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Published: December 30th 2017
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St Kitts and Nevis (pronounced 'Nee-vis') are two of the sleepiest places in the Caribbean, and one of the few countries where agriculture is still a larger part of the economy than tourism. St Kitts, by far the bigger island, comprising most of the country's 60,000 population, has a mountainous interior, salt ponds and deeply indented bays. Until this century it was covered in cane fields, but the sugar industry has now totally disappeared from the island, freeing up its train tracks for other pursuits. The culture of the island draws on a mix of European, African and West Indian traditions. This was the most northern island we visited, being situated northwest of Antigua.
Our initial stop here was in Basse-Terre, the capital city of St Kitts, situated at the southern end of the island. The plan for the day was to take an organised excursion called ‘St Kitts by Train’, which was to traverse a broad circuit of the island in a specially adapted train (double decked carriages, with air-conditioned lower deck and open upper deck) using the old, disused narrow-gauge sugar railway line. Built between 1912 and 1926 to carry sugar cane from outlying plantations to the factories
and to the capital Basse-Terre, this is among the last railroads left in all the West Indies. At the conclusion, we were to get a bus tour to some areas not covered by the train, before being delivered back to the ship which had moved over to South Friar’s Bay, a beach resort area south of Basse-Terre.
The tour began at the pier at Port Zante, where we boarded railway transfer buses to join the train. Leaving the station, we were soon surrounded by cane fields. As the train ascended the slopes of Mt. Liamuiga, we passed alongside black sand beaches, ruinous plantation estates, tall steel girder bridges, deep ravines and sweeping vistas of nearby islands (specifically Nevis to the south and St Barts, St Maarten and Anguilla to the north). As anticipated, the train ride was more touristy than informative. Given sugar tended to be transported through open cane fields rather than residential areas, the majority of our very leisurely two hour trip was through countryside that clearly was once covered in sugar cane. That being said, it is an attractive country, and we had the benefit of an unobstructed 360-degree viewing via the open-air observation deck, along
with a non-stop commentary from our loquacious guide Lydia, who gave us an insight into the death of the sugar industry, which has seen it being progressively replaced mainly by tourism. Added bonuses were a copious supply of rum-based and virgin dacquaris and pina coladas, along with a variety of songs rendered by three local well-voiced ladies. One of the main items of interest on this trip for me as an (ex-)sugar man was to view the crumbled remains of a couple of old brick sugar factories (almost all have now been totally dismantled) as well as a couple of the old homesteads on the sugar estates.
The commute each way by bus was in many ways in fact more informative. This took us through the town of Basse-Terre, where our guide pointed us out some of the key landmarks, then travelling through a number of attractive little fishing villages before delivering us back to the ship at South Friar's Bay, a beach site just a bit further south of the capital. When I asked the guide what St Kitts is best known for, his answer somewhat surprisingly was Kim Collins, for one brief period the fastest man on
earth. He won that great honour by being victorious in the World Championship 100 metres sprint in 2003 (and last year became the first 40-year-old to run the 100 metres under 10 seconds). He has had roads and stadiums named after him in Basse-Terre, where I am advised he is still a proud resident.
Well, that concludes the blogs from all the various islands we visited on both cruises, and next I will give a brief outline on our final day in Barbados before flying out, to be followed by my personal reflections on the Caribbean and in particular the clipper experience.
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D MJ Binkley
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