Volcano Walking in St. Kitts A Tropical Wonder

Written by Kriss Hammond


Volcano Hiking in St. Kitts – Tropical Wonders!

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Getting torepparttar island of St. Kitts late at night is something out of a 1940s film noir.

Connecting torepparttar 123256 last flight torepparttar 123257 island from San Juan, Puerto Rico, was a puzzle. When you get torepparttar 123258 San Juan airport, no one is around, no gate agents or evenrepparttar 123259 lonely janitor swabbingrepparttar 123260 floor. The flight coupon for St. Kitts said Gate A1, butrepparttar 123261 first gate is B2. There seems to be no A1. I walkrepparttar 123262 length ofrepparttar 123263 concourse. I finally find a flight attendant that informs me that Gate A1 is downstairs. You can't see it from Gate 2.

Escalatoring down to a sea of people,repparttar 123264 A gates are crowded with late night fliers, all flapping off to different Caribbean points. A short shuttle takes me torepparttar 123265 plane. Rain is splashing everywhere; quickly loaded,repparttar 123266 American Eagle Bombardier bounces downrepparttar 123267 runway and intorepparttar 123268 night,repparttar 123269 props grinding inrepparttar 123270 wind.

The flight to St. Kitts' Golden Rock Airport is about an hour. Landing onrepparttar 123271 jumbo jet approved runway seemed longer. There is no jet port;repparttar 123272 wind seems to whiprepparttar 123273 carry-on out of my hand. Hang on to your hat. A short custom interlude and it is off torepparttar 123274 Jack Tar Resort. Everything around Basseterre,repparttar 123275 capital, is close at hand.

Get Your Dive Gear Here OnlineCaledonia charters from Great Britain and Signature Tour charters loaded with Canadians arerepparttar 123276 primary budget flights torepparttar 123277 island, subsequentlyrepparttar 123278 English language gets a brisk workout of crisp British and drawling Canadian accents, most notable after a few rounds atrepparttar 123279 hotel bar. Signature Tours has an agent desk at many ofrepparttar 123280 local hotels. There are no direct flights to or from St. Kitts fromrepparttar 123281 United States, only through San Juan, where you go through U.S. customs onrepparttar 123282 return.

The Frigate Bay area is one ofrepparttar 123283 most developed areas on St. Kitts, with an additional casino coming soon. Jack Tar Village, also known asrepparttar 123284 Royal St. Kitts Casino, also known as Allegro Resort, sleeps astride salt ponds, away fromrepparttar 123285 beach —repparttar 123286 oldest resort onrepparttar 123287 island. I had gambled at Jack Tar 12 years prior, arriving by Windjammer at Banana Bay onrepparttar 123288 southern peninsula — again late at night.

There are only 3,000 rooms on St. Kitts, more are planned under a controlled growth plan byrepparttar 123289 progressive government (as of 2005, about 5,000 rooms). White Hall, onrepparttar 123290 north shore (Atlantic side), will eventually have hotels, housing, resorts, and convention services. Jack Tar is onrepparttar 123291 more benign drier side ofrepparttar 123292 island. Walking throughrepparttar 123293 bush will ensnarl you in cacti; that is how dry it is on this side ofrepparttar 123294 island.

Driving is British style — onrepparttar 123295 left. Often people park their cars alongrepparttar 123296 narrow roads west of Basseterre, makingrepparttar 123297 journey slow and painful, but leisurely; time to slow down, island time. The constant trade winds blowing downrepparttar 123298 sole volcano cool any road rage.

"Wot - You're British?"

Even though St. Kitts is an independent nation and a former crown colony,repparttar 123299 attitudes are still a sort of British stiff upper lip with a Caribbean lilt. The locals are well educated, with a strong middle class, all with a hang loose attitude, and not arrogant likerepparttar 123300 Bahamians. St. Kitts is a well-kept garden, clean and comfortable.

The currency isrepparttar 123301 EC or Eastern Caribbean Dollar, withrepparttar 123302 Queen of England embossed onrepparttar 123303 notes. You can get one-dollar coins in round or octagonal coins. The exchange rate was about 2.6 EC torepparttar 123304 US$1 when I was there. The American dollar is accepted everywhere, as are credit cards inrepparttar 123305 major establishments. Get a wad or two. The Royal St. Kitts Casino slots take only U.S. coins.

Book Your Online Resort NowYou have to love a country that paints its government house pink. I think that isrepparttar 123306 Caribbean influence because Basseterre —repparttar 123307 capital — was historically a French town. The French splitrepparttar 123308 island downrepparttar 123309 middle withrepparttar 123310 British,repparttar 123311 French takingrepparttar 123312 southern and northern ends, withrepparttar 123313 British sandwiched inrepparttar 123314 middle. The British ended up withrepparttar 123315 entire island afterrepparttar 123316 Treaty of Versailles in 1783.

How to see the Statue of Liberty

Written by Tom Schmidt


Currently, we do not recommend going torepparttar Statue of Liberty untilrepparttar 123253 crown is reopened for passenger access and viewing. The current airport-like security line is very long and can take up to 90 minutes before you boardrepparttar 123254 ferry to go to Liberty Island.

Your best choice is to takerepparttar 123255 Staten Island ferry, which takes only one hour to complete and there is always plenty of room. Your pictures will be better, and you'll have more time to seerepparttar 123256 other sites in New York City (hopefully onrepparttar 123257 hot new New York Party Shuttle Sightseeing Tour). Withrepparttar 123258 crown closed,repparttar 123259 only attraction atrepparttar 123260 Statue of Liberty isrepparttar 123261 museum which takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Here is some history ofrepparttar 123262 Statue of Liberty:

Located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor,repparttar 123263 Statue of Liberty was a gift from repparttar 123264 people of France torepparttar 123265 people ofrepparttar 123266 United States and is one ofrepparttar 123267 most universal symbols of freedom inrepparttar 123268 world. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886 and was designated a National Monument on October 15, 1924. The Statue was extensively restored in time for her one-hundred year anniversary on July 4, 1986. The Statue of Liberty isrepparttar 123269 most visited tourist attraction in New York City. It is alsorepparttar 123270 2nd most photographed landmark inrepparttar 123271 United States behindrepparttar 123272 Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

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