the human stain

Had a full day today, starting with my 10am tour of the island and ending with my ingenious use of thermal energy (hot water in an ice bucket) to heat up my leftovers from last night. By midafternoon I was ready to crash—not in a hammock on the beach, but in my little bungalow with the a/c on HIGH. Actually I’m trying to be energy conscious, especially after I learned the high cost of electricity here in Nevis. Edith, my tour guide, shared that sometimes the monthly bill is as high as $400 EC (about $150 US). Which means that a/c is a luxury for most—you open the windows wide and let the strong breeze blow through. But that also means letting the mosquitoes in…I’ve already got a few bites and my bungalow’s screened in. Nevis is addressing the energy issue by adding wind turbines along the windward (Atlantic Ocean) side of the island and they’re also exploring geothermal energy since there are natural hot springs here. Each bungalow at this hotel has a solar panel at the back, which is brilliant. I didn’t see solar panels at the other hotels on my tour, and we stopped at a few. The luxury hotels are often converted plantations, which reminded me of Louisiana. It’s unsettling to see white people lounging by the pool when enslaved Africans were worked to death on that spot—would you vacation or get married at Auschwitz? Still, there I was snapping photos (which are posted on Facebook) and complimenting the Rastafarian men who maintain the stunning gardens at Golden Rock Plantation Inn (left). “Have you seen any ghosts?” I asked one of them. And without missing a beat he started telling me about ghosts he’s seen around the island and the particular ghost of a murdered slave that is sometimes heard climbing the steps at the hotel. Then my tour guide joined in and opined that another unsuccessful hotel had likely closed due to a haunting. Nevisian artist Terry Boddie writes about “the residue of memory” and there are plenty of stains or scars on the landscape. We stopped at several sites along the Heritage Trail: Cottle Church (right), St. James Church, New River sugar factory, the silk cotton tree where Lord Nelson married his Nevisian bride on the Montpelier Estate (apparently slaves stole the ox that was to be roasted for the wedding feast!). We passed through several villages and saw wooden shacks overgrown with weeds and vines alongside impressive terraced homes and sprawling mansions. I saw the village where my father was born (Brown Hill) and then slipped back into the present moment to meet my aunt for lunch in Charlestown. I dropped off a bag of books for the Nevis Public Library and got to meet their wonderful librarians. And I survived the break-neck speed of a bus (van) that brought me back to the hotel. There’s more to write but I think I’d better turn in—I was up half the night and need to start sleeping more soundly if I’m going to rise at dawn on Saturday for the four-hour trek to the top of Nevis Peak…