Our last island.

Christopher Columbus claimed the island for Spain in 1493 and named it St Christopher, after the Paton Saint of travellers – not himself ! The British arrived in 1623 and the French shortly after. Control changed several times and parts of the island were heavily fortified, most notably Brimstone Hill. It was built by slaves under the control of the British and in 1782, after a month long siege, it was taken by the French, who then relinquished it and the island a year later after the Treaty of Versailles

Brimstone Hill Fort, standing high above the west coast, is a UNESCO world heritage site. Initially we were unable to visit as the access road was being repaired in advance of the forthcoming Caribbean tour of the Prince of Wales and Dutches of Cornwall. The Prince first visited in 1973.

St Kitts was the last island in the West Indies to cease sugar cane production in 2005. It is now dependent on tourism and in particular visiting cruise ships. The beaches in the south of the island are very beautiful but best visited on non-cruise ship days.

We stayed in the quiet north of the island on a recently built resort financed by the government as part of its investment in tourism. It is set over 400 acres on the edge of a rainforest and includes a farm, providing produce for the hotel, and a golf course. A quirk of the hotel is that the cottages have outdoor bathrooms !

Having lost the test series and drawn the one day series, England headed to St Kitts one up for the final two T20 matches and the end of the tour. The stadium is named after Sir Thomas Warner, the explorer who set up the first colony on the island. The stadium sits within the small capital of Basseterre within a stones throw of the airport in one direction and the port in the other, backed by the mountains that form the backbone of St Kitts.

In contrast to the test match, the atmosphere had far more of a local Caribbean flavour. In the first match England initially collapsed but then recovered to set a ground record of 182. West Indies then just collapsed all out 45, second lowest international T20 score.

We returned two days later with the series won but hopeful for a more competitive match. The ground was shrouded in smoke from a bush fire which we had inadvertently driven through on our way. However the match never caught light as the hosts collapsed again, this time for 71. The locals we sat next to were very unhappy- “our batsmen a’int got no brains”.

While the cricket was disappointing, the same cannot be said of the unique West Indian experience of lunch on the beach before the match and supper at a lobster shack (“we cook what we catch”) on the drive back to our hotel after the match.

Nevis is a 15 minute journey from St Kitts by water taxi. While there is an airport, flights are minimal and generally private planes. This has kept Nevis quiet. Although there are signs of more development, at the same time there are derelict and half built hotels and apartments, making it hard to tell whether the island will become more of less of a tourist destination. Aside from some private villas and apartments, there is a Four Seasons hotel, recently purchased by Bill Gates, and a number of former plantation hotels. John Cleese recently became a resident.

We stayed in the former plantation home of Fanny Nisbet, the wife of Nelson. They met on Nevis when Nelson was seeking to stop illegal trade with the US. The most famous person born on Nevis was Alexander Hamilton. We visited his birthplace which is now a museum for both Nevis and his life story (accompanied by music from the musical).

The landscape is dominated by Mount Nevis, often shrouded in cloud, which is the backdrop to the botanical gardens, a recent addition to the island. The gardens were set up by an eccentric British music producer and writer heavily influenced by the east, especially Thailand.

We stayed in Falmouth Harbour, next to The English Harbour which together were the main base in the West Indies for the British Navy during the 17th and 18th Centuries. Nelson was stationed here in the 1780s. The dockyard, which ceased being used in 1889, has been renovated and renamed after Nelson and is a World Heritage Site.

The harbours are now used by the yachting community ranging from super yachts – we had several in the $50m-$100m price bracket moored by our hotel – to professional racing yachts. During our stay the Caribbean 600 race had its finish line at the harbour, resulting in three days of celebrations from all those connected to the race.

We hired a car, visiting both sides of the island seeing beautiful beaches with bars and restaurants; less crowded than we expected, although we had consulted with the cruise ship schedule before setting out.

On our last night we went to the steel drum, reggae and barbecue held each Sunday at Shirley Heights, overlooking the harbours with magnificent sunsets.