place to visit. The visitor center has an introductory film about the site and maps are provided for a walking tour of the entire fort, and I happily walked the grounds for as long as the time was allotted for the tour stop.
My cannon cravings sated, we headed back to the ship.
On the morning of February 8, 2016, we followed a pilot boat and pulled into the harbor at St. Kitts.
On arrival, we had signed up for a tour of St. Kitts. The tour guide, who was also the bus driver, had a very thick island accent. He handled this by repeating everything twice, which helped immensely. What didn't help was the families with very unruly smaller kids that were noisy and not paying attention at all.
It began with a tour of the town of Basseterre then on to an old plantation house and now luxury hotel called Fairview.
The house/hotel has some awesome views.
There was also a pool where you could dip your toes in the water as you wandered around the property.
Then we headed to Caribelle Batik Studios where they make Batik fabric by hand and numeorus items from the fabric.
We were able to watch and learn how Batik fabric is made - the fabric is lowered into dyes with a pattern painted on in wax, and the process is repeated with more dyes until the final design is complete.
Very cool to see and Tash who likes to use Batiks in quilting really enjoyed the presentation and viewing all the various fabrics.
We wandered around the grounds and saw more Batik fabrics and some nice gardens and then got back on the bus to our next stop.
