A bit more exploring today. The island capital, Basseterre is tidy & smart & well worth a stroll. Elvis Gumbs a taxi driver (https://www.facebook.com/elvis.gumbs1) gave us a tour of the island & drove to Bloody Point where it was a relief to find that it was not the British that conducted this massacre. An old sugarcane factory ruin was crumbling into the rainforest with more than a hint of Angkor Wat about it - at least after the tour buses had gone.
It's a prosperous island with a new international airport, many grand houses owned by sucessful islanders as well as decent public housing for others. The impressively huge 640 roomed Marriott hotel is bizarrely built on the northern Atlantic coast, a business mistake surely, as most visitors want to be on the better southern Caribbean Sea coast. I didnt see a soul on their beach. Compared to the Carambola Beach Club on Frigate Bay, which was built by a local guy & has a perfect Caribbean beach aspect - great restaurant, bar & beachside facilities but no accommodation - & was crowded.
Further along on South Friars Bay is the wonderfully rustic Shipwreck bar & grill where I had conch fritters which I was expecting to be like sliced scallops but they looked like deep fried meatballs but with a spicy fish flavour & Brimstone hot sauce dip. The beach was not the best, being a bit narrow but sunbeds were a third of the price of elsewhere, St Kitts Stag beer was also cheaper.
It's a prosperous island with a new international airport, many grand houses owned by sucessful islanders as well as decent public housing for others. The impressively huge 640 roomed Marriott hotel is bizarrely built on the northern Atlantic coast, a business mistake surely, as most visitors want to be on the better southern Caribbean Sea coast. I didnt see a soul on their beach. Compared to the Carambola Beach Club on Frigate Bay, which was built by a local guy & has a perfect Caribbean beach aspect - great restaurant, bar & beachside facilities but no accommodation - & was crowded.
Further along on South Friars Bay is the wonderfully rustic Shipwreck bar & grill where I had conch fritters which I was expecting to be like sliced scallops but they looked like deep fried meatballs but with a spicy fish flavour & Brimstone hot sauce dip. The beach was not the best, being a bit narrow but sunbeds were a third of the price of elsewhere, St Kitts Stag beer was also cheaper.