James Meets Duane Kenny of Stonehaven Villas...

Q.‘How has it been coming from the incredibly quiet area of Scarborough to the… well, pretty quiet.. West End of Tobago?’

Duane Kenny
‘I tell my friends from Port of Spain that I have come to the bright lights and the big city… As you can imagine they are not that impressed, but there is a real difference here after Scarborough. I like the interaction with people and there is a lot more to do down this side.’

Q.Villa-based tourism has always been a strong point in Tobago. ‘How different is it running a villa resort from a hotel?’

Duane Kenny
'Actually it is not very different. I enjoy the customer service and so I make sure to meet all the guests and get to know them. I was told that they might be looking for privacy, but actually they are all interested to meet people from Tobago and they like a good conversation. We give them secrets about the best things to do on the island, things they’d never discover elsewhere. It’s part of the concierge service that we offer, one of the advantages of being a small resort.’

‘Interestingly the perception in Tobago is that the villas are not as important as hotels – I suppose hotels bring in more money when they are full – but there have been villas on the island for decades. Staying in one gives you a full family product – you have the whole house - but here you also have the facilities of a hotel. Plus there is a housekeeper cooking meals for you, or you can bring in a chef. We can even arrange a wedding.’

Q.‘And how’s Tobago in general?’

Duane Kenny
‘The island has been working hard on its product. There is an excellent new museum in Fort George in Scarborough and there are now plenty of festivals which offer a good reason to visit. The cruise ship sector has boomed as well. And then of course there has always been the ecological interest in Tobago, in the rainforest and in reefs along the north coast. A lot of effort is being made around Buccoo and along the coast. There is even a kite festival too, in which people try to fly these enormous kites.’

‘The current downturn is not as bad as it might have been, but with the world economy as it is right now, most of us are feeling that the next couple of years will be tight and so we are offering value added to get people through the door. The booking is more and is more last minute.’

Q.‘What is the effect of having Trinidad right next door?’

Duane Kenny
‘It is both a benefit and in other ways a drawback. Just recently Trinidad may have helped us a bit and worked as a safety net. Getting here from Trinidad is very inexpensive and that benefits the mid to low end. At the top end Trinidad’s oil economy makes it the richest island in the region and so many Trinidadians invest here by building second homes. Generally though, tourism is only a small part of gdp for the country and so there is less investment in the infrastructure than there might be in another island.’

‘For the visitor it means that there are fewer hotels probably, but that when you get here there is an authentic island culture, with a real Caribbean vibe. When you go out you won’t find an Irish pub on the strip. It’ll be a local bar. And they are pretty good at the moment…’

Q.I stop him because we will keep the bars till the end. ‘Are there any frustrations about living and working in coming from Trinidad and working in a much smaller island?

Duane Kenny
‘I’ve lived here for eight or nine years now so I think of myself as a Trinbagonian. It’s certainly different, Tobago, but it has its advantages. You might think that life is much slower than in Trinidad, but there are fewer people in Tobago and so the queues are shorter. In the end you often get through quicker.’

Q.Finally I ask about the bars – ‘Tobago has always been lively. How is it just now?’
Duane Kenny
‘Actually Tobago is a pretty good place to go out at the moment. The Fish Pot is new and is offering good food at a reasonable price. The popular place to go out is the Corner bar, and then people move on to the Shade. And there’s a lovely little place beyond Scarborough called Sure Things. That’s the sort of thing that we tell our guests about. They’d never find out otherwise and they all love it. The other day I even discovered a poetry night at a bar near here – Signature Lounge. And don’t forget Stonehaven itself. Since I arrived I have encouraged people to come in to eat and we see plenty of people at lunch and dinner. We’re often full at cocktail hour too. There’s no better place than Sunsets at Stonehaven.’

For more information see our Definitive Caribbean Review of Villas at Stonehaven.

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Swimming with sea turtles in Barbados has become a popular activity over the last decade. It is one of the main draws on the daytime cruises that sail up and down the west coast. However you may not need to join a day sail at all to have the experience. Once the sailing boats have disappeared, the turtles tend to linger and so you may be able to swim out and enjoy a more private turtle encounter.

