Things To Do in Nevis

It's a good idea to negotiate with a taxi driver to take you around Nevis. The distance is only 58km (36 miles), but you may find yourself taking a long time if you stop to see specific sights and talk to all the people who will want to chat with you. A 3-hour sightseeing tour around the island will cost $65; the average taxi holds up to four people. No sightseeing bus companies operate on Nevis, but a number of individuals own buses that they use for taxi service. Their names are known to the reception staff at every hotel on Nevis, so if you're interested, make the proper enquiries. You can also call Nevis Taxi Service (tel. 869/469-5621) for information.

The major attraction is the Museum of Nevis History, in the simple but gracefully proportioned stone house where Alexander Hamilton was born, on Main Street in Charlestown (tel. 869/469-5786; www.nevis-nhcs.org), overlooking the bay. The lava-stone house by the shore has been restored. The museum, dedicated to the history and culture of Nevis, houses the island's archives. Hours are year-round Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm, and also on Saturday mid-December to mid-April from 9am to noon. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children 5 to 12.

Eden Brown Estate, East Coast Road, about 2km (1 1/4 miles) from New River, is said to be haunted. It was once the home of a wealthy planter whose daughter was to be married, but her husband-to-be was killed in a duel at the prenuptial feast. The mansion was then closed forever and left to the ravages of nature. Today it's a rather spooky-looking ruin. Only the most adventurous ever come here on a moonlit night.

At one time, Sephardic Jews from Brazil made up a quarter of the island's population, and it's believed that Jews introduced sugar production to the Leeward Islands. Outside the center of Charlestown, at the lower end of Government Road, the Jewish Cemetery has been partially restored and is the resting place of many of the early shopkeepers of Nevis. Most of the tombstones date from 1690 to 1710. There's no attendant on duty, and few local residents seem to know a lot about this place. Unless you look very carefully, its location isn't immediately obvious.

One of the island's best attractions is the 4-hectare (10-acre) Botanical Garden of Nevis (tel. 869/469-3509; www.botanicalgardennevis.com), 5km (3 miles) south of Charlestown on the Montpelier Estate. Rainforest plants grow in re-created Mayan ruins on a hillside site overlooking the Caribbean. A retired Philadelphia businessman, Joseph Murphy, has spent some $8 million on these gardens, containing, among other treasures of nature, 100 species of palms from Madagascar, Asia, and Hawaii, along with 70 varieties of orchids. In the Kew Gardens-like greenhouse, you can see rainforest flora and waterfalls. The on-site restaurant, Martha's Tea House, operated and maintained by the Montpelier Plantation Inn, serves an English tea with scones and double Devon cream. You can also order a ploughman's lunch (French bread, pickled onions, and cheese), barbecue chicken breast, mahimahi, or tuna salad. If you patronize the restaurant or gift shop, you don't have to pay the admission of $10 adults, or $7 children 6 to 12 (free for children 5 and under), to the gardens. The garden is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.

Nevis Jockey Club organizes and sponsors thoroughbred races every month. Local horses, as well as some brought over from other islands, fill out a typical five-race card. If you want to have a glimpse at what horse racing must have been like a century or more ago, you'll find the Nevis races a memorable experience. For information, contact Richard Lupinacci, a Jockey Club officer and owner and operator of the Hermitage Plantation.

Fothergill's Nevisian Heritage Village (tel. 869/469-5521), is a collection of historic structures moved to this site, with an old sugar mill as its centerpiece. Among the attractions are a blacksmith's workshop, a rum store, and a cobbler's outpost, along with replicas of buildings ranging from African-style slave huts to thatched shelters once inhabited by the Caribs. The village is open daily 8am to 4pm, charging an admission of $2.

For original art, visit Eva Wilkin Gallery, Clay Ghaut, Gingerland (tel. 869/469-2673). Wilkin was the island's most famous artist; even Prince Charles showed up to look at her work. Until her death in 1989, she painted island people, local flowers, and scenes of Nevis life. Prints are available in some of the local shops, but originals sell for $150 and up. You can visit her former atelier, on the grounds of an old sugar-mill plantation near Montpelier.

In a stone building about 60m (197 ft.) from the wharf, near the marketplace, Nevis Handicraft Cooperative Society, Cotton House, Charlestown (tel. 869/469-1746), contains locally made gift items, including unusual objects of goatskin, local wines made from a variety of fruits grown on the island, hot-pepper sauce, guava cheese, jams, and jellies.

Island Fever, Main Street in Charlestown (tel. 869/469-9613), has a tasteful and varied selection of items that might range from puppets and batiks from Indonesia to caftans, informal ware, steel drums, painted fish, or handmade jewelry. It's closed in September.

Some newcomers develop a fascination for the local postage stamps during their time on island, interpreting them as a combination of nostalgia for the British Commonwealth, pride of independent nationhood, and a celebration of the natural beauty of Nevis. Postage stamps issued under the auspices of the Nevis Philatelic Bureau are available for sale at the philatelic office, on Market Street (tel. 869/469-5535), about a 2-minute walk from the main Post Office (also on Market St.) Especially prized are stamps commemorating the late Princess Diana, Alexander Hamilton, or anything to do with Nevis's flora, underwater fauna, and architecture. Because of their relative rarity (if not in Nevis, then within the world at large), Nevisian collectors' stamps sell for a slight premium over their face value.

A craftsperson worthy of mention is Kennedy Tyrell (tel. 869/469-3442), who sells hand-carved wooden figures of monkeys, birds, pineapples, and other objects from his workshop along the road in Zion's Village, in Zion, on the eastern side of Nevis.

Nightlife is not the reason to visit Nevis. Summer nights are quiet, but there's organized entertainment in winter, often steel bands performing at the major hotels.

Most action takes place at the Four Seasons Resort, Pinney's Beach (tel. 869/469-1111), on Friday and Saturday nights.

Oualie Beach Hotel, Oualie Beach (tel. 869/469-9735), offers a live string band entertaining guests.

Another Friday night "jump-up" is at the Water Department Barbecue, Pump Road, Charlestown (no phone), to help raise money for the department. Tents go up in the late afternoon and meat goes on the grill. Some of the best barbecue chicken and ribs on island is served here.

Wednesday night is all the rage at Eddy's Bar & Restaurant, Main Street in Charlestown (tel. 869/469-5958), which serves the best conch fritters in town. Karaoke and dancing to music spun by an island DJ last way past midnight.

Finally, Sunshine's Beach Bar, Pinney's Beach (tel. 869/469-5817), is an ultra-informal shack perched provocatively a few paces away from the property line that divides terrain belonging to the Four Seasons Resort from the rest of the world at large. As such, the place attracts clients of that überupscale resort. It's appealingly raffish (that is, battered and makeshift) -- the kind of place with recorded reggae music, a leashed vervet monkey who may or may not be interested in the cache of bananas the staff provides, and rum-based drinks so strong they're virtually psychedelic. (One of these is the Killer Bee. Try two of them, and you'll know why.) Why does this place have such a distinctive name? It's thanks to the charm and verve of its resident owner, Rastaman Llewellyn ("Sunshine") Caines.