Still perturbed by the monkeys

[DSXM]

It has been a week since we got back from a lovely week aboard the Carvinal Valor. The one bad thing that is really sticking with me are the monkeys in St. Kitts. We had never been to St. Kitts before so we asked someone what there was to do in St. Kitts. He wasted no time in warning us about the monkeys and I am eternally grateful. He told us the locals steal babies from pregnant female monkeys and then kill the mother after she gives birth. Then the locals put them in diapers and clothing and literally throw them on unsuspecting tourists, demanding money for any pictures taken with the monkeys.

 

I think this is inhumane and disgusting. I wore a collared shirt and buttoned it up all the way, god forbid a local out a monkey on me. After an hour checking out the pier shops, carefully peeking around all corners to steer clear of monkeys, we went back to the ship and stayed there.

 

I think the cruise lines should cease stopping in St. Kitts for the health of their passengers and crew.

[mimip]

It has been a week since we got back from a lovely week aboard the Carvinal Valor. The one bad thing that is really sticking with me are the monkeys in St. Kitts. We had never been to St. Kitts before so we asked someone what there was to do in St. Kitts. He wasted no time in warning us about the monkeys and I am eternally grateful. He told us the locals steal babies from pregnant female monkeys and then kill the mother after she gives birth. Then the locals put them in diapers and clothing and literally throw them on unsuspecting tourists, demanding money for any pictures taken with the monkeys.

 

I think this is inhumane and disgusting. I wore a collared shirt and buttoned it up all the way, god forbid a local out a monkey on me. After an hour checking out the pier shops, carefully peeking around all corners to steer clear of monkeys, we went back to the ship and stayed there.

 

I think the cruise lines should cease stopping in St. Kitts for the health of their passengers and crew.

 

Did you actually see a monkey?

[DSXM]

Did you actually see a monkey?

 

Yes, many of them.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Hi, Our next cruise in December calls on St Kitts. It has been a few years since we have been...Do you have any pics of the port area you can share or a list of shops? How was the immediate area near the shops in regards to monkeys? Some? many? a Few? The two other times we were there we found very few, maybe saw 3 monkeys in total and if you walked away and shook your head "no", the owners were pretty non obtrusive. I'm wondering if it has changed at all? Thanks!

Edited July 23, 2013 by CruiseDivaNJ

[DSXM]

I did take a couple of pics but you can't see the stores. There were many locals lined up with monkeys. You pretty much couldnt walk down the center of the shopping area. I had to hug the outskirts. There was a decent amount of shopping. Your usual jewelry stores and a pretty big Dufry. There were lots of t-shirt and souvenir stores. I don't think there was a Del Sol or Cariloha (the rest of the stops had them). There was a craft market set up, but I turned around when a large man was walking around with a monkey and I didn't feel comfortable since the market was in such a small space. There are a couple of bars/restaurants at the pier as well.

[legalwife]

I feel your pain. Almost two years ago we went to a beach there and saw this guy carrying around a rather listless monkey. Would shove a cup of water at him to wake him up. Was walking around on beach trying to get money for pictures with the poor little monkey. Monkey finally passed out. There was a vet student there who quickly swung into action. She briefly examined the monkey and fussed at the guy. She was taking him to the vet or vet school and said she thought he would have to be euthanized.

 

Yes, there ought to be a law but know it is just a different culture and impossible to enforce. Never forgot the little guy and hope there is a monkey heaven. He deserved it as I am sure many others as well.

[obnurse]

That is so sad......people should not pay to hold the monkeys. The locals wouldn't do it if they weren't paid. So exploited! We are thinking of going to the wildlife reserve on Barbados. I'd rather spend my money on conservation than exploitation. JMHO

[seashinesunshine]

It has been a week since we got back from a lovely week aboard the Carvinal Valor. The one bad thing that is really sticking with me are the monkeys in St. Kitts. We had never been to St. Kitts before so we asked someone what there was to do in St. Kitts. He wasted no time in warning us about the monkeys and I am eternally grateful. He told us the locals steal babies from pregnant female monkeys and then kill the mother after she gives birth. Then the locals put them in diapers and clothing and literally throw them on unsuspecting tourists, demanding money for any pictures taken with the monkeys.

