MY ISLAND TOURS BY JAMES JAVIN ------------------>
We really didn't know what to do at this port. Honestly, it's not one of my favorites. We had already been to Reggae at Cockelshell and Carambola-Ship Wreck at South Friars. We figured maybe we would do some 4 wheeling/dune buggies here but I couldn't get a straight answer from Kendra after weeks and weeks of questioning her.
There was a tour mentioned here on the boards by James Javin My Island Tours that sounded interesting. The tour consisted of this:
From the port will see a few sights in the capital, Basseterre, and then we will head to the Spooners Cotton Ginnery and explore a well preserved piece of history. We will then visit the Black Rocks where we go down onto the lava rocks for photos and exploring.
I will then journey back to the town of Cayon where we will hike up the Cayon Ghaut (river system) into the rainforest. We will enjoy nature and swim in cool, mountain-fed pools (as Mother Nature provides).
After the hike we will head over the southeast peninsula make a stop at Timothy Hill for some amazing views and snorkel at Whitehouse Bay where there is a shipwreck accessible from shore, and an abundance of colorful fish often turtles and rays and other underwater scenery including a shipwreck and sunken cannons to enjoy. We will then head to Cockelshell Beach for some beach time with great views of our sister island, Nevis. Then it is back to the port for 4pm.
Ok, that sounded interesting enough and what made it even more interesting is the guy had a monkey (just like Kendra's) named Peaches. Well, Peaches comes along on the tours and even goes snorkeling.
Now I do have to say that communication took a while and I sent 3 different emails trying to book this tour. They finally answered me and communication was good after that. They said they would be able to book the 10 of us and had another 7 people going as well.
Adults were $95 each and children under 13 were $75 each. You get a 10% discount for having more than 6 people.
We were told to meet at the "Smoke and Booze" at 9am and they only give you 15 minutes to get there...however, we didn't arrive until 9am and so that wouldn't be possible. They said they would have to adjust their time, but didn't say for when.
I also inquired about walking in the rainforest and the hike on the black lava rocks. I told them about Billy breaking his leg and in a walking boot (but he used the knee scooter as much as possible) and their reply was:
"As for the hike onto the black rocks is on rocks so uneven by nature and the rain forest is partially trail partially some rocks. It is a dirt trail. I’m not sure how it will be for your friend. It is easy to sit out at black rocks and enjoy the views."
So we figured we'd play it by ear when we got there and if he didn't think he was able to do either, he'd sit out and "enjoy the views".
The Smoke and Booze is easy to find. Just out of the cruise compound and a slight left.
There were several people waiting and then off we went to the buses.
Immediately we were introduced to Peaches the monkey. She went around introducing herself to everyone.
Now I'll show you pictures "of interest" along the way. Our tour guide told us the significance of each place...but honestly, I have no idea what any of them are. I'm NOT a "tour-type" of person at ALL!
These awesome pictures comes to you from inside the tour bus with tinted windows=blue/green pictures. Enjoy! lol
And we pulled up to the first stop... Spooners Cotton Ginnery to explore a well preserved piece of history.
So we stopped at this "cotton" building place thingamajigy. Like I said, I'm really not into "tours" or historical things but this was part of the excursion...so....here I am. Now if I'm staying on the island, I don't mind doing things like this...but I'll admit, only for the picture opportunity. 😉
So our tour guide, a native of course, told stories along the way here about his childhood and growing up.
"This is where I went to school"
"This was my neighborhood growing up"
"I use to come here to play hide and seek"
"I use to climb this tree"
In my head, I'm only picturing the things I did growing up and places I visited and thought "Who would have thought that I could do a tour about my life and it would interest people and they'd pay money for it?" Whoodathought? j/k
So, everyone piled out of the tour van and we walked around the place. Hmmm....ok. Some people just got out to stretch and didn't walk around it. Billy of course got out and sat on his scooter. I almost wished I had a scooter right now.
