Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - Carambola Beach, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - Carambola Beach, Saint Kitts and Nevis

  
Carambola Beach

Saint Kitts and Nevis, also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country in the West Indies.  Located in the Leeward Islands chain of the lesser Antilles, it is the smallest sovereign stat in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population.  The country is a Commonwealth realm, with Elizabeth II as Queen and head of state.  The capital city if Basseterre on the larger island of Saint Kitts.  The smaller Island of Nevis lies approximately 3 km to the southeast across a shallow channel called The Narrows.  The British dependency of Anguilla was historically also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.  However, it chose to secede from the union and remains a British  overseas territory.  Saint Kitts and Nevis were among the first islands in the Caribbean to be colonized by Europeans.  Saint Kitts was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean, and thus has also been titled "The Mother Colony of the West Indies".

Today is a big day, full of activity for us.   To begin, we are slated to do an island tour on a double gauge railroad - The Saint Kitts Scenic Railway - with double decker cars, the bottom half of which is air conditioned, and the top half which is open to the very warm weather.  


It took us about one hour in a van to get to the station where we would board the train.  Our driver, a local by name of "James", was an articulate guide and imparted lots of history.   What I remember clearly is that the great, great, great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson lived here and is buried on the island.   We did pass the cemetery where he is interred.

The island was once a shore-to-shore sugar cane field - that is when sugar cane was king.
Early in the 2000's, that trade was no longer a viable product.   Believe it had something to do with the dwindling demand because there was so much sugar coming from sugar beets.

The center of the island is a "dormant" volcano, which when last erupting did lots of damage.   There are ruins of a British fort at the top of the mountain - which is beautiful against the backdrop of blue skies and a few clouds.  There are white cranes - egrets - everywhere - dozens, dozens and dozens!!!!

What not to do when suffering vertigo, is get on a creaky train with lots of motion while moving, and to do it all facing backwards.   Though, in all truth, don't think the backwards part made much difference!!   What I had difficulty with was focusing on what was outside when it was very close to the train.   Ended up just closing my eyes for those portions!!
  


  

  

Train had its own choir - they sang from car to car!!

Back to Carambola Beach, where we could swim, ride the banana boats, etc.   We were tired, so opted to partake of the beach BBQ!   It was quite something!   Can't believe how hard the kids on the crew work, just so we will have a good time.   When we anchored this morning, the tenders were at work immediately bringing plates, glasses, coolers, tables cloths and napkins . . . anything that you could imagine one would need to have a first rate lunch on the beach under huge open-sided tents.   My photos are not great today - well not most days . . . . but today either it was my vertigo, or the camera also caught the vertigo!!!

          
Beautiful breads and salads

  
Broiled Tomatoes, Baked Potatoes, Corn on the Cob and Fried Rice

  
Steaks, Lamb Chops, Chicken and Port Chops

I can't believe I didn't take a photo of the HUGE grilled lobsters - and they were truly HUGE!!

  

  
Desserts Galore!  plus freshly made gelato of several delicious flavors!

After a rest and a major clean-up - we were fortunate to have another reservation in the Thomas Keller Grille, where we had a fabulous meal, and where I didn't take any photos because there are quite enough photos of food on this post!!!

We'd attended a wonderful pre-dinner show staring the cruise director, Emma Abel, so we eschewed the lady comedian after dinner - and had a really good night's sleep!!!










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