Sugar Cakes and Serenades

I loved St. Kitts, and would go back in a minute.

We came from Barbados up the chain of islands, so we could see that we were passing Nevis on the way to St. Kitts while we ate breakfast.

Approaching St Kitts from in the Lido (through a salty window)

After breakfast, I went out on the bow.

Scenery

From the bow

Island from the ship

Looking across to the town

Cathedral towers from the cruise ship

Air terminal

I could see the airport up on the slope behind town, with the planes landing.

Plane coming in for a landing

Frigate bird were gliding on the wind

Tug Boat off St. Kitts

There was a vicious crosswind, and the ship approached the pier at an angle. I thought the captain was going to come in on the upwind side and let the wind blow him down onto the pier like we would have in our boat..

Approaching the dock

Cruise ship dock

But as we approached closer to the dock, I could see that the captain was coming in on the lee side of the pier which was certainly a lot more sensible for a ship of that size with two screws and bow thrusters. There were three official looking people (white shirts and dark pants or Bermuda shorts) with bicycles on the end of the pier

along with some folks in blue shirts (some of them lying down on the dock).

Officials on bikes

I looked down along the side of the bow of the ship, and there was a ship's officer with a red hard-hat standing on a platform that was stuck out from the side of the ship.

Officer getting the throwing line ready

Then there was a significant amount of yelling and jumping up and down, running around and gesticulating on the part of the blue shirts. The Officer fired a monkey fist over to the pier from the forward position using kind of sling shot. (A monkey's fist is a complex type of knot that looks somewhat like a small bunched fist. It is tied at the end of a rope to serve as a weight, making it easier to throw.),

Monkey's fist (knot) by yellow bollard for Maasdam

and the blue shirted people caught it and pulled the line in and put the loop over a yellow bollard with a Maasdam sign next to it. The officer fired two more lines to be taken farther forward and to the other side of the dock. I looked back along the ship, and I could see a similar action being taken from the stern.

Looking back

The tug was standing by, but wasn't AFAIK being used.

Tugboat standing by the Maasdam

We were all secured by about 09:30, and I went below.

We had signed up for a ship tour but it wasn't until afternoon, so about 11, we walked out into the main town of Basseterre. There was a lot of construction going on along the waterfront.

Construction area near the ship

They were building the Pelican Mall next to the cruise ship dock. We looked in the Anima Craft Market,

Anima Craft Market

but didn't find anything there that we liked. We also saw "Diamond Center", "Karibana" and "Best of St. Kitts"

Best of St. Kitts

which I thought might be something like "Best of Barbados" which had only items made on Barbados. However their sign outside was advertising gold jewelry, watches, T-shirts and souvenirs so we just window shopped and didn't go in

Museum from a distance

Museum behind other buildings

We walked past the market area and past the old Treasury Building, which now houses a museum.

Old Treasury Building

The present building was completed in 1894,

Cornerstone which says "This building was erected Anno Domini MDCCCXCIX and this stone laid by Lady Haynes Smith 21 March 1894

replacing a wooden structure which also had an archway through which people arriving and leaving the island would pass leading to the building being referred to as ‘The Gateway to Basseterre’. Inappropriate maintenance and a series of hurricanes between 1989 and 1999 left the building in a terrible state of disrepair.

Museum sign

In 2002, the National Museum opened its doors for the first time in the east wing of the ground floor of the partially restored building. The museum entrance was $2, but we didn't go in. Perhaps I should have.

On the inland side of the museum was "The Circus"

Looking down toward the Circus

which is a roundabout with an ornate Victorian clock in the middle of it.

The clock in the middle of The Circus

The Circus was ostensibly modeled after Piccadilly Circus in London, but without the statue of the cherub in it. The only real similarity was the traffic - they drive on the left.

Go Left around the Clock

There were a lot of restaurants around the Circus.

The Circus Grill

We walked along to Independence Square.

Corner of Independence Square

There was a St. Kitts Tourism Authority sign in three languages (English, French and Spanish) at the corner.

Sign telling the history of the square

It said: In 1834, this 3 acre area, then known as Pall Mall Square, described as "The Marketplace of Negroes", was a place where slaves were sold. Slaves were stored in the basements of homes nearby that today reflect a mixture of English and French architectural influences. In 1750, the local government bought the Square from King George II, and in 1983, it was renamed Independence Square"

The reason it was renamed Independence Square in 1983 was to commemorate the independence of the island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis from Great Britain.

From the side along Independence Square

A large fountain decorates the center.

Large fountain

There were trees and benches, and

Fountain in Independence Square

dry fountains. Around the square were some interesting 18th century homes.

House near the square

Independence House

On one side of the square was the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. (I could see the tops of the two towers from the ship). In the early stages of the French occupation of Basseterre, a Roman Catholic church was erected in the town by the Jesuits and dedicated to Our Lady.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Notre Dame was burnt to the ground in 1706 during the Anglo-French War by English soldiers who were billeted there.

