Paradise Vacation 2012: Nevis (Part II)

Wednesday morning started just like the rest, with a delicious brunch buffet at the Coral Grill, at a table over looking the beach. We had another early start, as this time we had planned a Rainforest Hike with a group of Apple folks. We boarded a few taxis and headed towards the volcano. I thought it was just for effect when we were handed walking sticks, but it turns out that they were very necessary. The climb was a little harder than we thought, but still lots of fun. The higher we got, the muddier it was, so we had to be very careful on some parts. Our guide pointed out lots of the different trees and plants (including a cinnamon tree and the "leaf of life"- it never actually dies). Hank was a little disappointed that we hardly saw any monkeys, but we were treated to a beautiful view once we reached the peak of the trail.

Our view at breakfast each morning.

Next to one of the water wells that was part of the water collection system on the island.

It was really hard to get pictures that truly captured how neat the rainforest was. But I loved all these vines that hung down everywhere.

Part of the view from the top of our trail.

After our hike, we changed and hit yet another pool, and took advantage of the opportunity to have a little alone time from the rest of the group. We found a quiet spot at the Garden Pool and enjoyed lunch and drinks for the afternoon. Miss Jackie (my favorite staff person) took good care of us, and we enjoyed leisurely dips in the pool and naps.

This bird was stalking a small lizard, and swooped right above the water to catch it on another bush.
It's the little things in life that entertain us. 

Wrapping up another fun day by the pool.

We headed around the corner for dinner again, this time eating at Double Deuce. We had read great things about it, and were not disappointed. The restaurant is run by a local family, but the chef was British and previously cooked at one of the plantations. I caught a glimpse of the kitchen and could not believe there were only two people doing all the work, but they did it well! Hank had fish and I had coconut shrimp, and everything was delicious. We were pretty worn out from the week, and I wasn't feeling so hot, so we skipped another late night at Sunshine's and opted to head back to the room instead.

Thursday morning finally brought the opportunity to sleep in for a bit. We grabbed some breakfast, and decided to walk the "challenging" trail along the golf course. There were 3 options, and they weren't joking that this one would be difficult. Hank had tried to run it our first morning there, and the hills nearly killed him. But the best part about it was that we saw monkeys- LOTS of monkeys. They got so close to us that we could have reached out to pet them. For fear of having our faces ripped off, we opted to just snap a couple of pictures. When the British settled on the island, many of them brought Vervet monkeys with them that they kept as pets. There is now a huge population of them on the island, but they aren't all that welcome. They're known for eating fruit and flowers, but they are awfully cute to look at.

A sweet little monkey who was captivated by  Hank.

Monkeys on the road! Right before this they were swinging on the vines.

A rare view of the top of the volcano.
It only happens about once a month when the clouds are not covering the top.

View of the ocean from the golf course trail.

When we got back to the hotel, it was time to hit the beach for an Apple-hosted beach bash. They reserved all sorts-of water sports (paddle boarding, jet skis, sailing, etc) and also served lunch and drinks. It also happened to be Hank's birthday, so I tried to pull off the beach party as his very own party. He didn't seem to mind! We enjoyed jet skiing, napping, hanging out with friends and drinking some fruity drinks. The highlight of the day though was when 4 French men swam from their catamaran (at any given time there was a variety of boats and yachts just off the shore) and made friends with some of our group. A volleyball game ensued, and there was all sorts of yelling (and likely cussing) in French. Watching Hank interact with these guys was hilarious, and I think everyone had a good time watching.

Beach party

French men and their speedos!

Off to circle the yachts on our jet skis.

Our final night in Nevis was the Apple awards dinner, held under a tent on the 18th green. There was a cocktail reception first, along with a performance by the most adorable children's choir. The view was gorgeous and of course the whole set-up was top notch. We were served a three course dinner, and treated to a slide show with fun pictures of all the Apple employees who were on the trip. After a day of drinking on the beach, and cocktails and wine with dinner, we got to show our stuff on the dance floor to a really fun band- the evening definitely got a little crazy! There was a ton of dancing, and everyone had a great time! It was the perfect way to wrap up an amazing trip.

Awards dinner

The sun setting behind the children's choir.

Loved their colorful dresses.

Pretty flowers on the table.

Dinner menu.

We were sad to say goodbye on Friday, but ready to make our way home to see all our animals and sleep in our own bed. The ferry didn't leave until 1, so at least we had time to sleep in and have one last lunch by the pool. We were treated to one last "surprise", a view of a $300 million yacht parked right outside the hotel. Each day it seemed that the yachts got bigger and bigger, and this one took the prize. We found out that it belonged to a 38 year-old Russian billionaire named Andrey Melnichenko, and his yacht was simply named "A". You have to click on this link to get a video tour of the inside- it is so over the top, that it's just hard to imagine what that lifestyle must be. We also saw his matching plane as we flew out of the St. Kitts airport- it was hard to miss with the matching A's in front of each engine. Rough life, I tell you!

One last drink- iced tea- before taking the ferry back to St.  Kitts.

View of "A" from the hotel.

A view of the open hull in the back, where they keep 2 30-foot speed boats.

