St Kitts Quotes

In the early 1980s, the key political rivalry in St. Kitts and Nevis was between the Labour Party and the People’s Action Movement (PAM).

We made a plan to meet there the next morning for breakfast before heading out on our first shore excursion. I hoped exploring St. Kitts would rouse Helen’s interest. Mourning a spouse was one thing, but Helen seemed broken, as if her spirit had died right along with Kenneth.

In 1752, John Barbot, a young Nevis lawyer, and Matthew Mills, a wealthy planter from St. Kitts, were bickering over a land deal when Mills lashed out at Barbot as “an impertinent puppy”—the sort of fighting words that prompted duels.

I want to acknowledge that most of the cakes, gingerbreads, and biscuits in this book would not have existed if not for sugar imports that were made possible due to slavery, which was particularly concentrated in the Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, and Jamaica, and later Grenada and Trinidad in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, until the British Slavery Abolition Act took effect on August 1, 1834 - which unfortunately only resulted in partial liberation. Sugar has a cost, and that cost was paid by those held in bondage.

Again, remember to bring a number of $1 bills for ferries, taxis, etc., or you will be going home with a lot foreign currency.

From the tender pier, head left along the waterfront. Three blocks beyond, you'll come upon a reconstructed 17th century manor on the waterfront.  The ground floor houses the Museum of Nevis History. This was originally a private home and the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton.  The museum contains various artifacts (Hamilton spent the first 17 years of his life here before heading to colonial America). This is mainly a cultural museum with an interesting variety of exhibits, including some Amerindian artifacts. The Nevis Historical and Conservation Society has its headquarters here. This old stone building on Nevis is the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton.

St. Kitts was the oldest and wealthiest of the English colonies in the Caribbean. This island had rich volcanic soil, a climate of sun and rain, and an endless supply of slaves. Annually it yielded a fortune in sugar and rum for its wealthy, mostly absentee, landholders. Around 1775, the time of the American Revolution, 68 sugar plantations existed on St. Kitts alone!

Today St. Kitts is the only Leeward Island, of the Caribbean, that still grows sugar cane. However, sugar cane is very expensive to grow, harvest, and process. The fields are now state owned and the entire island crop is processed in one government-run factory. The dozens of sugar plantations, which had dotted the island, climbing from the shore up into the mountains, were gradually abandoned. In time, the handsome stone structures -- complete factories-- fell to wind, weather, and vandalism.

Today St. Kitts is the only Leeward Island, of the Caribbean, that still grows sugar cane. However, sugar cane is very expensive to grow, harvest, and process. The fields are now state owned and the entire island crop is processed in one government-run factory. The dozens of sugar plantations, which had dotted the island, climbing from the shore up into the mountains, were gradually abandoned. In time, the handsome stone structures -- complete factories-- fell to wind, weather, and vandalism. Here and there on the island one can still see a signature smokestack rising a hundred feet into the sky, or the egg-shaped base of an old windmill. The possibility of a merger with other Leeward Islands and the Virgin Islands has been debated, as has the growing problem of drug trafficking, in which St Kitts & Nevis, like most small Caribbean islands, has become involved. The people of Nevis are themselves deeply split, roughly between the population of the southern towns, which favor independence, and the rest of the island, which does not. Were Nevis to become independent, it would be the world's smallest sovereign state after the Vatican, which naturally gives rise to concerns about its economic viability.

CRUISE PORT There are two deep water ports located on the Basseterre harbor – the Birdrock Deepwater Port and Port Zante. The Birdrock Port, which is situated on the eastern side of the Basseterre harbor, is used mainly for freight, but handles the overflow when there are more cruise ships than Porte Zante can handle. Port Zante is the newer of the two facilities, and is situated in downtown Basseterre, in the center of the harbor. The facility comprises a single pier along which two of the largest ocean liners in the world can dock at any one time. In fact, this port is one of only two in the entire Caribbean, at which the Queen Mary II can berth. Port Zante also has a marina to accommodate yachts and other small craft.

SHOPPING and SIGHTSEEING Shopping opportunities start within a few hundred feet of the cruise ship dock (many new "duty free" shops in Port Zante) and continues on into the town of Basseterre. You can shop all day long if you wish and never be more than a 10 minute walk from your ship.  Just remember, in St. Kitts they will take American dollars but give change in Eastern Caribbean dollars, so be sure to take smaller denominations of U S bills when you go ashore. Upon disembarkation, cruise ship visitors are greeted by cultural acts, displays and exhibitions, as well as many ground operators offering various island excursions. The duty-free shopping district on Port Zante, where fine jewelry, liquor and souvenirs are available along with restaurants, is just past this area. Immediately beyond the shops lies Pelican Mall, the ground floor of which houses the headquarters of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. Here, brochures can be picked up and inquires made.

GETTING AROUND You are much better off hiring a taxi/guide to give you a tour of the island. You'll see pretty much everything the Scenic Railway people see but you'll also be able to stop and explore the petroglyphs, the Batik Factory at Romney Manner, the Fortress at Brimstone Hill, the Black Rocks, the beaches of the southern peninsula, old plantation ruins, churches and places of historical interest (all of which are not part of the Scenic Railway tour) and still have time for a nice leisurely lunch, and afternoon drink at a beach bar, a little shopping and maybe even

a quick swim in the Caribbean.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that so much well-crafted writing comes from the incarcerated when we consider that, hardly to our credit, the United States locks up nearly 25 percent of the world’s prison population, while having only 5 percent of the world’s overall population. Or, in other terms, the United States incarcerates more than 2.2 million individuals, a far higher rate per capita than any other nation. (According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, the US is number one, with St. Kitts and Nevis just below at two; Rwanda at six; South Africa at thirty-seven; Iran at thirty-nine; Israel at sixty-four; the UK at 104; China at 127; and Canada at 135.)