 

I think this is inhumane and disgusting. I wore a collared shirt and buttoned it up all the way, god forbid a local out a monkey on me. After an hour checking out the pier shops, carefully peeking around all corners to steer clear of monkeys, we went back to the ship and stayed there.

 

I think the cruise lines should cease stopping in St. Kitts for the health of their passengers and crew.

 

I wish someone would stop this practice. I warned my parents about them and told them no matter what, if they put monkeys on you, don't pay them. Yep they got my parents and bullied them into paying. I was beyond mad. I wish I had been there, we separated for that day. The sad thing is, they could do it better, treat the babies nice and have a little exhibit where people would be more than glad to pay for pictures and feeding monkeys etc, sort of like a mini zoo. They could make it educational.

[Lightngsvt]

Seriously? They literally throw monkeys on you and demand money? What the.... Im not a huge fan of monkeys anyway, but that is cruel. Glad I read this as we were trying to decide between an itinerary that hit either St Kitts or St Thomas, well I guess St Thomas it is! If you did a tour or some other organized event would you avoid the monkeys?

[seashinesunshine]

Seriously? They literally throw monkeys on you and demand money? What the.... Im not a huge fan of monkeys anyway, but that is cruel. Glad I read this as we were trying to decide between an itinerary that hit either St Kitts or St Thomas, well I guess St Thomas it is! If you did a tour or some other organized event would you avoid the monkeys?

 

I have heard a lot about it and my parents had the bad experience, but honestly I have only ever seen one guy with a monkey and that was on Cockelshell beach, but I know they are there.

[VillaHappy]

If you did a tour or some other organized event would you avoid the monkeys?

 

Yes! We did a tour with Greys and the monkeys were only at one stop. We were warned about them in advance of getting off the tour van.

[bup1224]

When we were there in September - at least in the port area - the vendors with the monkeys were there but our tour guide told us that they were "cracking down" on throwing them so to speak on tourists. We did not see any vendors in the port area doing that but we did see people taking their picture with the monkeys willingly.

[OCruisers]

We've been going to St. Kitts for many years and no one has ever thrown a monkey on us.

 

LuLu

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[ValerieJo]

We've been going to St. Kitts for many years and no one has ever thrown a monkey on us.

 

LuLu

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Same here. We've never had a monkey thrown at us either. In fact I only remember a couple people with monkey's and they were with people who wanted to be. I certainly wouldn't make it a deciding factor on which itinerary to take . St. Kitts is a great island and you would really be missing out if you skip it.

[kerrytens]

St Kitts was my least favourite island because of the monkeys and the hounding people. We walked off the ship, excited to see a new island, but instead were bombarded by all these men holding baby monkeys. One did throw one on my shoulder and assured me that "they don't bite" as he started to walk away. Ummm, as I tried to move it, sure enough it bit me!

 

Once he finally removed it after I told him what it did, we then had to deal with a different hoard ... taxi drivers who hounded us to allow them to take us on a tour of the island. I explained that I had a tour booked already to which one kept following me saying that you are being robbed ... ":insert guide's name: is a robber. She is stealing your money"

 

I loved the beauty of the island but I have no desire to ever go back after the gauntlet that I had to get through after getting off of the ship:mad:

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that the monkey guy demanded money from me too. I finally threw him a buck or two to get him away from me.

 

I certainly hope that others don't end up as targetted as we obviously were ... it was a bad experience.

[Lightngsvt]

KerryTens experience is exactly what I do not want to encounter. I wonder why / how there seems to be such a wide difference in experiences on St Kitts? Could it be time of year, # of ships in port that day, travelers who had been there vs first time visitors?

[kjquilts]

KerryTens experience is exactly what I do not want to encounter. I wonder why / how there seems to be such a wide difference in experiences on St Kitts? Could it be time of year, # of ships in port that day, travelers who had been there vs first time visitors?

 

 

We were on the same cruise as KerryTens. We loved our day on St Kitts and had no problems at all. However, our tour Best of St Kitts was booked direct through Philip at Clay Villa. Our driver met us inside the building at the port and escorted us to his vehicle so there was really no opportunity for "outsiders" to bother us.

