As your flight touches down in St. Kitts during the
harvesting season, the aircraft's cabin fills with a lovely sweet smell you will never
forget. It is the perfumed smoke from the sugar factory close to the airport at full swing
processing St. Kitts' proudest symbol - the sugar cane - into one of the best sugars in
the world.
Columbus called it St. Christopher, but to the
indigenous Caribs it was known as Liamuiga - "the fertile island" - with its
lower slopes crowned by thick green tropical woodland.
St. Kitts boasts one of the most impressive
forts in the New World, Brimstone Hill which, in the 18th century, became known as the
Gibraltar of the West Indies.
Basseterre, the main town, belonged to the
French during the 18th century, and, though almost totally destroyed by fire in 1867,
still retains something of its French character. Buildings of Georgian architecture
surround Independence Square.
St. Kitts offers golf, tennis, snorkelling and
scuba diving, fishing and horseback riding, but one of its greatest assets is its people,
whose friendliness and hospitality are well known to visitors.
Weddings (as of 29 Sept,.
2007):
Cost: $80, plus Justice of the Peace fees.
Documents: Valid passports or birth certificates and state-issued photo ID. Need special
form from Legal Department signed by a Justice of the Peace.
(Source: The Toronto Star)
