Saint Croix and Saint Kitts

I've finally come to the last blog about the many Caribbean islands I visited on the Maasdam. Today it is the turn of St. Croix and St. Kitts - enjoy!


Above: Frederiksted, the town in St. Croix where our ship docked.

Saint Croix is the largest island in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States, just like Saint Thomas. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916, in exchange for a sum of $25million in gold.


Above: A street in Christiansted, the main town in St. Croix.

During my time in St. Croix, I took a walking tour of Christiansted which has preserved the 18th-century Danish-style buildings constructed by African slaves.


Above: The customs house in Christiansted.

Solid stone buildings in pastel colours with bright red tile roofs line the cobblestone sidewalks, adding a touch of European charm.


Above: The restored Government House on King Street, Christiansted.

Fort Christiansvern sits at the edge of the harbour and doubled as a prison for African slaves who were imprisoned in very cramped spaces.


Above: Fort Christiansvern.


Above: Canons running along the top of the Fort.

We'll leave St Croix with a panoramic shot of the harbour area of Christensted.



ST KITTS

Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.


Above: A panoramic shot of downtown Basseterre from the ship.

The island is one of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles and measures 65 square miles. The capital of the two-island nation, and also its largest port, is the town of Basseterre on Saint Kitts where are ship docked.


Above: The two cruise ships docked at the Basseterre port.

For hundreds of years, St. Kitts operated as a sugar monoculture. But due to decreasing profitability, the government closed the industry in 2005. Tourism is a major and growing source of income to the island, although the number and density of resorts is less than on other Caribbean islands.


Above: A 'replica' of Piccadilly circus in downtown Basseterre.

St. Kitts has three distinct groups of volcanic peaks: the North West or Mount Misery Range; the Middle or Verchilds Range and the South East or Olivees Range. The highest peak is Mount Liamuiga, formerly Mount Misery, a dormant volcano some 1,156 m high.


Above: Fountain with Church behind in downtown Basseterre.

On my visit to St. Kitts I did a tour of the island on the narrow gauge St. Kitts Scenic Railway, built in the 1920s to deliver sugar cane and now used as a tourist train.


Above: The St. Kitts Scenic Railway.

The railway hugs the Northeastern coastline and the train rolls across tall steel bridges spanning canyons and winding through small villages and farms. Dark green rainforests are skirted by fields of sugar cane with the volcanic cone of Mt. Liamuiga rising above the railway.


Above: The interior of the train.


Above: One of the villages we saw on the tour.

I'll leave you with a lovely shot of some local school kids who came out to greet the train. I hope you have enjoyed visiting these islands with me; I'll be back with a final post exploring inside the Maasdam before embarking on my European cruise next week!

Saint Barthélemy and Saint Thomas

Hello again! Although I'm back from my cruise I still have a few more islands to show you. Today, it's Saint Barthélemy and Saint Thomas!


Above: The main harbour of St. Barts, in the town of Gustavia.

Saint Barthélemy is an overseas collectivity of France just like the island of Martinique which I have previously blogged about. Often abbreviated to St. Barts in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao.


Above: Shell Beach, a short walk from downtown Gustavia.


Above: You can see why it is called Shell Beach!

St. Barts is a small volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reefs, with an area of 13 square miles and a population of 8,823.


Above: A quaint street in the downtown area of Gustavia.

The capital, Gustavia contains the main harbour to the island and interestingly, St. Barts is the only Caribbean island which was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time.


Above: An old fort which sits at the edge of the harbour.

The language, cuisine and culture are distinctly French and the island is a popular tourist destination during the winter holiday season, especially with the rich and famous during the Christmas and New Year period.

During my brief time in St. Barts I took a speedboat ride around the island which took in a number of beautiful bays as well as a look at the airport.


Above: The speedboat - no seats, just restraints to lean against!

The runway ranked 3rd in the History Channel's 'Most Extreme Airports' show. The arrival descent is extremely steep over the hilltop traffic circle and departing planes fly right over the heads of sunbathers. This is a video from YouTube which demonstrates just how tricky it is to land!



ST THOMAS

Let's move on to Saint Thomas now. Along with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island, St.Thomas is a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States.


Above: Spot my ship! A panoramic view over part of Charlotte Amalie port.

The territorial capital and main port is called Charlotte Amalie and the island has a population of 51,000 with a land area of about 31 square miles.


Above: An iguana sunning itself by our ship.

The Dutch West India Company established a post on Saint Thomas in 1657 but in 1666 the Danish conquered the island, and by 1672 had established control over the entire island through the Danish West India and Guinea Company.


Above: Magens Bay, located on the Atlantic side of St. Thomas.

In 1917 St. Thomas was purchased (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) by the United States for $25 million in gold, as part of a defensive strategy to maintain control over the Caribbean and the Panama Canal during the First World War.


Above: One of the many tourist buses at the Mountain Top Resort, home of the Banana Daiquiri (a banana and rum drink).

After the First World War tourism to the island began to increase. With relatively cheap air travel and the American embargo on Cuba, the number of visitors grew.


Above: A panorama of downtown Charlotte Amalie with more cruise ships docked to the left. Click here for a much bigger view!