This is certainly the case at Treasure Beach Hotel, where swimming with a family of green turtles has become a regular feature for guests. Complimentary snorkelling gear is provided. General Manager of Treasure Beach, Hamish Watson recalls -

“One young guest got the fright of her life when this turtle suddenly appeared from nowhere and calmly swam beside her. She almost ‘walked on water’ in her effort to get out.”

But swimming with turtles is only part of the story. In the summer nesting season, from May to October, the sands of Treasure Beach are a favoured nesting spot for hawksbill turtles. Barbados is currently home to the second-largest hawksbill turtle nesting population in the wider Caribbean, with as many as 500 females nesting per year. They lay up to 150 eggs each time they visit. Hamish himself has counted a dozen nests on his section of Treasure Beach.

For the second year running Treasure Beach will be inviting a marine biologist from the Barbados Sea Turtle Project (BSTP) to speak to guests on the subject. Lectures take place once a week, on Thursdays over afternoon tea, and they are generally given by Darren Browne, Field Director of the BSTP. They are a very casual affair and take about an hour - and longer when guests have questions. In 2009 the turtle lectures will start at the end of April and run until the hotel’s annual summer closure on 29 August. Lectures are given as part of the BSTP’s outreach programme. Please see the Definitive Caribbean Blog for more details about the Barbados Sea Turtle Project.

In addition to the lectures, whenever Treasure Beach Hotel spots any turtle laying activity they call the Turtle Project, which operates a 24 hour Turtle Hotline (t 230 0142). A volunteer is then sent along to monitor the procedure, check the tag on the turtle, record the number of eggs and even move them to a safer spot if needed. Hamish points out -

“Guests are encouraged to watch but must be quiet and not use flash photography as the turtles are easily disturbed. Once laying starts, the turtle relaxes and won't budge, and permission may be given for a closer look at the whole process and perhaps even an occasional photograph. If a guest has specifically expressed an interest we will call them but, as most of the laying takes place in the late hours, it is normally only those who are still in the bar who go and have a look. One evening the entire restaurant emptied out and caused havoc with the delivery of food which was being prepared but not yet served – Chef was not happy!”.

If you would like to contact the Barbados Sea Turtle Project or read more about Conservation in Barbados please see our Barbados Island Guide. Please see our Review of Treasure Beach Hotel.

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Billed as the most important Caribbean Sports event in 2009

At the Beijing Olympics last year the Caribbean nations won a total of 41 medals between them, nine of them gold. It was an exceptional tally from so many small countries and it’s no surprise then to discover that by the ratio of entrants to population Jamaica and the Bahamas were the best performing countries at the Olympics. More importantly it shows what depth of sporting talent there is in the Caribbean islands.

Back in 2000 various Heads of Caribbean Governments met to further the development of Caribbean Sport. In particular, it was decided that there should be a ‘Celebration of Games for Elite Athletes on a periodic basis’. Step forward the Caribbean Games 2009. It is hoped that the Caribbean Games will provide a platform, officially recognized and accredited by the International Olympic Committee, to showcase elite Caribbean athletics, thereby motivating young sportsmen and sportswomen and helping them to aspire to international standards and achievements.

Each year following an Olympic Games year as many as seven sports will be played at the Games, two of which must be football, basketball or volleyball. The other five sports will be chosen from any Olympic discipline. July 2009 sees the inaugural Caribbean Games, kicking off with this year’s chosen sports of athletics, boxing, netball, tennis, beach and indoor volleyball.

Venues include the Hasely Crawford Stadium (named after the first athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to win an Olympic Gold Medal), the Jean Pierre Complex, the UWI SPEC, Woodbrook Youth Facility, Saith Park at Chaguanas and Shaw Park in Tobago. Competing countries will be Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, Saba, St Eustatius, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and the US Virgin Islands.

After the success in Beijing and the recent cricketing victories, it seems that there is some real momentum in Caribbean sports. A home Caribbean setting for a regional competition should produce some electrifying performances. Perhaps it will also spur the Caribbean islanders to get back to loving their sport.

To learn more about the sports, the venues and to keep up to date with the results as they happen, please see the Caribbean Games 2009 website.

For more information about the Caribbean Olympic Movement, please see The Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees website.

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In the days of package tours and huge, factory-like hotels, it can be hard to appreciate how captivating the Caribbean once was. Sure, the physical beauty will attract the weariest traveller, but as the cane fields are gradually overtaken by golf courses and plantation buildings are bulldozed for condominiums, the region’s history, so tangled and so desperately romantic – and admittedly so brutal at times - is simply hidden from view. With it go the memories of other people’s lives and dreams.

For Dr June Goodfield, history is not about ‘a procession of facts, so much as the story of people’. Her new book, Rivers of Time - Why is everyone talking to Philippa? brings alive the early days of Nevis through the story of a woman whose memorial stone is still to be found, 300 years after her death, on an isolated section of land - land that she herself had carved from the bush to which it is now largely returned.

Our Review of her book can be found on our new blog. Please read a Review of Rivers of Time..

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As we become more aware of our impact on the planet and realise how destructive some human activities can be, it is good to see some companies committed to putting something back. The Caribbean islands are exceptionally beautiful, but they are also fragile. Here is a project which helps to protect the environment from which we take so much pleasure.

Horizon Yacht Charters, a specialist in BVI yacht charters and one of the leading charter companies across the Caribbean, have introduced a new scheme that enables travellers to support the islands while they are enjoying them. Each Horizon base in the region – they have a presence in The BVI, Antigua, St Martin and Grenada - has chosen to support a local conservation project in order to help secure a sustainable future on the island.

Andrew Thompson, director of Horizon Yacht Charters, explained the reasoning behind the idea - “It is so encouraging and makes our endeavours worthwhile when guests, who have chartered with Horizon Yacht Charters, want to give something back by means of a donation to help support conservation initiatives. The response to supporting these initiatives has been fantastic, primarily because many of our guests come back year after year, so they see the progress first hand and understand how vital it is to help as much as possible”

Charter guests are invited to make a donation of US$20 to the project supported by their charter base when they take their holiday. Projects include sponsoring mangrove seedlings in the BVI, preventing destructive fishing practices in St Martin, preserving turtle nesting sites in Antigua and sponsoring baby turtles in the Grenadines. All of the schemes are non-profit making and 100% of donations go towards the projects.

For more information about the company please see our Definitive Caribbean Reviews of Horizon Yacht Charters on BVI, Antigua and Grenada.

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Are you friends with us? Come and find us on Facebook, share your Tweets, read our blog or just enjoy our YouTube videos

The Definitive Caribbean YouTube Channel
More and more travellers are taking their camcorders and mobile phones on holiday to record their trip. What happens to the footage? Well, we know people love to share their experiences - 16 hours of video are uploaded onto YouTube every minute! And so we have created our Caribbean YouTube channel, to collect together top quality multimedia from the region. We carry the best clips from hotels, amateur holiday video-diaries and professional island promotions, cultural clips, adventure footage of yachting and zip-lining and seat-of-the-pants rushes of landing at some of the ‘livelier’ Caribbean airstrips.

Do take a look at the videos and subscribe to our channel to keep yourself updated with the latest additions. Also, please feel free to send in any clips that you would like to see featured on what we like to think of as The Caribbean YouTube!

The Definitive Caribbean Blog
The team at Definitive Caribbean has been travelling around the Caribbean for a total of 80 years now. We’ve all had some pretty amazing work trips (and the odd holiday) and our research has been the basis of our many island guides and accommodation reviews. But to date there hasn’t really been a place to tell of the adventures that happen when we’re travelling, all our funny, unexpected, magical and silly West Indian experiences. Welcome to our new blog...

We have started publishing pieces already, covering all sorts of topics from our experiences of Caribbean life, like our Travellers’ Travails (odd moment in planes - ‘Please pay attention to the following (unusual) safety briefing’), through Caribbean buses to quirky Caribbean characters like ‘Pere Labat – Dominican Missionary, Gastronome and Occasional Spy’.