These "ferns" (as I called it because that's exactly what they looked like) are the kind that if you touch them, they will shy away and curl up. They will wait for a minute and come back out. The tour guide said "Do you know what these do?" I said "they curl up"...I don't think that he liked that I answered. He asks what they were and I said "They look like ferns" he gave me a stern "NO" and said the proper name for them. Ok... Well, I only know about them because they have the same thing in Belize when we go cave tubing. Fern, flower, bush, tree...either way, I knew what they did and what they looked like.
Peaches was monkeying around with the hubby... She liked attacking the small children's legs and feet. I'm not sure the small children appreciated her attack mode.
Now when I see places like this...I think of "this would be a neat place to do a photo shoot". LOL Just the photographer in me.
Then there's this thing. He told us that he use to climb up inside it to the top. Then the entrance was closed off and there was a way (in the ground) that had a tunnel you could go down in and across to get inside. No way, no how would I have done that. But hey, he was a kid and kids do things like this without worrying.
So that was the end of this portion of the tour. The next thing out of the kid's mouth was "are we going to the beach now?" I had to say "maybe" and "probably" just to keep them from complaining.
Next up was....the rain forest. It was maybe a 10 minute drive from there.
We pulled up and everyone piled out.
Bah-nah-naaah (said in my minion voice) Immediately Brayden was hungry and ask if he could eat some.
This was some type of vine with HUGE leaves. He said they will wrap themselves around the trees and eventually make it to the top and kill out the tree. He said they had some type of tree planted in his yard growing up that got these vines and when someone ask why didn't they just pull the vine off or kill it and he said it was better not to ....for some reason. Hmmm, why can't I remember this stuff? I think Dementia is part of my diagnosis these days.
Then it was game time (even though Peaches and Sakari were having their own game moment, I'm not talking about that).
He would pluck things off the surroundings and had us smell it. We were to guess what it was. I can't remember everything he gave us but there wasn't one person that could guess any of it. I remember one was oregano.
I think he called the giant heart leaves elephant ear plants or something. That made me think of going to the fair and eating elephant ears. Ok, I was getting hungry already.
Then there were some fuzzy looking palm trees....They are called foxtail palms. I should have known they would be associated with an animal.
Anyone want to play Tarzan? There were a lot of vines
Continuing on the path...The kids were way ahead of us and we knew that they were ok because we could hear Xander (Kia's son) talking and laughing. LOL
Notice those of us that were dragging our feet and walking slowly...me, Kendra and Kia. They kept one of the tour guide "observers" behind us...just in case we got lost from the rest of the crowd...which was highly likely to happen at this point.
We finally caught up to the "middle section" of hikers. Who knew how far ahead the front section was. Those enthusiastic little shiznits.
Now time to get to the nitty-gritty stuff. Remember how they said it was a path and some uneven surfaces and it would be up to Billy to see if he wanted to do. THERE IS NO WAY!!! NO WAY IN HELLO that he could have done this walk. We were lucky to do this walk...and I'm not exaggerating. My family hated me after this.
Yes, there was a path to start out with and then the terrain got crazy. Up and down and over rocks and trees and ....whatever else was in the way.
Here comes the climbing....
I knew after this...I should probably go back to the ship and climb the rock wall because I was going to be a pro at it.
Hubby went first and I was following.
Yea, that moss covered rock above....DOWN I WENT. OUCH! I just knew it. I can't have a cruise, any cruise, where I just don't get hurt in SOME way. I still have a huge black bruise across my right hip and buttocks to prove it. Ugh
Ok, so maybe I wasn't a pro and I shouldn't go back to the ship to try the rock climbing wall after all.
Up next was this tree. They kept asking us if we saw some type of face. I didn't at the time I was there and took tons of pictures trying to figure it out. Now that I look at it, it looks like a smiling bear...like Disneys Baloo. (Which I'm pretty sure was NOT what they were saying it looked like).
This was the highlight of the rain forest tour for the kids. Peaches just hoped from one person to the next as we traveled and when we stopped. Freeloader!
She made it back up with the rest of us and the hubby stopped to pet her. She assumed that meant that this was her freeride for the next lick of the journey.
Kam was not liking this hike. We were climbing and walking up hills and then back down and we were huffing and puffing. Kendra tried to carry her and probably wished that she had that ladies back carrier about now.
