Where in the world is Nevis?
Our fourth country was St. Kitts & Nevis (nee-vis). Yes, two small neighboring islands form one 30-year-old sovereign nation within the Commonwealth of the UK. The islands are a part of the “West Indies” in the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Puerto Rico and just north of Venezuela. Before four weeks ago, we didn’t know it existed, and we certainly didn’t know how to pronounce it!
Mid-July brought the first major augmentation to the trip (as planned)—we had to back out of visiting Nicaragua. There are a lot of protests against the current government (which happens) but the violence escalated to use of chemical weapons against protestors (also affecting bystanders) and the riots have yielded large fires and destruction in one of the areas that we planned to visit. In fact, 300 people have died since April, as reported here. So back in Belize, we started researching alternative locations.
My instant reaction was for us to spend a week in Cuba, but we still had another week to play with. Meanwhile, we ran into a lovely couple that suggested the island of Utila, Honduras and we got really excited about a diving week there, especially since Zayan would be SCUBA certified too. The thought was Honduras, Cuba, and then back to plan, in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, the Utila experience was really contingent on one boutique location, Utopia, that would not accept kids under 12 (they had just had a very bad experience with kids our age and created age restrictions).
Since I wouldn’t budge on Cuba, we knew we would be in the heart of the Caribbean Sea. Why not look around there? We researched so many candidates (that are now on our Travel List) but found many of them to either be very “resorty” or very intrepid. For instance, many of you know that reggae is basically our home soundtrack, so Jamaica was of huge interest. I was picturing some local Rasta vibes in a remote beach town, but as we kept researching, we found Kingston to be much less like we pictured and the beaches to be groomed by resorts like Sandals. Don’t get me wrong, we like resorts too, but as we keep explaining to the kids, this is not a year of “vacation”, but a year of “living as travelers” which means different experiences and of course, a different price point!
Google is a miraculous tool…and I am not just giving it props because I live in Mountain View, CA (Google HQ)! I started searching “diving, CNN (because I love their travel tips, and I will forever be an Anthony Bourdain fan), Caribbean island, hidden, secret” and a few articles on Nevis popped-up. In reading one of the articles, I realized that Nevis was Alexander Hamilton’s birthplace and I knew the kids would be excited…at least we already knew about their massive hurricane (“in the eye of the hurricane it is quiet…”), even if it was in the 1800s! The final sign from the stars was stumbling upon The Hermitage. It seemed like a remote (non-resorty), quaint, historical location for us to call “home” for a week...and it was exactly that!
We arrived at night and couldn’t see much of anything, so it was a lovely surprise to wake up in paradise! Kenza found bunnies and friends, and Zayan and Kaysan found a pool, tennis court, and lots of cool wildlife (i.e., vervet monkeys, birds, lizards, and bugs). We were on the grounds of one of the oldest buildings on the island, amidst the mountains, but with a view of the ocean in the distance below. The Hermitage staff and guests were so friendly, and the food was soo delicious, that we all felt extremely cared for. With a pleasant climate and less bugs, we found our week in Nevis to be the type of respite we needed from our four weeks of travel.
Our car, that we affectionately named, Gus Reginald Suzuki, took us around both islands of St. Kitts and Nevis (see our Instagram Highlights of Nevis). We learned that they are both very tiny (St. Kitts is 174 sq miles and 93 sq miles), holding less than 60,000 people collectively. Both islands are easy to navigate as you just stick to one main road on each island which hugs the coast and provides vistas of volcanoes and old plantation fields (nestled along the trade route, St. Kitts and Nevis, has a history of exporting rum, sugar, and cotton, all on the backs of slaves).
Below are our collective top 14 highlights/insights from our time spent in Nevis, in no particular order:
- All: The Hermitage. We loved this perfect, hospitable location and will definitely return. Note: Low tourist season is much more affordable.
- Kapil: Hiking the Nevis Peak with a new buddy, Justin and being pleasantly surprised how challenging the hike was
- Kenza: I liked being with friends and learning about the place that Alexander Hamilton grew up in!
- All: The white-sand beaches were beautiful and didn’t have any Sargassum seaweed on them. Kenza learned how to make a perfect sandball.
- Kids: We didn’t love the actual black sand beach, but we thought it was so cool to do science on the beach and learn about the volcanic magnetite.
- Zayan (and Aila/Kapil): Diving the shipwreck, Christina that went down in 2014. Though the story of 233 casualties was tragic, the dive site was stunningly beautiful (at a depth of 70ft).
- All (except Kenza): The coconut French toast at The Hermitage! Yummmmm…
- All: The Island Feast at The Hermitage. If you visit Nevis, you must reserve a spot at the feast which only happens on Wednesdays.
- Kids: We were lucky that they had a seasonal inflatable water park in the ocean for the local kids. It was smaller than the one in Spain that we went on with our cousins, but still fun!
- Kaysee: Playing tennis with Daddy, but I didn’t like being sick for two days.
- Aila: The 10 minutes visiting the Nevis Hot Springs was a welcomed relief for my bug bites!
- Kaysee: We saw a new kind of monkey. Fun fact about the vervet monkeys—They were brought over by the Europeans because they were used to climb the mast and look out for land. They have excellent vision and hated the sea so much that they would get very excited when they spotted land.
- All: Like the wild chickens that were once in captivity in Kauai, Nevis has wild random donkeys all over the island. Donkey sightings are pretty common but entertaining nonetheless.
- All: We loved our new additions to our #global_family…Maryanne, Justin, Jenny, Izzie, Anna, Ryan, Claire, Rene, Tish, Sean, Kadeem, Mr. Lupi, Mr. Ellis…the list goes on and on. We made some great new friends and spending time with them made our trip to Nevis all the more memorable.
The whole family strongly recommends the island of Nevis for your next vacation. It is beautiful and offers the perfect blend of culture and leisure. We will be back for sure!
For more photos and videos in Nevis, see our Instagram posts and story highlights @franklin_street_globetrotters!
54 Likes, 1 Comments - Franklin Street Globetrotters (@franklin_street_globetrotters) on Instagram: "Today's science class covered three grades and multiple concepts: magnetic force, volume..."
36 Likes, 1 Comments - Franklin Street Globetrotters (@franklin_street_globetrotters) on Instagram: "The Nevis Hot Spring Bath was part of the Bath Hotel that was built in 1778 for the rich and famous..."
23 Likes, 1 Comments - Franklin Street Globetrotters (@franklin_street_globetrotters) on Instagram: "One of the most random facts about Nevis is that they have (now) wild donkeys! They love to hang..."
59 Likes, 2 Comments - Franklin Street Globetrotters (@franklin_street_globetrotters) on Instagram: "It happened...the Nevis Island grand finale-the traditional feast! Thank you to the amazing staff..."
35 Likes, 5 Comments - Franklin Street Globetrotters (@franklin_street_globetrotters) on Instagram: ""Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?" For all us Hamilton fans out there...this is where..."