Eventually we will develop the blog further, to include reviews of restaurants, books, bars and other snippets of information that catch our attention. Meanwhile, do log on and enjoy the many unexpected moments of fun while travelling the Caribbean. What happens when a sniffer dog discovers something that shouldn’t be in a pile of luggage? Usually it sits down. Not in Martinique...

Definitive Caribbean Social Networks
How do you like to keep in touch with your family, friends and colleagues? And up to date with the latest news and developments? Letter writing is a thing of the past and gone are the days when you picked up the phone to catch up with someone, lol. Newspapers?! Not likely, or only if you’re in the Underground out of range. Nowadays all our news streams in on the internet, we chat to friends by email and share news by text. And as web 2.0 develops, there are ever more possibilities to get news via groups on line.

On Definitive Caribbean we are right there. We have selected the most useful and fun social sites and created profiles. It would be great to have you all join us in our communities. The major networks we enjoy using can be found below, but if you find us on another not mentioned here, do say hi!

Facebook Twitter Stumbleupon Delicious Digg LinkedIn

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Introducing the newest Barbados spa - four treatment rooms, a private couples’ cabana, hydro pool and relaxation areas, all set in a stunning tropical walled garden...

The new Spa at Coral Reef Hotel is a colonial enclave in a lush tropical oasis. Surrounded by twelve acres of gardens, the new building has the graceful Palladian style of old time Barbados, but inside it has a thoroughly modern air in its contemporary finishes and technical facilities. Overseen by Neil Howard, who has 27 years of working within spa design around the world, the exteriors were completed by Gillespie and Steel Associates and the interiors were styled by Helen Green Designs.

The new Barbados spa is open to non-residents, including of course guests at Coral Reef’s sister hotel, The Sandpiper (there is a free shuttle service between the two hotels). A multitude of treatments is available in the four multipurpose treatment rooms, each of which has a private garden, and in a fifth area, the couples’ Outdoor Pavilion. There is also a thermal suite with an Experience Shower for self treatment. And for moments when you are not actually being pampered there are several areas to which to retreat - a relaxation area with an indoor, open-air atmosphere ideal for recovering from your pummeling massage, an outdoor hydro-pool with shaded cabanas for post treatment drinks and idle chit chat and the spa lounge for a bit of quiet seclusion.

There are two product ranges in use at The Spa, depending on the treatment you are having and your preference. The award-winning Spanish brand, Natura Bissé, with its Vitamin C, Oxygenated and Diamond lines, is the product of choice. Alternatively you can experience locally sourced plant life and fruits through The Spa’s signature massages. All forms of body and beauty treatments are available, from lymphatic drainage to hot stone massage, facials, manicures, pedicures, body scrubs, wraps, polishing, compressing and waxing.

Please see more details in our Definitive Caribbean Review of Coral Reef Club.

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As holidaymakers branch out beyond the beach and explore their surroundings in new and exciting ways, adventure attractions are appearing around the islands.

The latest addition is Sky Safari, a second generation zip line adventure on St Kitts. Located on the historic Wingfield Estate in the north of the island, the new attraction from Kantours sets itself apart from others in the region by the length and sheer speed of its rides. Lines are up to 1400 feet long and riders can reach speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour (there is a special braking mechanism to slow them down). There are five zip lines in all and they are set high in the trees, so visitors get some truly spectacular views as they fly through, and above, the rainforest. There is a choice of three tours - the full 5 line tour, a 3 line tour and a 3 line tour with a rainforest walk. This is an easy and relaxed walk through the rainforest (25 -30 mins approx), with a guide who talks about the trees and plants found there. Facilities at the base are under construction, but refreshments and water are available for purchase. Merchandise is also for sale.

After the thrill of the ride, visitors can have the (rather more sedate) pleasure of a walk around the ruins of Wingfield Estate, which started out growing tobacco in the early 17th Century before becoming a sugar plantation. And with Romney Manor Gardens just next door, it makes sense to stop by there too for a look. (It is not part of the zipline adventure, but there is no entrance fee and worth a visit anyway.) The ten acre Romney site also dates back to the early 17th Century (being part of the larger estate) and has a pretty botanical garden where an old saman tree has stood for 350 years. Romney Manor, an attractive former plantation house, is now home to Caribelle Batik, where the Indonesian dyeing process is on view. Distinctive patterns are produced using a wax-resist dyeing technique on textiles. After the tour there is plenty of chance to buy wall hangings and clothing in the shop.

