Friday, April 1, 2016

What You Will See On Welcome Tours St Kitts

By George Richardson


Think Caribbean islands and you think about lazing on sunny, sandy beaches, sipping on exotic beverages with umbrellas and munching on fresh pineapple slices. The last things you want to think about are noses and grindstones. How do the locals get any work done? And yet, they do. On the island of St Christopher, the primary language is English and the literacy rate is 98 percent. The island is also home to a veterinary school and two schools of Medicine. Although the island is only 18 miles long and five miles across, one of the best ways to learn your way around is by taking advantage of welcome tours St Kitts (the informal, affectionate name of the island).

What other features distinguish St Kitts, nicknamed the Sugar City, from other tropical paradises in the Caribbean Sea. It is the only place where the local residents can legitimately refer to themselves as Kittians. It has most magnificent fortress in the eastern Caribbean, Brimstone Hill, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. The Kittians also hosted the Cricket World Cup in 2007, held at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium.

While most, if not all, tropical islands are volcanic in origin, the Kittians boast no fewer than three distinct groups of volcanic peaks. These are the Mount Misery Range, the Verchilds Range, and the Olivees Range. The tallest peak is Mount Misery.

Since the government closed down the sugar industry in 2005, tourism has been the major driver of the Kittian economy. There are, however, fewer resorts and a lower density of tourist population than you would find on other islands. Other industries that help bolster the economy are agriculture (with the exception of sugar), transportation, manufacturing, and construction.

In 1996, a music festival was held to attract tourists. It was called the Shak Shak Festival and featured Arrow, Nu Vybes, and Nigel Lewis. Held annually during the month of June, the event has been renamed the St Kitts Music Festival.

A major employer is the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. Large enough to receive and handle commercial wide-bodied jumbo jets, it takes in flights from London (flight duration 11 hours), New York (flight time 6 hours), and Miami (duration 6 hours). Here, there are jobs for baggage handlers, customer services reps, and forklift drivers, among others.

Closer to the ground, there is a ferry service between the island and its neighbor, Nevis. A narrow-gauge railway encircles the island and caters to tourists more than it does the island residents. Built in 1912 to carry sugar cane from the farms to the factory, it now runs tours on specially converted open-air, double-decker carriages.

St Kitts is good at producing football players and sprint runners. Among the famously agile names to emerge from the island have been Desai Williams, Virgil Hodge, Kim Collins, and Tiandra Ponteen. International football/soccer player Keith Gumbs, plays in the Liga Indonesia. Atiba Harris plays soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps. The island produces non-athletes, too. Among the more notable are John Armatrading, singer/songwriter, bodybuilder-cum-murderer Bertil Fox, and actor/writer/comedian Felix Dexter.




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