In August 2024, I was back in the US for an extended period of time after being out of the country since last year. For the last few years (aside from COVID times), it has become something of a travel tradition that when I return to the US for an extended amount of time, I try to visit countries that are in the general region of the US i.e. the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

These countries are relatively easier to access via the United States than where I am from in the Middle East. Even though I had been in the Caribbean before (Dominican Republic in 2018), the region for me has been fairly unexplored and underrepresented in my travels. Since my holiday period would last for two and half months, I decided to spend most of this time exploring the Caribbean despite continual concerns regarding weather since this was hurricane season. However, even though the weather was a constant worry for me, this would be my only chance to visit this region. Therefore, I made the decision that the first country I would visit this summer was to be St. Kitts and Nevis.

The St. Kitts and Nevis trip was a bit unique in the sense that it was almost a free trip. I had managed to save up enough points on my credit card to completely pay for both the flight and hotel. This made the trip very affordable, and I only had to pay for a couple day trips.

While I anticipated an easy journey with little to no problems, a fairly big problem happened the morning of the trip. When I was at the airport at around 5:30am, I decided to check my account, and I found my credit cards blocked. This effectively meant that my credit cards would not work until the issue was resolved with the bank. I immediately called the bank to explain the situation, and after going through several rounds of representatives, I was told that everything was reset and fine. With that, I boarded my flight for a connection in Miami. When I arrived in Miami, I checked my account and found my cards still blocked. By this time, I was getting stressed since I only had about an hour and half before the flight to St. Kitts would board. After spending most of the time on the phone with the bank, I finally learned that the reward redemption that got me the free trip prompted a fraud alert and froze my accounts. Once that was settled, it was just before boarding, and I would only be able to find out if my credit cards worked upon arrival in Basseterre.

The flight to St. Kitts was uneventful albeit rainy when we arrived. Once I was through immigration and customs, I had my driver take me to an ATM to see if my bank cards would work since I was still not sure if my credit cards would work. The first ATM was not successful, but eventually I did find an ATM that worked with my card. Once I had some physical cash and card, I felt less stressed and was ready to explore. Since it was pouring rain upon my arrival in Basseterre, I spent the remainder of the day relaxing at the hotel but did wander outside a bit in the evening to get my bearings.

Because I only had three days, I opted to do a tour day around St. Kitts on my first full day. This was a worthwhile tour since the guide was excellent and very knowledgeable about the island and its history. During the tour of St. Kitts, my favorite stop was Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. The fortress dates from the 18th century and is very well-preserved. For me, the best part of the area were the amazing views from the top. Thankfully, the weather was ideal, so it was possible to get many beautiful photos.

Since my time on the islands was limited, I also took a day tour to the small island of Nevis, which is only about a 30 minute boat ride, from the ferry terminal in Basseterre. The first time I went to Nevis, I headed there to make sure I knew how to get there with no issues since my next tour would be a full tour of the island. Getting to Nevis was super easy and straightforward, and I experienced zero problems.

When I went to Nevis for the first time, I took a quick journey to the birthplace and home of Alexander Hamilton. The home had been converted into a museum, which was very informative about the life and times of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the US and first Secretary of the Treasury in the 18th century. While I initially planned to spend more time on Nevis, I was not feeling particularly well, so I decided to head back to St. Kitts, but I at least knew what I needed to do in order to get to Nevis for the tour of the island that was scheduled for the next day.

The tour of Nevis was similar to the tour of St. Kitts. The goal was go to around the entire island and see the different sites. I always enjoy these kinds of tours since I don’t have to worry about transportation and logistics, and I can see everything on the island. While Nevis is less developed than St. Kitts it is just as beautiful and has numerous sites to see, such as the Cottle Church, which was the first church where whites and blacks were able to worship together in the early 19th century, and the ruins of sugar plantations that still have rusting equipment on site.

Overall, the trip to St. Kitts and Nevis, while quick and short, was definitely worthwhile, and I recommend spending more time there if time allows. One of my main goals was to explore more of the Caribbean, and I felt that St. Kitts and Nevis was a wonderful introduction to the Eastern Caribbean since this was my first time in this particular area of the Caribbean.

Please enjoy the gallery of St. Kitts and Nevis. All photos were taken with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.