Luxury Golf & Travel May-June 2006
© Dale Leatherman 2006
The sunset was a streak of tangerine and lavender when our plane touched down on St. Kitts. Caught in brilliant silhouette was the volcano on the neighboring island of Nevis. We’d only been in the air 45 minutes from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when the islands appeared--long, skinny St. Kitts looking like a bat poised to hit the almost round ball of Nevis. In land mass, St. Kitts is no bigger than the District of Columbia, and Nevis is half that size. It was going to be easy for us to “double-dip”-- enjoying two islands, two golf courses and two different lodgings in one vacation.
St. Kitts and Nevis gained independence from Great Britain in 1983 and have shared a prosperous, secure existence ever since. This is a pleasant counterpoint to the 17th century, when the French and English struggled for control of the rich sugar industry in the West Indies. When the Treaty of Paris awarded St. Kitts and Nevis to the Brits, the French pulled out, leaving behind towns with Gallic names and their pet green vervet monkeys.
The monkeys thrived in the islands’ untamed rainforest and today outnumber humans by more than two to one. They are an integral part of the island experience, especially on the golf course, where they chatter and shriek like an unruly Ryder Cup gallery.
Like the monkeys, Ottley’s Plantation Inn has been a fixture on St. Kitts for more than three centuries. The former Great House of a vast sugar estate is now an auberge with 24 rooms and cottages, a restaurant and a small spa. Set on a hillside in the shadow of a dormant volcano, the 35-acre property is blessed with ocean views and breezes. . . .
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