St. Kitts "Part II"

St. Kitts and Nevis - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

WE HAD made our first visit to St. Kitts and Nevis the year before aboard the Ruby Princess. Our tour around Bassettere was educational and a bit eye-opening for us. This time we "ramped it up," slightly, booking a tour which began on the country's narrow gauge, open coach, railroad which circled the high ground of the island.

Aboard the St. Kitts Narrow Gauge Railway
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

TOURISM, OF course, is now the single largest industry for virtually all Caribbean countries. Originally, though, St. Kitts was best known for its production of sugar cane. Grown on the hillsides, the narrow gauge rail was originally built and used to collect and carry the harvested sugar cane down to the sea-level where it was processed. From the mid 1600's for about 150 years, St. Kitt's was the dominant producer and supplier of sugar to Europe.  Several factors combined to create its downfall and ultimate demise, including the outlawing of slavery in the 1800's, the introduction of the sugar beet in the 19th century, and growing competition around the Caribbean. The final death knell, though, was probably the 2005 establishment in the European Union of its Common Market Organization which strove to stabilize (and for the Caribbean sugar producers: reduce and regulate) the cost of sugar. This marked the final end of Nevis' domination of  world sugar production.

Rural St. Kitts - West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

AS THE economy transformed to a tourism-based economy, the narrow gauge rail followed suit, being converted into a passenger coach style train offering tours of the high ground. We enjoyed it, got some great views from on high, and saw the remains of some of the sugar plantations.

St. Kitts
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

THE LAST leg of our tour was on a catamaran sailboat for a sail around part of the island, back to our cruise berth. That too, was a lot of fun, with plenty of the famous Caribbean "Rum Punch" being consumed and some spectacular views of the island coastline.

Catamaran Cruise - Basseterre - St. Kitts, West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

IN LATER years, my wife would go on a "girls" trip with one of our groups - jeep tour/ride. But my own exploration of the island would be more or less confined to the immediate port near the ships berths. No particular reason. It just seems to have worked out that way. I have sampled a fair amount of the local beer. 😊 This was the final stop of our relatively short, "maiden" Celebrity voyage. We had fun, made great friends and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Though we didn't realize it at the time, there would be many more Celebrity cruises.