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Welcome Tours St Kitts And Nevis

By George Richardson


There is a remarkable island in a Caribbean archipelago, east of the Virgin Islands. It is remarkable for its tropical sunshine, gleaming sands, and exquisite scenery. It is also extremely remarkable for its literacy, 98 percent, and for its presence of not one, but three schools of medicine. These are the University of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Windsor University School of Medicine, and the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. You will be able to observe all of these phenomena on welcome tours St Kitts. The island was discovered by an expedition under the leadership of Christopher Columbus on behalf of the country of Spain.

Apart from medical schools, what is it about the Sugar City that sets apart from other exotic islands in the Caribbean. The 45,000 residents, many of whom are of African descent, refer to themselves as Kittians. Warner Park Cricket Stadium hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, the largest fortress in the eastern Caribbean, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

If you are into dormant volcanoes, this is the place for you. There are three separate groups of volcanic mountains. These are the Olivees, Verhilds, and Mount Misery ranges. The Mount Misery range contains the highest peak, which is conveniently named Mount Misery.

Since the government closed down the sugar industry in 2005, tourism has been the major driver of the Kittian economy. There are, however, fewer resorts and a lower density of tourist population than you would find on other islands. Other industries that help bolster the economy are agriculture (with the exception of sugar), transportation, manufacturing, and construction.

One of the annual events that draws the crowds is the St Kitts Music Festival. In 1996, it was called the Shak Shak Festival. Today, crowds rock to the tunes of Arrow, Crazy and the Lejah Band, and King Konris and Queen Anastasia. The tickets may be purchased with US or East Caribbean dollars.

Visitors to the island normally arrive at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. Two flights weekly, lasting roughly 12 hours, arrive from London. Daily flights serve the island from New York (6 or 7 hours) and Miami (3-5 hours). The tarmac can accommodate as many as six commercial jumbo jets. It handles regular non-stop flights from Europe and North America and also serves commuters from other islands in the area.

A regular ferry service connects St. Kitts with its sister island, Nevis. There is also a narrow gauge railway, formerly built to connect the sugar farms with the sugar factory. The railway was built in 1812. Since 2003, double-decker, open-air carriages conduct half-hour tours lasting three and a half hours around 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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