The land in the distance is the Brimstone Hill Fortress
Where they used to distill the rum
At the endge of the rain forest
Next, we went to the Caribelle Batik Factory. Batik is what you see on all the sarongs on different islands. The patterns on the clothing is hand made. I’m really not sure if it’s wax or something similar but they draw it on and then melt it off…..ok, not really sure what I’m talking about here—but it’s something like that. J Here they had really pretty grounds and beautiful gardens.
Caribelle Batik. Old ruins
After this we drove back the way we came and headed further south. On the drive through a town we saw a tiger shark being brought up from the water. The guys that had caught it (I’m guessing from a fishing boat) we so excited and happy! They were showing it off as they wheeled it up from the shore. It was a big one, already gutted and everything.
One of the best views we saw all week was here on St. Kitts where the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic were divided by land and you could see both from up high at a viewing area. The beach we were going to is down on the lower right hand side of some of the photos.
This is zoomed in to the beach we went to, South Friar's
Best view we saw all week!
After this we went on the beach. I really liked this beach because it offered a lot of everything. There was jet ski rentals, a bar and restaurant, snorkeling areas, a big sunning/diving platform, lots of umbrellas and chairs for shade, monkeys. Yes, monkeys!! Wild monkeys and mongoose just roaming around!
Plus the water was nice and clear. Glad we ended up at this beach! Another couple that was on the tour wanted to rent jet skis so we walked down to that area with them to find out the price. If we both got them they would charge us $45 for 30 minutes. We thought that was reasonable so listened to the rules, threw on our lifejackets and hopped on! We were restricted to staying a certain distance out and in-between a certain area. But we could go out as far as we wanted! At first I wanted to go out really far. Tim would drive us out and then come back in. We kept doing this and every time he went out further! Total anxiety!!! I wonder how deep the water was out there. I didn’t drive cuz I was too scared to switch spots on fall off in the ocean!! Jet skiing in the ocean- two thumbs up! Glad we did it! After we turned the jet ski back in we lounged in the sand. Tim took a nap, I took in the sights. After awhile I got back in the water to snorkel the length of the coral. Here I saw lots of fish, some really colorful. None that big, which was ok with me! I also saw LOTS of sea urchins with looonnnngggggg spines. The longest I’d seen. I would guess some spines were 10-12 inches. Once I was done snorkeling, Tim was ready to hit the water for a little bit before we had to meet up with the rest of our group for the ride back to the ship.
Throughout the whole vacation we took into consideration if we could live there. As we were planning our trip we watched lots of House Hunters International and I decided it would be a goal/dream of mine to have a house on an island someday. Tim agreed! So we made sure to think about whether or not we could live on any of the islands we visited. I decided St. Kitts would be my choice. For some reason, hard to pinpoint why exactly, St. Kitts was my favorite island.
Once back on the ship we got some sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, fries, and of course frozen yogurt! This afternoon was a Battle of the Sexes game that Tim wanted to catch. We made sure to be there for that. They played one game and had a hard time getting others to volunteer for the next one. I made Tim just up there with me and we waited to see what our task would be. We were on a team of 3 and we had to circle the pool area holding a golf ball on a ping-pong paddle. Tim beat me in our round, I was too worried about dropping the dang thing. Us females lost the relay L But we both got a cruise ship medal!! Lol After the short game we went up to Deck 11 and played a round of miniature golf. It was actually a pretty fun course and I beat Tim!!--- Did anyone believe that?? Cuz I didn’t, he actually smoked me. I didn’t do too horribly and actually beat him on two holes!!
Once dinner came around we still weren’t too hungry but decided to go to the dining room for apps and dessert! And we had a blackjack tournament to get to. There is a blackjack tournament held on Friday night and Tim wanted to enter. He has really good luck in Vegas at the tables so we were hoping for the same here, too! So we ordered quickly and were on our way. We got the chicken noodle soup, wild mushroom soup, the tomato and mozzarella salad, chicken tenders with thai spices, the raspberry cake, and of course the chocolate melting cake! All good! Tim’s luck wasn’t as good as some of the other guys’ and his name didn’t stay on the leaderboard too long L He played a few rounds and I hit the fairy slot machine again. And even won some again!
Tonight we also saw a new comedian that was pretty funny. We really didn’t drink too much on the ship at all but while in the comedy club we ordered a couple. I got the Kiss on the Lips, mango puree, peach schnapps, and grenadine. Fruity and not too much alcohol- just how I like it! A good drink to recreate for summertime!!
Tomorrow – St. Maarten and the last full day on the ship L