For more information on Romney Manor see our Definitive Caribbean guide to St Kitts and for information on Kantours Vacation & Tour Consultants please see the Definitive Caribbean review of Kantours.

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Once its rampant forests were referred to as ‘Green Hell’, a term still used to describe the Amazon. Nowadays, the Caribbean’s immense fertility - its forests and exceptional greenery - are something to be wondered at and admired. And the owners of Maca Bana Villas and The Aquarium Restaurant, Rebecca Thompson and Ulrich ‘Uli’ Kuhn are committed to the preservation of the forest and the local way of life for more reasons than most. They have recently restored land and set up two special interest tours which take their guests to the heart of the Grenadian countryside - ‘From the Forest to the Plate’ and ‘Nature, Tastes & Art Appreciation’.

Last August they purchased a 15 acre plot of agricultural land in the rainforest region of St David, part of a nutmeg plantation that had been badly neglected since Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Their idea was to restore the plot and to employ local farmers to cultivate short-crops in between the nutmeg trees. The produce, which is all organic by the way, would then be used in their restaurant to supplement other locally produced organic foods. In addition, their two new tours would encourage guests to explore the Grenadian countryside and learn about its agriculture, art and of course its people. The tours neatly reflect the couple’s interests and skills - where Uli uses the produce as the chef of The Aquarium Restaurant, Rebecca is a trained fine artist, who already runs painting courses for guests of Maca Bana, using the island’s extraordinary landscape as their subject.

The plot is already producing crops, including nutmegs, and the tours are underway. During their ‘From the Forest to the Plate’ tour guests join either Rebecca or Uli out on the farm, where they meet the farmers. They will literally ‘get their hands dirty’ – by harvesting their own produce – eggplant/aubergine, callaloo (like spinach), okra, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, sweet peppers, breadfruit, bananas, golden apple, avocado and even nutmegs. The tour also includes refreshments and rum sampling. On their return, guests can opt for a cookery lesson and prepare their own dinner using the produce they have picked – so it is literally from the forest to the plate.

On the ‘Nature, Tastes & Art Appreciation’ outing, Rebecca reveals the beauty of the surrounding landscape of St David’s and talks about its connection with art. There is a picnic stop and chance to meet nutmeg and cocoa farmers, and to taste local products such as Grenada’s very own chocolate or La Grenade Liqueur, which is apparently made from secret family recipe using nutmegs. Guests then return to Rebecca’s art studio to discuss landscape painting over a glass of bubbly with fresh fruit juice.

For more information on Special Interest Tours and a full review of the resort written by James Henderson please see our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Maca Bana Villas.

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The Lone Star’s Signature Dish Recipe
from Chef Franco Parisi

Blackened Mahi-Mahi with Sweet Mash Potato, Spinach and Mango Salsa
Lone Star’s Executive Chef, Franco Parisi, who hails from Gallarate, a small village near Milan in Italy, is fascinated by the idea of combining Caribbean and international cuisine. One of the signature dishes at The Lone Star is Blackened Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) with Sweet Mash Potato, Spinach and Mango Salsa. The Lone Star’s Managing Director, Rory Rodger, notes that “as soon as Franco put it on the menu, it became an instant hit, and now five years later we can’t take it off because it is so popular! There are a few dishes on Lone Star’s menu like that.”

Chef Parisi’s career began with a Food and Beverage diploma in Varese in northern Italy, after which he gained experience cooking in his family restaurant. Eventually he moved to the UK, where he was lucky enough to work for the A-Z Group, joining celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Giorgio Locatelli, Marcus Wareing, Kam Po But and Vineet Bhatia. He trained at the award-winning Zafferano restaurant in London (Zafferano has a Michelin star and was voted Best Italian Restaurant in the UK for five consecutive years). Here he cooked for celebrities such as Princess Diana and other Royal Family members, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Jack Nicolson, Michael Douglas and David Beckham. Chef Parisi is of course very influenced by Italian and Mediterranean dishes, but he also explored Pacific cuisine for a year in Sydney, Australia, before returning to England to open Black Truffle, which soon became one of the hottest spots in London.