Back of the boat. They say it's named A after Andrey and his wife Aleksandra.
But other say it's so that it will be the first boat listed in the registry of super yachts. 

After an overnight stay in Miami, and a 6:20AM flight the next morning, we finally made our way home on Saturday afternoon. I don't think I have to say again what an amazing experience the whole thing was, but I will! We really, really enjoyed getting away to paradise and shutting off all the stress and worries of work, home, etc. We relaxed, experienced the islands as much as we had time for, and just enjoyed being together. I was ready to get back to work though, and get busy trying to make my goal this year so that we can do it all over again in Hawaii for the 2013 Circle of Excellence trip.

Paradise Vacation 2012: Nevis (Part I)

On Sunday of our trip, we met the ferry to take us to Nevis. After a 45 minute ride, we pulled up in front of one of the most beautiful resorts I have ever seen- the Four Seasons Nevis. We were greeted by our own staff member who escorted us to the Apple hospitality lounge for check-in, where we received a fun welcome gift of a beach bag and matching towels. It was then on to our room overlooking a hammock, the beach, and the 18th hole green. Seriously, I could have died right there.

After settling in, grabbing a little lunch and then touring the property, it was time to head to the beach for the welcome reception. There were drinks, great food, and even a band playing. It was fun to see the few co-workers who I knew, and also to have a chance to meet some of the ones from the field who I rarely get to see. But Sunday also meant football play-offs, and those of us from the Texas team ended up migrating to a tent set up closer to the hotel that had the games on a TV. We drank beer and watched football, with the sound of the waves in the background and sand beneath our toes. Not a shabby night, I tell you!

Monday started with our mandatory business meeting, which ended with a Ray-Ban rep handing out pairs of glasses. Awesome! We then settled by the Reflection pool (one of 3 pools on the property) for a few hours of relaxation. I scheduled a body scrub at the spa for later in the day, so I eventually had to go inside to clean up for that. I wanted to try a treatment that I had never done before, and that sounded like a great way to get the dead, flaky, winter skin off my body. The spa area was nothing short of amazing- and I could have stayed there for hours. There were two small "pools"- a waterfall pool and a dipping pond. They were both small, but so relaxing.

A girl could get used to this!

Lunch by the pool was served in these adorable bento boxes.

Entrance to the spa

Waterfall pool

Dipping pool

After my spa visit, we met up with friends to walk around the corner to Lime Beach Bar for dinner. The Four Seasons is nice, but as you can imagine- the food was very pricey, and not as good (or creative) as we were expecting. But lucky for us, there was a string of beach bars just a 10 minute walk down the beach, with fresh lobster and fish for only $20 a plate. The pace of life on the island is a slow one, so we were prepared for a long evening and made the most of it with familiar and new friends. Hank ordered lobster, I ordered shrimp, and everything was wonderful! After dinner, we made our way over to Sunshine's Bar, where the Killer Bee drink was made famous (so we were told). This drink is made with some kind-of moonshine rum, fresh fruit juice, and topped with bitters and fresh grated nutmeg. More than one is guaranteed to mess you up, big time! But it is oh so delicious, and definitely worth trying.

Lime Beach Bar

Dinner crew

Sign at Sunshine's Bar

With my field counterpart Natasha and her husband B-rock (his nickname for the trip).

Exactly!

Tuesday morning rolled around a little too early, as we had signed up to do a kayaking excursion that started at 9. We took a cab a few miles away from the hotel and met our tour guide Greg. He was great and made sure that we were all set up and ready to go. We kayaked for 3 miles back to the hotel, stopping twice to snorkel and have a little picnic. It was so fun seeing Nevis up close from the water. It was not an easy excursion at times, but we really enjoyed it. Back at the hotel, we changed and got lucky by snagging one of the beach side private cabanas. Apple had rented these out for 3 days, and I was so glad we got to spend a few hours in one. After being out in the sun for ours, I needed to be in the shade. These were like fancy little huts, with a sitting area, TV and small fridge inside, and lounge chairs under the covered area. We also had a girl waiting on us, and quickly ordered lunch and drinks. We only got to enjoy it for a few hours since we had to get ready for our second Apple hosted event, but it was a great afternoon!

View of the cabana from the beach.

View of the ocean from the cabana porch.

After a brief cocktail party, the whole group (there were about 130 of us) boarded buses to head to Garden Rock Inn, an old sugar mill plantation turned nature preserve and boutique hotel. It was breathtakingly beautiful! The grounds were meticulously kept, and many of the old buildings had been repurposed into a restaurant, pool bar, etc. They also turned the old sugar mill into a 2-story room. We were greeted with drinks and appetizers, and had plenty of time to walk around exploring all the trails. Dinner was served next to a multi-level pond area, and this ended up being one of my favorite meals. Very fresh, lots of variety (they served a ton of vegetarian options) and even served a delicious cheese and fruit plate before dessert. It was heavenly. There was a great DJ and plenty of dancing after dinner. We were tired from our morning excursion, but made our way onto the dance floor a few times.

Ready to head to dinner.

Standing at the roots of an amazingly large tree.

