30 mars 2016

Highlights Of Welcome Tours St Kitts

By George Richardson


Most people go to the Caribbean islands for the sunshine, sandy beaches, and breath-taking scenery. Others go to study medicine or to go to vet school. There are three institutions of higher learning on the island where visitors and residents can get a medical or veterinary degree in between umbrella cocktails and tanning sessions. English is the national language here, and the island has a literacy rate of 98%. There are welcome tours St Kitts to suit every interest.

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.

Owing to dwindling profits, the government shut down the sugar cane industry in 2005. Since then, tourism has emerged as the largest sector of the island economy. The trend seems to be toward vacation homes, rather than resorts. This may be one reason why the tourist element is less crowded than it is on other exotic tropical islands. Other industries propping up the economy are construction, transportation, manufacturing and agriculture of things other than sugar cane.

In an effort to boost tourism, the Shak Shak Festival was held in 1996. Renamed the St. Kitts Music Festival, it is now an annual event held in June. The event has hosted such attractions as the Royaltiez Band, Better Band, and Machel Montano. The unit of currency on the island is the East Caribbean dollar, although American dollars are also welcome.

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.

On terra firma, a narrow gauge railway that was formerly used to transport sugar cane to the factory from the farms, offers today's tourists a 30-mile, 3.5 hour circular tour of the island. There is also a ferry service that shuttles passengers between St. Kitts and its nearest neighbor, the island of Nevis. Between these services and the international airport, it is little wonder that transportation is a major employer on the island.

Famous names to arise out of the tiny island nation include singer Joan Armatrading, international footballer Keith Gumbs, and Felix Dexter, actor and comedian. The island provides an ideal for trainee runners, as evidenced from the number of sprinters that hail from St. Kitts. Among them are Kim Collins, Virgil Hodge, Desai Williams, and Tiandra Ponteen. Among the more notorious alumni of St. Kitts are George Astaphan, the doctor who doped Ben Johnson with steroids, and Bertil Fox, professional bodybuilder turned murderer.




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