It was in 2002 that Parisi first went to Barbados, to undertake consultancy for John and David Lloyd. He set up and opened the kitchen and Food & Beverage operation at David Lloyd’s Sugar Hill Resort in St James. Later he moved to The Lone Star Hotel and Restaurant, which is well known for its celebrity clientele. Owned by British actor Christian Roberts (To Sir, with Love and The Desperados), The Lone Star is one of the in-places to eat out on Barbados’s West Coast. Chef Parisi has been at The Lone Star since December 2004 and during his time there he has cooked for host of famous faces including Prince Harry, Tony Blair (again), Sir Michael Caine, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kylie Minogue, Simon Cowell, Sir Philip Green, Lord Lloyd-Webber and of course Michael Winner, who is a regular.


Ingredients

Blackened Fish
2lb fresh skinless mahi-mahi cut into 4-6 portions – see notes
Blackened mix -
    2 tablespoons of paprika
    2 ½ tablespoons of salt
    2 teaspoons of onion powder
    2 teaspoons of garlic powder
    2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
    1 teaspoon of white pepper
    1 teaspoon of black pepper
    1 teaspoon of dried thyme
    1 teaspoon of dried oregano
    1 teaspoon dried sage
5oz unsalted butter
5oz olive oil


Sweet Mash
3 large sweet potatoes – see notes
2 Idaho potatoes or similar large floury type
2 red sweet peppers chopped
3 oz chives chopped
5oz cream
5oz butter
salt and pepper to taste


Mango Salsa
2 firm mangoes
3 sweet peppers – one each of yellow, red and green
1 red onion
½ cup simple syrup
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1lb fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste


Serves 4-6 as a main course Method

Prepare the mango salsa first by dicing the mango, peppers and onion to ¼ inch size, mix, season with salt and pepper and add the syrup and oil. Set aside.

For the Sweet Mash, peel and quarter the potatoes and boil in salted water until soft enough to mash. In a small pan, bring the cream and butter to boil then mix it with the mashed potato. Add the chopped peppers and chives while still hot, finish it with salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towel. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy skillet/frying pan on medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Sprinkle the fish with blackened mix and cook on both sides for few minutes until fully cooked.

Wilt the spinach in a large frying pan with a touch of oil and butter season it to taste.

To serve, first place a portion of spinach, followed by some sweet mash, then top that with the blackened fish. Finally drizzle the mango salsa around the sides of the dish and serve. In the photo, Chef Parisi has topped his ‘tower’ with deep fried shavings of sweet potato.

Notes on ingredients

Sweet potatoes – not to be confused with what Americans call sweet yam which are also the type often sold in supermarkets. This brown skinned, orange fleshed variety, though pleasant, tends to be very soft when cooked, not unlike pumpkin or squash. Use Caribbean sweet potatoes, which have reddish skins and paler, yellowish flesh. They are much drier and fluffier when cooked and they are more fragrant. If you live near a Caribbean or African community these should be easy to come by.

Mahi-mahi - Dolphin-fish or dorado (coryphaena hippurus) is a large, firm-fleshed game fish which is caught throughout the Caribbean. It should not be confused with the mammal dolphin (to reduce confusion, many restaurants and hotels in the Caribbean have dropped the name dolphin and now use the fish’s Hawaiian name, mahi-mahi, instead). You can use any firm-fleshed fish such as sea bass, bream or halibut as an alternative.