We came to a bunch of bamboo. Bamboo is so cool and grows so fast. It's some of the fastest growing plants. It can grow around 3' in 1 day. When the wind blows it makes a sound like music. My dad had a bunch of this growing at his house in Alabama and we use to go out and make fishing poles with it. It made for a good fence along his driveway too. If you ever came home drunk one night and hit the fence, no worries, it would grow back in a few days. Whoodathought?
We crossed several rock beds and creeks...all of which were slippery and/or wet and the hubby was paying extra attention to me at this point.
Peaches would ride on someone until they got close enough to a plant that interests her, grab it and then scurry off.
Obviously, the bamboo polls came in handy. He told us that he came out here and made these handrails himself, in all different areas, to make the tour easier. Wait, easier? What about building a lift chair or how about a conveyor belt? Yea, that would be nice. 😉
More climbing coming up.
Oh gosh...I know this look. I get it from Myla (Kendra's monkey) all the time right before she decides to......
LEAP!!! And then I was now her ride for a while.
Peaches didn't last long with me before she moved on to Kia...hanging upside down on the journey is much more fun anyhow.
We came across some huge rocks and they were covered in moss. I thought it was neat...as long as I didn't have to stand on them (they were bigger than me).
VIDEO
More bamboo and winding trails...up and down and down and up. There was a lot of climbing and holding on to branches to pull yourself up places. I never expected this and pictures a walk in the rainforest similar to that in Belize when cavetubing.
Whew! It was time to rest and listen to the bamboo making music. ♪♪♫♫♪♫
Everyone was hot and couldn't wait to get to the cool mountain-fed pools of water. Then down we go. I hope I don't slip and fall. There were nanners everywhere too. Brayden kept inquiring about eating them.
It was so hot and Brayden decided to pick a large leaf and fan us with it. Shawna did not find it amusing and I told her he was sheltering her from the hot sun because she was a goddess. BTW, the boy in front of her with the orange shirt hung out with the kids the entire time and ended up being somewhat friends after that. I heard him asking B what his "snapchat" name was. lol
Not only did the snails like the pretty flowers...so did Sakari and the tour guide picked her one (which she still has).
Where we are headed....oh boy...more treacherous terrain. Hey, at least we were going downhill.
This lady....she carried her son (no clue how old he was but tall enough to be 3-4 years old, but he could have been just tall) during this entire excursion...on her back! Now, this was a strenuous rainforest tour just carrying yourself. I give her mad props! The husband...well he just carried himself! (And we would see her all over the ship and other places in port and that kid was ALWAYS on her back but a few times). She's gonna have to have back surgery before long to correct her posture and slipped disc.
We finally made it back to the van. We kinda did a loop and was so relieved to know we weren't going to have to turn around at some point and go back the way we came to get out. The entire trip the kids and Kendra kept saying "Are we going to have to do this in reverse?" "Where's the water?" Well, the water never came. I guess it was dry season that day.
Billy was still sitting on his scooter waiting on us and at some point wondered if we had been eaten by the lions, tigers, and bears.
The hike was an hour long if that gives you any indication of how long we were gone....and speaking of "gone"...my legs were too and I was starting to feel the pain in my butt bone and hip.
Back to the tour van and into the a/c. I pretended to be zoned out so that I didn't hear the kids (and by kids I mean Kendra) saying..."Did you know we were going to have to do that?" "Did you realize that's what walking in the rainforest was?" "Are we going to get to the beach sometime soon?"
Off we went, but this time we were driving in the rainforest and I was too tired to take pictures. But, I captured one I think.
There was a lot of houses that looked like rebar sticking up on the roof. I'm not sure if they had plans to build a second floor or if there was another purpose for this. There were A LOT of houses like this...like a lot.
We arrived at this place and it almost looked like they were setting up for a carnival. The driver said we were stopping and could use the restroom or buy some "goods" from the locals or food or drinks.
Ahh, the ocean in the distance...I could hear it and smell it...just not touch it.
They started setting up a table. Could these guys be lunch? (Then I spotted the 4 wheeled buggies...darnit, now I'm never going to hear the end of it from Kendra about we should have done that tour. Who parked these things within their site?).
