St Kitts
Visiting the two-island nation of St Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis is a wonderful and relaxing way to spend time in the Caribbean. Not nearly as well known or as crowded as some of the nearby neighbor islands, it's the perfect place to feel as if you've dropped off the map for a while. I rented a hilltop villa on St Kitts for a week-long stay and almost felt guilty for having discovered such an enchanting place that so few other people had heard of.
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My first glimpse of the island from the air.
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I chose a property in Ariel Heights above lovely Half Moon Bay. The bay itself is crowded with new condo and resort developments, but the surrounding hillsides could not have been more peaceful.
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Home sweet home for the week. The house I rented was the last one at the end of the road up the hill with stunning views of Nevis to the south and the capital city of Basseterre to the north.
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The incredible view north towards Basseterre from my own private deck. I could -- and did -- stare at it for hours over the course of my stay. It was a true delight to watch the landscape below change from one beautiful vision to the next with the gradual shifts in weather and lighting.
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Driving slowly around the island is a great way to admire traditional Caribbean pastel color schemes and the architecture of so many dream homes. Where else in the world do private pools come with stunning views like these?
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The massive Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, St Kitts' premier sightseeing locale. The first cannon were mounted on the hill in 1690 by the British in an effort to dislodge French settlements on the coast. The fortress remained in use until 1852. A national park was declared on its grounds in 1985, and the fortress became a UNESCO World Heritage site four years later, the only such site in all of the West Indies.
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The local seafood certainly could not have been any fresher.
Below, a treat to myself: lunch at the Frigate Bay Resort after a successful day of scuba diving.
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From the very southern tip of St Kitts at Cockleshell Bay, gazing at cloud-shrouded Nevis on the horizon just a short car ferry ride away.