READERS’ OFFER
The Lone Star’s Blackened Mahi-Mahi Signature Dish forms part of Definitive Caribbean’s Readers’ Offer programme. The Lone Star is offering Definitive Caribbean readers who have booked a 7 night stay at the hotel a complimentary 3 course meal for two people including the delicious Blackened Mahi-Mahi dish as a main course. When you stay at The Lone Star, you can meet Chef Parisi personally to get some insider tips about his popular dish. Please see our Review of The Lone Star for details on how to claim your complimentary meal. Terms and conditions apply.
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Definitive Caribbean has teamed up with The Lone Star, Barbados, to provide another exciting READER OFFER. This offer is one of a growing number of readers offers featured on Definitive Caribbean. The Lone Star's offer is available to guests that stay for a minimum of seven nights and consists of a complimentary meal that includes the hotel's famous SIGNATURE DISH. Terms and conditions apply.

Lone Star's tasty Blackened Mahi-Mahi is their main course Signature Dish, which you will be able to enjoy as part of a complimentary three course meal. When you stay at The Lone Star, you can meet Chef Parisi personally or Rory Rodger and get tips from an insider on how to prepare this popular dish. Please see our Review of The Lone Star for further details of the hotel and please follow the link above if you would like to see the recipe.

Send us an email for a Coded Voucher to claim your complimentary meal.

Terms and Conditions:

1. This Reader Offer is exclusive to Definitive Caribbean but will be available to everyone that books to stay a minimum of 7 nights at the relevant hotel/villa, whether you book direct or via a travel agent or tour operator, so long as you have read it on Definitive Caribbean.

2. In order to collect the reader offer, you must apply to us by email for a Coded Voucher, which you must print out and present to the hotel on arrival. No advance notice or prior correspondence will be required and the offer will be made available at a mutually suitable day/time to be arranged directly.

3. The Lone Star signature dish is a main course, Blackened Mahi-Mahi from Chef Franco Parisi, which will be offered as part of a complimentary three course meal for up to 2 adults (per hotel room or villa). For the villa with additional occupancy, the Signature Dish will be offered on a complimentary basis to all adult occupants but other courses forming part of the meal will be at your expense.

4. This Reader Offer is open-dated so may be taken up at any time but only one voucher is available per reservation.

The word creole runs close to being the essence of the Caribbean. It means ‘native of the West Indies’ (it comes from Spanish criollo, meaning ‘from Latin America’). Of course creole has many incarnations. The best known is creole food, and there is music. Otherwise the most significant are the creole languages - Papiamento, patois and all the various pidgins. These are all types of Creole, though the word usually refers to French Creole, which is spoken in the French Caribbean islands.

Actually the official language of the French West Indies is French, but in Martinique and Guadeloupe in the eastern Caribbean and (in a different incarnation) in Haiti, the people speak Creole. Interestingly (another different version of) Creole is also spoken in Reunion in the Indian Ocean and in other outposts of the former French Empire. It was developed as a ‘lingua franca’ (so to speak) in West Africa, from where it spread out from, largely with the slaves.

Unexpectedly for many travellers, Creole is also mother tongue of many Dominicans and St Lucians. These islands may have been British for a long while before they became independent, but they also spent much of their history as French islands and the language remains. Once there was Creole in Grenada too. There is very little left now, but if you do not hear it in the speech, you will certainly see it in the place names. Every morne and anse is Creole. And what about the curiously named Béké Moui – ‘Where the white man died’ – Who knows what story lies behind that name.

If Creole is the conversational language of the Martiniquans and Guadeloupeans, it is often looked down on. Martiniquan parents, while speaking Creole amongst themselves, will often speak to their children in French. It helps them in school and to ‘get on’ in life to speak French. Similarly, thirty miles away, St Lucian children will often have to address their parents in English, even though their parents actually speak Creole between themselves. Ever the rebel, though, the kids learn Creole on the street after school.

‘It’s not difficult to learn and it annoyed our parents!’ I was told by one St Lucian in his mid-thirties…

And you will definitely hear it spoken around St Lucia. Just stop by in the market, or in a village and you will be surrounded by the language. Creole is tantalisingly like French, and you get the feeling, as familiar French noises appear in the jumble of words, that they will eventually coalesce into meaning. But they never do. Instead, the end of the sentence passes and you are left with a jangle of incomprehensible utterances.

Creole words can be used for emphasis in English conversation. And vice versa. I was on a St Lucian bus once, heading south to Soufrière, when I overheard the other passengers speaking. The Creole below is just random words, taken from a book (Lafcadio Hearn’s Two Years in the French West Indies, more of which another time), but they are not the point. The important thing was the English phrases, which were thrown in for effect. It made me chuckle to hear them.