The bathrooms were all the way at the end. After that long hike in the rainforest, I would have been willing to pay extra for shuttle service. The lines to the bathrooms were CRAZY LONG and no running water to wash your hands.
We stopped to get snacks and some pop. They were fairly cheap. $1 for pop in a throwaway bottle and even the chips were only $1...even big bags. This place had a singing lady working there with an awesome voice. The hubby told her she should be on American Idol.
Oh BTW, it took us 20 minutes to get from the rainforest to this place.
Then we were motioned to "come" if we wanted to go to the lava rocks.
Immediately I knew this wasn't looking good...down the hill we went. A rope was thrown down this huge hill and we were told to hold on and climb down. Kam wasn't liking this!
It sure was pretty down there
Sakari climbed across and to this rock. The water would come in behind her and splash really huge. We waited and waited for the opportunity to capture the water splashing high above her...with no luck.
Of course the minute that the water did splash high, someone was walking in front of me and I didn't get the shot.
The next it came, Sakari was already climbing down and coming back.
We spent 15 minutes down there and came back up.
Now here's the thing...the "helper" wasn't much help this entire time. He really didn't talk or do much of anything. When it was time to climb back up, he sat at the bottom, on a rock, and.....did NOTHING. He didn't hold the rope for anyone to climb back up or anything. People were struggling and at some point the rope swung and got stuck on a rock above. The hubby took it upon himself to stand down at the bottom and hold the rope tight while everyone went up the rope. Then he came up. He made a comment like "why isn't this guy helping?" and "Why was it necessary for me to do his job?"
They prepared the meal, which was supposed to be "includes, a light local snack of delicious pastries and juice and water bottles."
Peaches was tied to the table with no lead-way to get to the food. If she's anything like Myla, she will take every chance she can to steal food. Well, she did just that. Even though she couldn't reach the food, she is a monkey, with long arms, and she used that to her advantage. I sat and watched unsuspecting people go down the line and get their food, lay their plate on the end of the table to grab something else and up came her long arm, feeling around, and bam! Lunch was stolen. They would look back down and have nothing. It was hilarious.
To my surprise, it wasn't just danishes. They had empanadas! Yummy! Chicken, beef or veggie and they were all DELICIOUS! The pastries were amazing too...especially the coconut ones (which I'm not a big coconut person but these were so yummy).
There were plenty enough to go around several times and I definitely helped myself a few times. Hey, I had worked up quite the appetite.
We were on the road again around 1:30pm.
Goats...so many goats everywhere. Do you know the difference between a goat and a sheep? Goats tails go up and sheeps go down.
Look close...there's a horse on the hill! Now you can tell it was a donkey but Kendra swore it was a horse and would continue to stick to her story the entire time. Everyone on the bus agreed it was a donkey, but she said horse. So, the remainder of the trip, whenever we'd see a donkey, we'd tell her to "look at that horse!"
Do they actually have palm tree farms?
Timothy Hill. Now all of the trips we've done, we have never got to stop here (even though we were supposed to) and this time would be no different. We were supposed to stop here and when we got close, the driver asks if we wanted to and everyone said: "No, get to the beach".
I discovered the little round hook things hanging down on the back of the seats were actually flip up cup holders.
We were told that this is the snorkeling area.
Out by that rock sticking up is where the snorkelers go.
The driver said we had the option of stopping here to snorkel or going to the beach and no snorkel OR if some wanted to snorkel they would drop the others off at the beach and bring the snorkelers back here together. Well, everyone was yelling "beach" but only a guy in the back and myself said "SNORKEL!'. I mean I have been here several times and found NO snorkeling really yet. Well, anything worth saying there's a snorkeling area here. So, I WAS GOING SNORKELING DARNIT!!!! Especially since there was supposed to be a shipwreck.
We pulled up to the beach (Cockelshell) and dropped everyone off that didn't want to snorkel. Kendra got off and was going to put Kam with Billy and the kids (and the hubby) and get back on. Well, she didn't and I guess we left without her. Kia had gotten off (after I talked her into coming along) and we pulled away.
