Nevis was an unexpected departure from the typical Caribbean Island. Nevis is the smaller of the 2 islands comprising the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. It's known for sandy beaches, including palm-fringed Pinney's Beach and sheltered Oualie Beach.

What’s different about it is that it’s not as developed as other islands. From speaking with some locals, they said the approach is to develop what’s only necessary and let the rest be reclaimed by the jungle.

The only thing on the list today was to go on a rain forest hike. The description said “strenuous” and we were like, “whatever.” Holy moly, it was over 4 miles of steep climbing up and down trails. We walked through 2 “estates” which really are plantations. Our guide was well-informed about most everything in the jungle and was quite proud, as were others, about their ancestors being slaves.

The path in the beginning is an old access road that was a cobblestone road made with the stones collected from the fields. It is remarkable that the road, some walls and bridges have remained over 200 years.

We gained some insight on the use of natural ingredients for daily life. The guide found some leaves (I forget what they were) that he crumbled up and added some water to create a shampoo. He said it is what he uses on his dreads. A gum tree is used to treat cuts and scrapes. Others were used for teas.

After about 4 hours we were taken back to the ship where we had a quick lunch and then collapsed. The chefs prepared my favorite lunch. It’s deconstructing their tuna wrap and just having the base ingredients. Mae had a killer hamburger.

Dinner was in the Mediterranean restaurant and was really good. The photos give some insight into the dinner including Mae’s fusilli with gorgonzola sauce and shrimp and my veal chop that was huge!

Tomorrow, we arrive in St. Lucia and look forward to a casual, less physically immersive day.