St Kitts
Tamarisk
Tue 18 Apr 2006 23:54
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St Kitts is the bigger half of the two island state
of St Kitts and Nevis. There's a two mile gap between the islands and an annual
swimming race across. St Kitts was the first British colony in the Caribbean and
calls itself the 'Mother Colony'. For a while the French and British shared the
island and joined forces to massacre the 2000 Carib inhabitants at a place now
called Bloody Point. The island is about 15 miles long with a high mountain
running up the centre covered in lush green rain forest. On the lower land
there are acres and acres of sugar cane. It's now grown for making ethanol for
engine fuel. The island is fairly quiet and unspoilt. A lot of the tourism
is based on a (we found) slightly dubious nostalgia for the colonial days.
But that didn't stop us having a very pleasant lunch in one former plantation
house. There's quite a lot of new building going on at the South end of the
island. There's a cruise ship dock and duty free jewellers. The day we left
the Queen Mary was due to come in. We stayed in the new marina in
Basseterre. Free Spirit and Clarabella were there also. Both were heading
South so it was time to say 'goodbye'. There were also a couple called
Harry and Adele on a Westerly Conway we first spotted in Deshaies. We
shared an island tour with them. There is a train that runs round the island on
a track built for moving sugar cane that the pilot book recommends. We
found, however, that all the tickets are sold on the cruise ships and if there's
no cruise ship, the train doesn't run.
 Independence Square in Basseterre
 With Tom, Jonty and Becky from
Clarabella
 Looking North along the coast road towards Bloody
Point
 Carib carving
 Eddie with one of the Vervet monkeys that live in
the rain forest
 Penny and friend
 In Brimstone Hill Fort looking towards Statia
and Saba
 Looking South
 Every surface designed to catch rain
water
 The long walk down from the fort
 Pool at the Rawlins Plantation House restaurant and
hotel
 Eddie hides behind a popadom
 Statia and Saba from Rawlins, sugar cane field
beyond the garden
 Back in the pool. And from St Kitts we sailed to St
Martin - about 50 miles North.
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