St. Kitts is nicknamed “Monkey Island.” We learned why as soon as we walked through the cruise ship terminal in Basseterre.
We immediately found ourselves covered with the critters. Vervet moneys have called the island home for hundreds of years.
Unfortunately, the monkeys we met had been trained by a man who quickly snapped our picture. (I would have much rather watched the monkeys in the wild.) Anyway, we were very original and named them monkey, baby monkey and baby baby monkey. And then baby baby monkey PEED. ON. ME.
Travel Tip: After snapping your picture, the man with the monkeys will demand payment. Either barter with him BEFORE he takes the picture … or just walk away. (After he removes the animals from your head)
Long story short, to keep things from escalating, we paid the guy and decided we had our souvenir from St. Kitts, so on with the fun!
We decided to step away from trying to climb the island’s dormant volcano, and the cute sugar sightseeing train wasn’t running the day we were in port.
Instead we settled on taking things off road. We booked an ATV tour through Spectrum ATV Tours. The price was right at $200 for two people, so another splurge for us. I was a little nervous about this one. I’ve ridden on plenty of 4-wheelers, but I’ve never driven one. I was concerned about shifting and blah, blah, blah …
The reason the rest of my concerns were just “blah” is because I didn’t have any reason to be worried. We practiced by driving around a small track until everyone in our small group felt comfortable. Then we hit the dirt roads. We zoomed all around the island … through jungles … to historic ruins … and along fields of sugarcane.
The ruins are what’s left of Wingfield Estate. It once belonged to the ancestors of US president Thomas Jefferson. It was amazing to think just how long the buildings had been there.
At one point, our guide stopped next to a field and picked some cane. Then we each tried a small piece of the sugar cane, right out of the field. It was … interesting.
The final stop on the tour was a little batik factory. Women made all of the amazing things for sale by hand. We watched a woman basically “paint” a picture on fabric which would eventually become a wall hanging. It was mesmerizing! The batik factory was a perfect break from the sun, the heat, and the dirt of the ATVs.
After our break, we raced back to our starting point (I SMOKED my husband) and parked the ATVs. The members of our group toasted the adventure and we headed back to port.
Travel Tip: Little ones must be at least 5 to ride. You’ve gotta be at least 16 to drive on of the ATVs. I was happy that I’d worn sunglasses to keep some of the dirt out of my eyes. Sunscreen is a must for this activity. Everything is included in the price of this tour, except food, drinks and souvenirs.
I hope that our trip will help you plan an exciting vacation of your own! Connect with me or leave a comment and let me know what you think about St. Kitts!