Happy Easter from genuine St. Kitts
Regina
Espen Aalstad
Sat 22 Mar 2008 12:45
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Dear blog readers!
We hope you also will have a peaceful Easter. We
have seen in Aftenposten how winter has come back to southern Norway: kos dere
med påske egg og marsipan i steden! Det savner vi! To our friends skiing in Norway, the Alps and Japan...enjoy for us
also!
Here the unsual winter swell is coming down after a
rolly night outside Basse Terre, St. Kitt. The storm has also brought cloud
and rain: we have done some school (all five kids at once) and moved up to
the capital to tour the island. The water on the south coast here turned
very murky as the waves stir it up.
The island has been a pleasant surprise and the
Kittians very friendly. We are happy we came - ironically thanks to the
swell.
Somehow an island of contrasts:
St. Kitts is the 'mother colony' as both the
British and the French settled here first in the 1600s and spread out from
here - yet the last British colony to gain independence.
Road Town was the first village: today there is not
much here.
 Like other islands, it has a
violent history of indian slaughters and colonist fighting it out -
yet unlike others the lowest crime rates in the Caribbean (no fines,
only time served).
Brimstone Hill fortress is a UNESCO heritage site
and is a pride of the island. The British volunteers were recruited
with 'you loved your country, your king and your religion and hated
the French and damn the Pope' . Little did they know this beauty
brought a much tougher life first coming across the Atlantic and then
tropical deseases.
  Rich fields of suger cane dominate the landscape
with many ruins of sugar mills - unfortunately the government' s
expropriation of the land did not make a profitable business and today's there
is no production. We wonder if the Int'l Monetary Fund had intended this waste
of cultural history, but the boy's loved to pick their own for
free.
Fortunately, some plantations as successful
restaurants and hotels today such as Rawlins plantation.
  Where the chef taught the kids 'Old Man Treasure'
and he learned 'Hei Knekt'.
 and the manor reminds you of rich plantation
owners.....
 Volcanic landscape is prevalent - yet no eruptions
since pre-Colombus. Everybody here crosses their fingers.
The volcanic coast was an impressive sight of
nature's power - the long swell is hardly visible until it breaks.
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