Our first Impressions of St. Kitt's
03 April 2014 | Basseterre, St. Kitt's
Lynn
So, no, we aren't swallowing the anchor yet. Couldn't resist the April Fool's joke, though!
After a relatively calmer night in Colombeir, St. Bart's, we took off for St. Kitt's. Named for Christopher Colombus' patron saint (a nice way to say he named it for himself, I'd say), St. Christopher has been shortened to St. Kitt's. It is part of the country St. Kitt's and Nevis, two islands separated by a 12 mile narrows.
We arrived in Basseterre, the capital, in the mid-afternoon. We didn't feel confident in the harbour being relatively calm, so we bailed for the marina. The prices at the marina aren't bad, and the basin is as calm as a mill pond - a nice switch after the last week in St. Bart's. There aren't a lot of spots available.
The people here are really friendly, and it doesn't seem like an artificial "suck up to the tourist" niceness. The guys at the bar next to the marina found out we were on our own boat, and offered to let us use their WiFi when they were officially closed. The officials I dealt with were all very nice, although having to go to Port Control and do the same paperwork as the big boats was amusing (Pilot Boarding Time: N/A).
We are right by the cruise ship area. This area is just plain weird. Think along the lines of Disney creates a cruise ship port. It is certainly a fun place to people watch, and after the cruise ships are gone, it is a nice enough place to stroll around. There is a strong police showing to make the tourists feel safe, with bike cops and a police boat giving testimony to this. Basseterre outside of the cruise ship area is not as polished as some of the other Caribbean capitals, but we will find out more when we get a good chance to walk around. My run this morning went south, towards the resort/expat enclaves, complete with golf course, not through town.
We did observe a very sad event yesterday. A local fishing boat was overturned when one of the cruise ships was departing, and the two men on board were killed. The cruise ship was detained for about 4 hours while divers searched for the bodies. We unfortunately had a front row seat for some of it, since they brought the bodies into the marina to get them into the land transport. The fence around the marina was lined with St. Kittitians, all hoping to get a view of the unfolding drama.
There is a very strong Indian presence here. Partly because of the citizenship with investment option (a big bonus for investors who don't want to get screwed by local administrative vagarities, kind of like Grenada, where a local can make life hell for a non-Grenadian by making false accusations) and probably because they see the potential of this island. There is certainly a great deal of construction going on.
So, I ran this morning, and Ken got out of bed "at a quarter after splash". He was awakened by a loud splash outside of the boat. It ended up being a pelican diving for its' breakfast.
If the people we have met so far are any indication of the friendliness in the rest of the island, this place could easily become another favourite, if only they had a better anchorage!