View of the Sugar Mill-turned-guest room.

Inside the Sugar Mill.

Such beautiful scenery.
(Picture courtesy of my friend Amanda who takes WAY better pictures than I do).

An eating area surrounded by lush gardens.

Part II of the trip coming right up.....

Paradise Vacation 2013: St. Kitt's

I'm going to have to break this trip up into at least 2 parts. We have so many fun pictures (and a few stories) to share, and I'm not looking to break any records with an epic post of the trip. In case you did not know, I won the Circle of Excellence award at work (for sales performance and meeting set goals)- and was rewarded with a trip to the Four Seasons, Nevis. We decided to head out a couple of days early so that we'd have some time to ourselves.

After 12 long hours of traveling, we arrived at 9pm in St. Kitts on Friday night. We chose to stay at the Marriott St. Kitt's Resort & Royal Beach Casino because it seemed like the easy thing to do. With a long name like that though, we should have known it was going to be a monstrous hotel. But we just needed a place to land for 2 nights that wouldn't be much of a hassle. After a very lame bar dinner and less than impressive service the first night, I already knew that we would likely never visit it again.

But when we woke up on Saturday morning, we were treated to a beautiful view, and were excited to start our vacation. We took off for a short run and made our way over to what is known as "the strip" (a small string of beach bars/restaurants that seems to be popular for late night revelry and dancing). There is an international vet school on the island, and apparently the strip is where they all like to party. Interesting fact- St. Kitts is home to multiple international schools. It was bad enough just finishing college in a party town- I can only imagine how distracting the beach would be!

View from our hotel balcony.

Hank in front of Elvis' Love Shack. Elvis is a popular name on the island, according to one of our taxi drivers.

After our run, we grabbed a quick breakfast from the lobby, and then got ready to hit the beach. We really didn't want to be stuck at the hotel- as it was on the Atlantic side (rougher water) and just didn't have much personality. Several people recommended that we taxi to a small beach bar (on the Caribbean side) called Shipwreck. It's tucked away on a secluded strip of beach, and I swear it's where you go when you don't want to be found. We snagged two chairs covered by a little palapa roof, and quickly ordered a round of Pirate's Punch (for me) and a $3 Carib (for Hank). We napped, swam, ate, watched monkeys and mongoose, and snorkeled. This was seriously one of my favorite days of our whole trip. We could have stayed there forever, but ran out of cash just in time for our taxi guy who came to pick us back up.

Entrance to Shipwreck

View along the beach front.

Our chairs for the day.

Monkeys eating leftover scraps.

Saying a sad goodbye to our new bar friends.

After a day of drinking on the beach, and a few hours in the hotel lobby looking for other Apple people to trickle in, we finally decided to clean ourselves up and head out for some dinner. Another interesting fact about the island is that many of the stores are owned by Indians, and therefore the island has a significant Indian population. The only thing that really means to me is that there was good food to be found. There just happened to be an Indian restaurant a short walk from the hotel, and it had good reviews online, so we headed to Bombay Blues. Full disclosure- we had been drinking all afternoon, so our judgement might be slightly skewed. But my recollection of the meal was fabulous. I had the Malai Kofta (one of my favorite dishes) and the sauce was flavorful and hearty. Hank had his favorite- Aloo Gobi. It was reasonably priced, our server was nice, and overall we enjoyed the meal. The restaurant was pretty crowded, so I got the impression that it was a local favorite.

After sleeping it off in the next morning, we decided it would be fun to take a tour of the island before we had to meet the ferry for Nevis. The island is only 18 miles long, so it doesn't take long to make the big circle. Through the hotel, we hired a really nice driver to give us a tour. First stop was a high point overlooking our hotel from the beach.

Below Hank down on the right is where Shipwreck was- the South part of the island.

View of the Marriott (red roofs) on the far right side)

After a little driving and story telling, he waited patiently while we toured the Brimstone Hill Fortress. It is now a national monument that was originally designed by the British, and built by African slaves. After an extensive preservation effort (that is still ongoing), it is one of the best preserved fortifications in the Americas. You can read more information in the link- but my brief description is that it was breathtaking. We really, really enjoyed walking around viewing the amazing construction and beautiful views of the island from one of the highest points.

Looking up to the highest point and the Citadel. There were multiple levels and buildings overall.

It was no joke climbing up to the top- those stairs were serious business, and intentionally built to slow down any troops trying to overtake the fort. 

View of the Infantry Officers Quarters

Hank geeking out with all the history around him.

Many of the original canons were stolen and melted down.

Drinking a local (non-alcoholic) Ting and enjoying the view.

Here kitty, kitty....A cute cat hanging out in the main area of the Citadel.

More canons pointing towards the back of the fort. They had all angles covered for any attacks.

We finished the loop around the north side of the island, and got to view where the Atlantic meets the Carribean, and also black rocks formed by the now dormant volcano on the island. We finished the tour just in time to catch an early ferry to Nevis, where the rest of our trip continued. Stay tuned.....

The Atlantic is the rougher/bluer part on the left, and where the color changes is where the Caribbean begins.

Volcanic rocks and crashing waves.