[kerrytens]

We were on the same cruise as KerryTens. We loved our day on St Kitts and had no problems at all. However, our tour Best of St Kitts was booked direct through Philip at Clay Villa. Our driver met us inside the building at the port and escorted us to his vehicle so there was really no opportunity for "outsiders" to bother us.

What building did you meet in KJ? We had a tour booked direct through another operator ourselves.

 

I loved St. Kitts once we got out of the cruise ship centre area but within those walls ... yikes;) Glad you enjoyed the island too!

[crusn2gethr]

I'm so sad to hear you spent the day on the ship instead of experiencing such an amazing island!

 

My family of 7 were there in 2012 and my DH and I are returning in April 2014. We didn't have anyone "throw a monkey" on us and we had 3 kids in our party.

 

St. Kitts is one of the most breathtaking islands we've ever been too. We booked a private tour and our guide could not have been better. During one of the tour stops a lady came up to the van and asked very politely if anyone wanted to pet the monkey and get a picture so my DH and 2 DS's did. The monkey looked to be well taken care of and he wasn't in a diaper or clothes. He seemed to be a pet of hers and very well taken care.

 

If you ever get the chance to return to St. Kitts, I hope you'll get to experience the beauty of St. Kitts. Timothy Hill is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been! It's just breathtaking.

 

I would bet that a tour guide would take care of the "monkey" problem for you if you told them under no circumstances did you want that experience. Our guide took amazing care of us and we are using him again this April.

 

Happy Travels! The world is an amazing place to see and experience. :)

[kerrytens]

I am very happy to hear that others have had great experiences on the island because it truly is stunningly beautiful.

 

I can also say that I hope that no one else is subjected to what I experienced during my first 30 minutes onshore. Sadly it was negative enough to leave me with a very bad taste about the citizens of the island.

 

Would I go back, yes. I'd like to think that it was a one of experience (like I said, I hope that no one else has to go through it) and I'm certainly willing to give it another go should the opportunity arise.

 

I doubt that I'd book with the same tour operator though as she was a bit scattered ... and maybe if she was more organized, we would have gotten out of the cruise terminal faster. Who knows.

[carolslc]

It's so sad that people there are exploiting the monkeys. I'm happy to say though that last month we visited on our own and had no problems. There was a monkey in an enclosure at Cockleshell but we didn't visit it. At the port, we walked around and shopped quite a while - lots of cute shops. I saw one local with a monkey in the center street offering to let people hold the monkey for pictures - for a fee I'm sure. We didn't make eye contact with him and walked on by, and we had no problems. I didn't see anyone throwing monkeys on people. Not to say it doesn't or hasn't happened, but maybe they have cracked down. St. Kitts was absolutely beautiful and I would happily visit again. I would just never pay a local to hold a monkey. :)

[flyingv4me]

When we were there in January there were a few people with monkeys, but nothing that made me feel threatened at all.

 

One of the jewelry stores sold my wife a silver bead/charm that was in the shape of a monkey as a momento of our visit! LOL! The shopkeeper was great and we enjoyed talking with her.

 

St. Kitts is a beautiful island and I can't wait to visit again!

[trvlgrl422]

This is so disturbing. It almost makes me want to stay on the ship, but I wouldn't do so. I'm not sure what type of excursion to take to avoid this type of scene.

[OCruisers]

This is so disturbing. It almost makes me want to stay on the ship, but I wouldn't do so. I'm not sure what type of excursion to take to avoid this type of scene.

 

Promise ... we've never had anyone throw a money on us anyplace in St. Kitts!

On beaches there have been some with a monkey but always would ask if we would like our picture with it ... absolutely did not throw it on us.

On our times taking a catamarans to Nevis we didn't even see any monkeys.

On the train ride tour didn't see any monkeys either.

LuLu

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Edited March 7, 2014 by OCruisers

[shark&minnow]

This monkey throwing does nothing to deter me from enjoying the port. I am not afraid of monkey throwers and no one can make me pay for it:D