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New Year’s 2000 A Celebration at Nevis
"There he is!" Jennifer said as we moved toward him. Bernard Weekes is his name. His nickname is "Biddy" and that is what he liked to be called. Little Alex took to him like a bee on molasses. He was a tall man and his 26-year stint as a driver was accident and ticket free. I like "safe" when I hire a driver. I always get asked why I hire a driver and do not rent a car. There are lots of reasons to rent a car, but on the islands you can hire a driver for a week for about the same money that you pay for a rental car. The driver knows the roads, knows the good places to see, and eliminates the possibility of any petty crime. Very few small-time thieves will take belongings from a tourist when accompanied by a local resident. As you would expect, when we take our two-year-old, we have LOTS of luggage and the large van would be necessary for all of it and us too. Additionally, I had a 28-pound camera backpack and Jennifer had the diaper backpack. We loaded up, got in our seats, and were off to Oualie Beach Hotel for the next 3 days to ring in the New Year and stay near the water and sand.
During the days at Oualie, we spent time walking the beaches, snorkeling, and taking fancy photos of Jennifer and Alex in some special dresses we brought to the island. The hotel had several playhouses for kids on the beach and hammocks and lounge chairs everywhere. I wanted to photograph some sunsets and this was a good area to do that. Behind the hotel and across the road, you start up the mountains. There are three small ones that rise about 1500 feet right there. I never climbed them, but used them as backdrops for photos of the flowers along the roads. On my daily photo hikes, I walked back along the road to the airport one day and about that far in the other direction the next day. There is always more to see than is obvious when you get out and start looking around. Don’t forget to look up as you walk along. Many of the birds and iguanas are in the trees. They make no movements or sounds so look for them. It adds to your hike. The pace at Oualie Beach is slow during the day, but gets a little faster at night. On this trip, we didn’t expect to have much nightlife except dinner. Alex had to be in bed and we didn’t have our sitter along to help this time. The nice part of open-air living is that you can hear the music from the porch. Three days of leisure at the beach was enough to feel like you had seen all it had to offer too. Biddy, our driver, had also taken us sight seeing too and that breaks the routine of the day. Our sight seeing drives are different than what most people are accustomed to being included in. I carry several cameras to try and capture the essence of a country’s heart. I always tell the driver to drive slowly and plan to stop a lot. Many people would find this boring, but I love it and this way we all get to see more. It seems to me that if you have the opportunity to see where the oldest Jewish church in the Caribbean was located, you ought to walk the ground and let your mind imagine how it was back then. Nevis has some notable sights and museums. It is the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. The Eva Wilkin Gallery is here too. Eva Wilkin was one of the most famous and talented artists produced by the Caribbean islands according to the story I was told. Her work is enshrined in the gallery and presents a spectacular sight. On sight seeing trips, I try to go into every church and building that is open. I talk to anyone who might know the stories of what happened in each place. When you know the stories of history, you can take a photo that means something later around the dinner table. The New Year’s Eve gala at Oualie Beach was fun. Our reservation was supposed to be at 7PM. The dinner started at 8:45PM, over an hour and a half late, and was to continue until about 11:45PM at which time we would ring in the New Year. There are many opinions about the value of large celebrations to bring in the year 2000. I think it is spectacular and wonderful time to be living. We were served our five-course meal faster than scheduled because Alex does not need to be up that late. Once we finished our dinner, it was back to the cottage for bath time and bed. We would re-join the crowd on the beach later. One of the tools we have is a monitor that we place next to Alex’s bed so we can sit outside on the beach a hundred feet away and react swiftly if we were needed. When the bandleader began to ring in the New Year, we went out on the beach for the fireworks. They were close, bright, and loud. Oualie Beach went all out for this celebration and the fireworks display came from a barge at the end of the pier in front of us. The fireworks reminded me of the shows at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear on July 4th in the Southern USA. This was a fun New Year’s celebration. Biddy met us at the front door at 8AM on Sunday. It was moving day. We were