No worries though...the van had to go on down the parking area and attempt to turn around and head back...where we would pick up Kia. THIS PARKING LOT WAS CRAZY! Barely anywhere to park let alone a street to go down. Cars in the way. Cars trying to get by and just plain nuts. I took one look at the beach and it was a sea of people! So so so crowded! Yuck.
Then off we went to the snorkeling area.
So this snorkeling site....
We were told that there's a beach club at this location and we are not allowed on their property. So, that meant we would have to park down the street and swim over to the wreck. Now when we seen this place, there's a place to the right and to the left. I'm not sure why, but we went to the right of it, which is further away from the shipwreck. That meant a VERY long swim for us to get to the shipwreck. Oh great.
We had to park at the top, at the street on the side of the road, and walk down to the "beach". Well, it was nothing but rocks and I only had my snorkel socks on....ouch! I managed to step on a sharp rock and of course cut the bottom of my foot, which is still healing. Strike 2 for me today. I'm just getting torn up! But hey, it wouldn't be a Mitsugirly cruise if I didn't get hurt in some type of fashion right? As long as I don't break any bones like I have in the past (twice now) on a cruise.
We maneuvered our way into the water over all the rocks. It wasn't easy but we did it.
We immediately started seeing starfish...like EVERYWHERE! This place is loaded with them.
The neat part about it is that Peaches comes snorkeling with us. She rides on his shoulders or head the entire time and even has her own life jacket.
Peaches catching a ride.
He dove down and brought up starfish for people to hold.
Peaches would dive down with him and then swim back up and jump on someones head and wait for him to come back up and then swim to him.
I'm telling ya, it was a real struggle for me to get to the shipwreck. I'm getting old and worn and I was already tired from the rainforest hike. Things are going through my mind like "Will I be able to make it there?" "Will I be able to make it back?" The water was a little choppy and the thing I didn't like about it was that he was SO far ahead of several of us and in my eyes, anything could go wrong and he'd never know. That was kinda scary. I tried to pace myself and control my breathing so I didn't freak out. I thought about scuba diving and how I concentrate on my breathing to keep myself calm. Then I'd get a sudden burst of energy and kick like crazy to try to gain some distance.
I hate when I feel rushed or rushed to "keep up". I like to slowly go and take pictures. I feel like you miss so much when you are just swimming like crazy.
This is what most of the snorkeling looked like until we made it to the "shipwreck". It was either just rocks or sand. Nothing interesting at all and I was beginning to believe this was a wasted trip and wished I hadn't done it.
I started to see coral and more rocks and felt better about things. It takes my mind off the struggle. But all of this came once we got to the shipwreck area.
I came around a huge rock (the one sticking up out of the water you could see from the street) and there it was...the...wait...shipwreck? Not at all what I was expecting. It looked like a set of bones laying there. lol
At least there was some coral, sponges and fans on it.
He told us that the ship was actually something like a barge or something like that and it had sank about 80 years ago and was decayed. Yea, I'd say so...it was just like looking at a pile of junk thrown in one spot. The "bones" looking part was neat. But, not at all what I was expecting. I have scuba dived to a tugboat before and snorkeled around shipwrecks and I guess that's just what I was expecting to see. It was kinda neat I guess and something different.
I can't seem to find any information on it online.
I guess it was time to head back and off we went. I was busy taking pictures of the coral around the rock that was located beside the shipwreck.
I look up and they are GONE! Like totally gone! Kia and I were still exploring and swimming toward the group, but they were so far ahead of us (most of them). I tried to snap a picture just to show how far away they were but I ended up with a huge water spot. You can see some people off in the distance and eventually we managed to catch up to them but he was so far gone and back up to the shore while we completely struggled to make it back. I kicked like I had never kicked before and my legs were aching. You have all these thoughts running through your head in situations like this and they were getting the best of me at that point. I wanted to just turn and head toward the beach and walk the beach (rocks) back to the site but I felt better knowing there were others still in the water trying to get back too.
I spotted my first sea cucumber on this cruise. It was spotted (which I don't think I have ever seen one with these markings before).