Moin té ka ouè toutte moune ka dansé masque. Et toutt-à-coup moin ka ouè li. Moin ka mandé coument? …four months pregnant… Y ka réponne pisse ou si quiriense, pou vini gadé baggaie moune. …eight hundred dollars… faut reté là pou pale tou! Moin ka chaché chimin pou moin allé, moin pè. Six month in jail...!

It was funny to hear the three phrases in the jumble of language that I could barely understand. On reflection though, it was probably a rather sad story.

Nevis retains a delightful, natural charm, which can be explored in many ways

Planting Palms at Nisbet Beach Plantation
Nisbet Plantation is set in 30 acres of lawns and gardens behind the beach in the north of Nevis. Once home to Fanny Nesbit - the faithful wife of Captain (later Admiral Lord) Horatio Nelson – the estate has a beautifully restored Great House with a fantastic view to the sea. And as a former coconut as well as a sugar plantation, it has some spectacularly pretty palms. As a result the Great House and gardens have always been a perfect romantic setting for a wedding. Now, as part of their wedding package, Nisbet is offering a delightful scheme in which newlyweds plant their own coconut palm to commemorate the beginning of their life journey together. Couples can then come back from time to time to see how their tree is getting on and how the project is helping to restore some of the area’s lost trees and wildlife.

Turtle Watching at Montpelier Plantation Inn
Turtle watching has become increasingly popular around the Caribbean (see Island Chat above for information about Treasure Beach, Barbados). In Nevis, hawksbill and leatherback turtles come regularly to lay their eggs on Pinney’s Beach around Montpelier Plantation Inn’s beach area. Now, during the nesting and hatching season, night patrols help to protect both the turtles and preserve their eggs. And as an incentive, guests who stay at Montpelier for five days or more in July and August even get a US$100 food and beverage credit!

Horseriding at The Hermitage Plantation
Horse racing on Nevis is big news! Race days down at the course at Indian Castle are always exciting, but if you fancy partaking in some (slightly more leisurely) riding yourself, then Hermitage Plantation offers a very calm and natural way to enjoy the flora and fauna of Nevis. Much of the action takes place around their location in Gingerland and in Sugar Hill, where trails take you through villages, into the rainforest and to old colonial plantation ruins. The Hermitage has its own stables of mainly Thoroughbred/Creole crosses that have retired from Nevis horseracing. There is even an equestrian package for those that like the sound of it!

Geo Caching in Nevis
This is a new one for us too! Essentially, Geo Caching involves hunting for hidden objects with clues. A GPS enabled machine will get you within 100 feet of a hidden object (geo cache) and then a set of riddles or clues will help you to locate a log sheet – along with any messages, coins, and “trackables” that others decide to leave for you to find. Some shops in St Kitts and Nevis are considering placing discount certificates in the caches to promote the activity.

On Nevis, the man in the know is Jim Johnson from the tour company Top to Bottom. He has registered 16 Geo Caches on St Kitts and Nevis so far and will be establishing more over the coming months. What’s so interesting about Geo Caching is that it’s a wonderful way of getting to know Nevis and its history. All the caches are located at places of historic interest or at beautiful natural sights. Several contain historical information to make them more revealing. It’s a great activity for families as everyone can join in.

St Kitts and Nevis now have a variety of Geo Caches - diving caches, snorkelling caches, ruins caches, hiking caches, even a church cache – more than any other island in the Caribbean. They are listed on the international geo cache website and some will soon be added to the Letter Box website as well. For more information about the Nevis caches, please get in touch with Jim Johnson at Walk Nevis.

Here’s a sample clue – see if you can solve it!

Rain Forest Cache: N17009.629 W062035.914
(Parking at N17009.814 W062036.397
will help you locate the trail head to this cache)

I’m the King of the Forest of Tolkien Fame
Some call me Treebeard, it is a good name
Up in the arch, a blue cache doth lie
In the rain forest shade I am hard to spy!
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