Fountain backed by the church

When the English took over the island in 1713, Roman Catholics were forbidden to worship in public or to hold civil or military office. So there was no Catholic church here until after that law was repealed in 1829. The original Church of the Immaculate Conception was built in or about 1856. In 1927 the original church at this location was demolished, and this cathedral was built.

The actual full name of the cathedral is Basseterre Co-Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral, often in another city. I don't know where the other Co-Cathedral is.

It was hot, so we walked back to the ship. I notice that the license plates were somewhat rudimentary but were different colors -yellow, blue, black and green.

Green license plate

Yellow license plate

Later I asked -P or PA black plates are for private cars.

Black plate - private car

We walked back a different way

Walking back to the ship

From across a field

Cattle egret

Construction machinery

On the way back to the ship for lunch, Bob walked over to the marina which was near the cruise ship dock,

Marina from the cruise ship

and saw a CSY 37 with a green stripe and canvas. He took some photos and I was able to make out the word "Cape Town" on the stern, but couldn't quite make out the name above it. It might be the former Antares, which was sold sometime in 1999 in this area.

CSY 37 in the marina

Our tour was for 2 pm for the St. Kitts Scenic Train. I did not know it when I signed up, but sometimes the train does not run. I did know that the trip had limited accommodations and so I signed up for it almost as soon as I had confirmed reservations on the cruise. Our dinner table partners would have liked to go on the train, but did not sign up in time because their niece told them that the train was not running. It was quite expensive as tours go - $104 each.

They had six small buses (like airport shuttle buses) to take us to the train. We were broken up into groups, and we were the first two people to on bus #6. I asked if I could sit in front next to the driver, and was told it was OK.

From the front of the van looking at another one

The first thing the driver did was give us each a (free) bottle of water (which was frosty cool as it had been in a cooler on ice). The bottle was labeled "The St. Kitts Scenic Train Purified Water. The most luxurious and entertaining tour experience in the Caribbean!"

St. Kitts railway water

The narrow gauge train goes all the way around the island, but it takes a good bit of time (like 4 or more hours) to do that, so they split the trip into two parts. One group gets on the train at the airport and rides the train out to the end of the island, and then rides the buses back to town. The second group (our group) takes a narrated bus tour from town out to the remote terminal and then rides the train to the airport where they are taken back to the ship by bus.

After our driver introduced himself, he gave us a narrative all the way to the train - drive took about a half an hour. We saw St. Thomas Church

St. Thomas Church

where the great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson was buried,

Art work on the lawn

and Brimstone Hill Fortress which was known as the Gibraltar of the West.

Brimstone Hill Fortress

Driving along below the Fortress

We passed through small villages such as Bloody Point. The island had both French and English settlers and sometimes they got along better than at other times.

Bike Rider from a taxi tour-bus

Bridge from the van

From the van

Eventually we got out to the place where the train was to arrive.

Warning gate

First came a small railcar which was to inspect the track in advance of the train.

Bob waiting for the train to arrive

Engine coming

Narrow gauge train

Our driver told us we were to get on car #3, and we could be either downstairs in the A/C or upstairs in the open air. We picked upstairs of course. We got free drinks (with alcohol if desired), a sugar cake (a local delicacy), and there was

Choir singing to the next car

a choir of three ladies who came around and serenaded us at various times. There was also a narrator for the train as a whole.

From inside the open air upper deck

Train intersection

Train going

Looking down on a crossing

We saw cows

Cow with cattle egret on her back

(some of them had to be chased off the track by the train whistling stridently),

Chasing cows off the track

Cows being chased off the track

goats, a donkey, pigs (which could outrun the train), and horses,

Goats in a field

Donkey tethered near the train

Horse grazing

Point of land from the train

We saw deserted beaches (most of which had a lot of surf and volcanic sand - i.e. dark brown or black in color),

Beach from the train

Surf

pineapple plantations, old sugar plantations (the sugar industry closed in 2005 because of high shipping costs),

Old sugar mill from the train

towns,

The road follows the train tracks here

Row of little houses

churches

and graveyards.

Burial sites

The ride was very interesting, but if you had a tendency to seasickness, you'd have been sick in the upper level. Bob noted that the tracks were not straight and even causing the cars to sway wildly. We did not have a problem with that.

Bridges

The train was much steadier going over the spindly narrow bridges of which there were several, because the track was straight when it was 'nailed down' to the bridge.

The train crosses the road on a trestle

The road going up a hill from the train

Near the end of the train trip

Houses near town at sunset

After a ride of about 2 hours, we came through a gravel pit area

Gravel pit

and to the airport

Airport from the train

Vans lined up at the airport to take us back to the ship

back where we got on the buses again to be driven to the ship. They gave us a free DVD with a narrative about the train on it after the tour.

The gangway was to be pulled at 5:30 for a 6 pm sailing, so Bob was chivvying me along saying that I would be left ashore. I was standing on the gangplank at 5:30, but I was far from the last person to board. We pulled away from the dock less than a half an hour later.

Fruit cocktail

Soup with croutons

Salmon

Cheesecake

Butterfly towel animal

Our steward made a butterfly towel animal for us that night.

Tomorrow is San Juan