I met a Brazilian traveler today – he has not traveled much at all and this was his first time to the Caribbean. He did not speak a word of English so I ended up helping translate through his language barrier using Spanish as our common language.
After what I estimated to be a 15 minute walk into town from the B&B where I am staying – turned into a hour, I was more than ready to rent a motorbike. I found a shop run by a man named Matrix who promptly informed me I would need a government issued driver’s license available from the nearby fire station. Done. And it was off to explore the island.
I soon discovered motorbikes are not popular on St. Kitts – with the few tourists I spotted renting cars. Perhaps the reason for that is that renting cars here is much cheaper than renting a motorbike or a scooter.
The afternoon daylight quickly faded into long shadows cast by the sun and clouds over the orangish shimmering sands. I watched the ball of fire drop slowly from the sky. Soon it was dusk and then as it always happens at these tropical latitudes it went almost immediately dark.
I drove slowly absorbing the warmth and smells of the evening. I was on the southern part of the island – a strip of land that extends almost to the island of Nevis. A two mile section of water called ‘the narrows’ separates both islands. The tourist map I have indicated one can swim across this channel – or use more conventional means of transportation – a ferry!
A newly paved road was eerily empty of traffic. From what I could see – there are big plans to develop some large resort properties here. This part of the island has the only white sand beaches – which are easily accessible and are not rocky like much of the rest of St. Kitts.
Hey Dave, thanks for visiting my lovely Island. The guy you rented the bike from is a friend of mine. Many people ride motorbikes locally. Maybe it was just timing why you didn\’t see many. Next time you decide to visit St. Kitts and Nevis you should try and find one of those Tour guides in The Circus and ask them to take you to the real attractions.
Wow. Small world! I was able to drive entirely around the island and get the bike off onto some really neat pathways and dirt roads out in the middle of nowhere which is very cool. Right now I’m just a few islands south of you on St. Lucia heading down to St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Cheers!