I finally made it back to the shore and he was completely gone! Already walking back up to the van but the guy that does nothing but stand there was standing by a huge trash can for us to put our snorkeling stuff in it (I brought my own like always).
Everyone was up at the beach but I look around and don't see Kia. Then I look out at the water and she is waaaayyy out there. I made sure I didn't take my eyes off her. I didn't know if she was struggling, something happened, or she was just taking her good old sweet time. When she finally came in, it was the later that was happening. She said she was just looking around and snapping pictures and looked up and everyone was gone. I'm sorry but when you are giving a tour I think you should be responsible enough to make sure all of your people are safe and back to shore before heading off to the van. I was just annoyed by this.
Here is a shot of, not only the rocks, but how far away the beach club was from us...then figure at least that distance around to the shipwreck.
We gathered our things and walked up the hill back to the van.
I tell ya what...I'm completely worn out from today. I really need to get into shape and lose some weight to be able to keep up with these youngens.
So we were snorkeling for approximately 50 minutes according to my pictures.
We piled in the van and headed back to the beach to meet up with the rest of the group.
We made it back to the beach and got out of the van and it was so hard to find my family in the sea of people. I could not believe how crowded this beach was or how popular it had became.
Finally I spotted them. Just look for the scooter sitting in the sand. It's an excellent indicator of where my family is located.
The kids were out playing in the water. I just wanted to rest and float.
My mermaid spotted me. She was diving and collecting shells. The pink was is so pretty. She also discovered a sea urchin. Shawna squeeled and went running in the water. "Ewwww what the heck is that?" It took a while to convince her to hold it "just for picture opportunities so you can show your mom. Now put a smile on your face girl!"
I had honestly had enough of the water and decided to just go sit and relax and hang out with the family.
We were only there around 30 minutes before we were told to pack up and head to the van to go back to the port.
I guess the place we were at was No Limit Beach Bar.
Getting out of here was a mess. We sat forever. They had to find people on the beach to move their cars for us to fit through and it was just plain crazy. I hope I never have to come back to this particular beach honestly.
I was glad to be back on the road again.
Almost there!!! It was 4:45pm at this point.
One thing about this tour, they have someone (I believe the guy that doesn't help or talk) taking pictures of everyone during the tour. They upload the pictures to their website, where you can download them for free.
They took 115 pictures total that day and I'm sharing a few of them. (I have to laugh at 115 since I alone took 377-which I limited to the ones I shared here).
FINAL THOUGHTS:
So, final comments on this James Javin My Island Tour. It was definitely something different than what we normally do. It wasn't all that bad (yea, I say that now that we have done it and it's in the past and my memory is fading lol) and we got to see more of the island than in the past.
The rain forest was neat and pretty and gave me some great picture opportunities. It was just a strenuous walk for most, both old and young. It was not what I was expecting at all. I had no clue we would be climbing and walking on moss covered rocks/boulders and pulling ourselves up by branches or any of that. But, it was definitely pretty and don't get me wrong, I did like it for the most part.
As for the lava rocks...it was a very pretty area and again, great picture opportunities. The hike down and back up the hill using the rope was somewhat difficult and there a lot of "slips" along the way (no falls). It just kinda aggravated me that they weren't doing their job of holding the rope for people to get back up and just stood there.
The lunch was amazing and very yummy. They had plenty of water along the way as well.
Peaches was a lot of fun and entertained us the entire time.
The old cotton factory...just not my type of thing.
The snorkeling wasn't that good and not something I would ever want to do again. Then the fact that we were pretty much left to struggle on our own with no thoughts about something going wrong or supervision was just plain annoying and unsafe in my opinion. Also the distance in which we had to swim just to get there was crazy and I just think there has to be a way to go down the other side of the beach bar instead.
The beach at Cockelshell...well, just not a place I like and would pick any other beach over that one. But just my opinion.
So, I'll let you all be the judge on whether it would be the right tour for you or not for $95 pp. Our family members did not think it was worth the actual price paid (especially after doing other things during the cruise for a much cheaper price).
Next time I return to St Kitts, it will be a buggy tour for us or a different beach (Frigate since we haven't been there and actually the buggy tour takes you to that beach).