headed to the Golden Rock Plantation Inn on the other side of Nevis. The Golden
Rock is an old sugar producing estate that has 8 cottages and 16 rooms in an
environmental atmosphere 1500 feet above the sea. It is sitting on a 96-acre
preserve. Behind your cottage is Mt. Nevis pushing through the clouds at almost
3300 feet high and from your front door you see the Atlantic Ocean and the
island of Montserrat. There are no telephones, TV’s, radios, or air
conditioners in these rooms. You won’t miss them. The hiking trails range from
easy to strenuous. After the bags were taken to the room, we were introduced to
a black Labrador named BB. This is a famous dog and many stories have been told
about her. When you take the short trails into the rain forest, BB is your
guide. She walks right in front of you and leads you right back to Golden Rock
in about an hour. If I hadn’t heard about the dog beforehand, I would have
thought this was a hoax. The dog is gentle and she does know the way. Golden
Rock is where you have the best opportunity to see and After breakfast, I inquired as to when the monkeys had been there and what
the odds were that we would see them. The answers were quite positive, so we
loaded the camera packs and started down the hill to the last place someone had
seen the monkeys. The Green Vervet monkeys were brought to Nevis in the late
1500’s from Africa. They are wild and skittish, so large lenses are the most
logical choice, if you have them, for successful photos. My camera pack holds
all the lenses and film plus you can hook a small video recorder to the strap on
the right and an extra camera on the left strap. It weighs a lot, but gives you
a lot of options for outdoor pictures. As we walked down the hill, Jennifer
spotted the monkeys less than a hundred feet from where we started. It was
surprising to see how large the I met two people that are expert guides for most of the serious mountain climbing, hiking, and nature outings on Nevis. Jim and Nikki Johnson are both biologists. Jim got his degree from Clemson in South Carolina and Nikki, a native Nevisian, got hers in England. Nikki led our rain forest hike and was an exceptional guide. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to learn a lot about the Caribbean rain forests and the animals that live there. Just the natural foods in a rain forest can keep you going for years if you know what to look for. Of course, I never touch anything in a rain forest that I do not have to touch. I look, take photos, remember it, and leave it alone. The hikes were not as strenuous as Jennifer and I usually take. Alex went everywhere with us and the hikes were planned for her. Our hike with Nikki was two and half-hours long, which is the right amount of time for the little children. Anything longer requires you to carry food and other gear. If you looked toward the Atlantic Ocean and then scanned the beach to the right from the Golden Rock Plantation Inn, you could see the horseracing track. From this far up it looks small, but Monday was the national holiday and the highlight of this day was thoroughbred racing that afternoon. This track is much like the tracks you saw in the 1920’s in the USA. The grandstand is concrete and wood with a corrugated metal roof. There are no electronic start gates and lights. They line the horses up and when the starters raise the red flag and the white flag, the race is on. The track was crowded with smiling people from all over the world enjoying the Nevisian people and their hospitality. Barbecued chicken was being grilled behind the grandstands. Paramutual betting was conducted on small notepapers and the lady announcing the races was as entertaining as the races were. The parking lots were mobbed and I am guessing 1000 to 1500 people attended. That is over 10% of the entire population. It was great fun to watch the four races that never started on time and enjoy some of the local color. About dusk, Biddy gathered us into the van and we headed back up the mountain for dinner. The dinners at the Golden Rock Plantation Inn are grand affairs for a Caribbean island. They are much like the dinners at Willard’s of Saba, a five star hotel on the island of Saba. There is no menu for dinner. It is a full course dinner prepared during the afternoon for the guests of the hotel and other people who have reservations. It is prompt and there is only one sitting in the dining room. We all gathered about 7:30PM and were seated for dinner at 8PM. The dishes that are served are exquisite and simply delicious. I liked the grilled lobster tail and the