Despite natural disasters such as Hurricane Hugo (1989) and Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn (1995), the island's infrastructure continues to improve as the flow of visitors continues. One of the most popular tourist spots is Paradise Point, a small resort located on a hilltop above downtown Charlotte Amalie.


Above: The 'SkyRide' that takes visitors to the top!

The view is quite spectacular so I'll leave you with a final shot of downtown Charlotte Amalie:

Sint Maarten and St Vincent

Hello again! Today I'm going to show you two islands (technically three - more later): Sint Maarten and St Vincent!


Above: The beach and downtown area of Sint Maarten.

Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, rather like Curaçao - an island I visited on the Zuiderdam. It encompasses the southern half of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin (the northern half of the island is the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Martin).


Above: The coastline of Sint Maarten.

The capital of the country is Philipsburg, where our ship docked along with many others! The island is particularly famous for Maho Beach, a beach at the edge of the airport where planes pass by very low to land on the short runway - Google it!


Above: Some of the ships docked with us (second from right) including the Norwegian Epic (second from left), the third biggest cruise ship in the world.

Whilst at Sint Maarten, I did not tour the island or learn much about its history. However, I did get to race on the Stars & Stripes 87, the 12 Meter challenge boat sailed by Dennis Conner in his America’s Cup victory of 1987.


Above: The Stars & Stripes 87 Yacht.

Stars & Stripes 87 was the final 12 Meter to win the America's Cup, and as such she represented the zenith in 12 Meter design. On the day of the race, we came second out of three and I also managed to break the yacht - snapping a plastic bearing off the primary grinder!


Above: The crew of cruise ship passengers who were coached to race the yacht!

ST VINCENT

Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains.


Above: A panorama of Kingston, the main town in St Vincent (click for bigger pic).

The territory was disputed between France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century, before being ceded to the British in 1783. It gained independence on October 27, 1979.


Above: Downtown Kingston, St Vincent.

St Vincent is one of the major filming locations for the first Pirates of the Caribbean film ('Curse of the Black Pearl') but sadly I did not see any of the film locations whilst there.


Above: Kingston's Police Station.

One of the shore excursions I took part in was a sailing trip to Bequia. With a total population of only 4,300 and a size of seven square miles, the island is still the largest of the Grenadines. The first site we visited were the cave dwellings where we snorkelled in the bay.


Above: The cave dwellings of Bequia

19 families have built homes in this cave-man like community, the first couple arriving in the 1960s. Twice each year on the solstice the moon can be seen setting through the moonhole. Today, only a few houses are inhabited year round and some are rented out to vacationers looking for a very different kind of experience.


Above: Princess Margaret Beach.

We then visited a beach named after Princess Margaret, who had a home on nearby Mustique, visited Bequia and had a beach named in her honour. Finally we stopped off in Port Elizabeth, the main population centre on the island.


Above: Port Elizabeth.

I hope you enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of Sint Maarten and St Vincent & the Grenadines. I'll leave you with a shot of our catamaran that took us on the tour around beautiful Bequia:

Nassau - Bahamas

Welcome back. Today I'll be showing you Nassau which is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (over 70% of the Bahamian population live here).


Above: Parliament Building - the decorations were in preparation for Prince Harry who was arriving a day after us!


Above: The crest close-up.

The city is located on the island of New Providence, which functions much like a business district. Nassau is the site of the House of Assembly and various judicial departments and was considered historically to be a stronghold of pirates.


Above: Cruise ships docked at Nassau Harbour.

Nassau has an attractive harbour, a colourful blend of old world and colonial architecture, and a busy port. The tropical climate and natural beauty of the Bahamas, combined with the city's proximity to the USA, have made Nassau a popular tourist destination.


Above: The Atlantis resort on nearby Paradise Island accounts for more tourist arrivals to the city than any other hotel property.

Nassau was formerly known as Charles Town; it was burned to the ground by the Spanish in 1684, but later rebuilt and renamed Nassau in 1695 in honour of the Dutch Stadtholder and later also King of England, Scotland and Ireland, William III from the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau.


Above: Most of the parliament buildings are painted pink!

By 1713, the sparsely settled Bahamas had become a pirate haven for pirate chieftains Thomas Barrow and Benjamin Hornigold. They proclaimed Nassau a pirate republic, establishing themselves as governors, and were joined by Blackbeard, along with women pirates such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read.


Above: One of the manoeuvrable cannons at Fort Fincastle.

In 1718, the British sought to regain control of the islands and appointed Captain Woodes Rogers as Royal governor. Rogers cleaned up Nassau, even going as far as using his own money to try to overcome problems.


Above: The outside of Fort Fincastle which is shaped like a boat.

One of the most visited attractions in Nassau is the Queen's Staircase. The steps were carved out of solid limestone by slaves sometime between 1793 and 1794; a century later the staircase was renamed to honour the 65 year reign of Queen Victoria as well as her role in helping bring about the abolition of slavery in the Bahamas.


Above: The Queen's Staircase

In 1973, The Bahamas became fully independent, but retained membership in the Commonwealth of Nations.


Above: Carvings at Fort Charlotte, built by the British Lord Dunmore who governed the colony from 1787 to 1796.

One of the quirkier attractions in Nassau are the marching flamingos which were featured in National Geographic way back in the 1950s (presumably not the same birds...). I'll leave you with a picture of the show they put on for us: