St. Kitts And Nevis
Twin Peaks
Luscious vegetation in all its tropical brilliance, lacy coconut palms stretching along white or black sand beaches and mysterious, mist-shrouded volcanic mountain peaks make St Kitts and Nevis one of the most desirable resort areas in the Caribbean. When Columbus discovered the larger island in 1493, he was so taken with it that he named it after himself-and his patron saint. Down-to-earth Sir Thomas Warner took one look at St Christopher 130 years later and dubbed it a cosier, British "St Kitts"-a name that stuck from that day to this.
Adding to the allure of the islands are a year-round outdoor climate and dependable sun-shine. Happily, the squalls and brisk winds that send the islanders scurrying for shelter don't last long. No wonder the British and French fought long and hard for control of the islands. Buccaneers, adventurers and pirates followed in their wake, looking for gold and loot. Disregarding water sports and sun-tanning opportunities, the different parties murdered each other with bloodthirsty relish.
When the British finally won the upper hand, a new brand of explorer-exploiter, the sugar-planter, arrived on the scene. Soon a crackling green-blue sea of sugar cane covered St Kitts from end to end.
In the meantime Nevis was making history of its own. A young sea captain, in a whirlwind romance while his ship was berthed offshore, courted one Fanny Nisbet, a pretty and rich widow, marrying her in Fig Tree village church on a Sunday morning. Little did she then know that her husband was destined to become Britain's greatest-ever naval commander, Lord Horatio Nelson, Vice-Admiral of the Fleet. And, as if one famous name wasn't enough for Nevis, the tiny treasure island was also the birthplace, in 1757, of American statesman Alexander Hamilton.
Today the grim, black cannon on St Kitts's Brimstone Hill are silent, and the 1,100-m (4,000-ft) Mount Liamuiga surveys the scene with a friendly eye. Newly-weds walk along the surf-washed beaches and wish the moon would never go away. Investments have been encouraged and tourist facilities increased, but the islands remain largely unspoiled, thanks to a sensible policy of controlled development. The fishermen and sugar cane cutters, as well as the other Kittitians and Nevisians, as they're called, are determined to keep it that way.