grilled and marinated lamb chops the best. They have a smart package at this hotel. You can stay there and include breakfast and dinner for a slightly higher fee. The fee is much less money than the ala cart menu prices. If you are going to eat there, why not keep some of your money too. Seating of the guests for dinner at Golden Rock is rotated nightly so you can meet and get to know the other guests if you wish to do that. I was remarking to Pam Barry, the manager and owner of the hotel, that this was one of the features I liked best about her hotel. She takes care of every detail and you will never have to look very far to get what you need at the Golden Rock Hotel. Pam even has a private library where you can discover books about Nevis and other reading material she may recommend. We’ll be returning to Golden Rock Plantation Inn. I think it is one of the most well managed hotels in the Caribbean. Everything works very well at this hotel. That’s about it for the over-view of this little island paradise. I’ll
bring you more details later in other chapters. Nevis hotel operators are very
good hosts. The hotels we were visiting were child and family friendly excepting
one flaw, and you won’t have to worry about crime here. Crime is extremely low
and your children will love the island. You will like the mountains and the
beaches. Mountains and beaches are just the beginning of what is here for you to
enjoy. From the hotels you can venture into shopping in Charlestown, hiking,
dining, and high tea at many places on the island. Nevis is on our list for a
return visit. Best Wishes, David Ladewig |
It
was about 10:30 AM when our Winair flight touched down on Nevis. It had been a
six-minute flight from St. Kitts and only a 35-minute flight from St. Maarten
that morning. Little Alex (Alexandra) had occupied the window seat of this STO
airplane near the wing with me, and Jennifer rode in the window seat on the last
row. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of a flight on an STO
airplane, they take off and land in about 600 feet of runway. They are
advantageous on small islands and on runways flanked by mountains or water. Most
of all, they are a bit thrilling and safe. As the plane taxied to a stop, the
rear door was opened and we all took the four short steps to the ground. I’ve
always wanted to spend a week on Nevis, but celebrating New Year’s here would
be an extra treat. Once through the customs check in, we claimed our bags and
made our way the parking lot to meet our driver. He would drive us everywhere
this week.
Oualie Beach
is on the
northwest side of Nevis about 12 minutes from the airport. The hotel cottages
are at sea level right on the beach. It is pronounced Oh-Wally. The white walls
with green roofs fit in with the palm trees and sand. There is air conditioning,
but you won’t need it this time of year. It is cool at night and the breeze in
the daytime cools you well enough and allows you to hear the water sounds from
your screened porch. All the porches face the water and all the front doors are
in the back of the cottages. We unpacked, put all the clothes away and got the
luggage out of the way too. I never leave a suitcase packed. It doesn’t feel
homey until the clothes are put away. The restaurant/bar at Oualie Beach is open
to the sea and features good food. The restaurant is terribly disorganized
regarding time efficiency and needs serious work in the area of punctuality.
When you travel with children and the reservation is at 7PM, the dinner must
begin at 7PM. There is no excuse for inattention to details like this. Overall,
the complex was nice and would do well for the New Year’s Eve party. Once the
time management problem in the restaurant is brought up to a higher standard,
Oualie Beach will be a near perfect operation.
photograph the Green Vervet monkeys. Monkeys always travel in troops, so if you
see one the chances are good that there are more nearby. I found this to be true
here too. It was time for breakfast at our new home for the remainder of the
time on Nevis.
monkeys
were and how long the tails are. Jennifer and I have photographed a lot of
animals in the wild and we have learned some techniques to enhance our odds of
getting a good photo. We always split up and try to drive them toward one of us.
She headed left and I went to the right. It worked. We got lots of photos of
this monkey troop. Over the next three days we would take a lot more both on
film and on video. I learned that these monkeys make tunnels in the underbrush
to hide in and keep cool during the day. I crawled into one of these while I was
chasing them one day. They will stand and fight inside those tunnels. The camera
flash scared them into a retreat, but I got some nice photos of the little ones
that were in there with the adults monkeys.