A Tale of Two Chemists: A ferry trip to St. Kitts -- 12th Jan 2018

A ferry trip to St. Kitts --12^th Jan 2018

We set out this morning with the intention of getting a ferry to St. Kitts to visit the fort at Brimstone Hill. It’s a UNESCO site, everyone claims that it’s well worth a visit. Our plan was to pack a lunch and supplement our supplies with a loaf of bread from the bakery. When we arrived at the ferry dock, our enquiry about ferry times was met with the reply—“the fast ferry is about to go—quick down the dock to that white boat.” Without thinking we scurried off and boarded. This was a relief to me, thinking that I might get sick on the slow ferry. With the fast ferry, hopefully by the time you start to feel rough, you are nearly docking....

The ferry was full and we sat in the last seat against the back wall. It set off gently and there was a safety briefing from the captain—Frankie. The captain might well have been the tallest person I’ve seen in a long time (or maybe the crew members were very diminutive). The projected 30-minute trip passed without incident. We staggered out onto the dock in Basseterre, the big city of St. Kitts.

After asking about busses, we found them lined up at the regular ferry terminal. Once again it seemed to be a system of asking the driver if he was going to the fort at Brimstone Hill and then climbing aboard. Once the bus was full to the driver’s satisfaction, we set out. This is where the praying began. There must be some regulations regarding driving in St. Kitts but it certainly wasn’t obvious. We would screech to a halt for a person standing at the road-side waving. Or if someone on the bus spoke up a precipitous braking maneuver brought us to a halt in order for them to alight. If this happened to be the person in the farthest back corner, it seemed that about half the passengers had to jump out and then back in. Our journey was really a significant portion of the island so I feel that we got our seven dollars (EC that is) worth. When we were unceremoniously dropped on the side of the road, the true magnitude of “Brimstone Hill” became obvious.

The strategic advantage of the fort resulted largely from its elevated position, allowing the cannons to be directed at the lower ground and preventing any sneak attacks. Those advantages do work to the detriment of the tourist on foot, however. I think it was about 10:30 am by this point and the day was warming up rapidly. We set off up hill. After a short way a sign told us that the entrance gate was half a mile ahead. Once we got to the single bar gate that could be closed across the road, the slope of the road increased noticeably. In fact if I’m not mistaken every hundred yards the road got steeper. Several rests were taken and we arrived at the booth to pay. I looked around and realized that the fort was still considerably higher. Even when you get to the buildings where the “orientation” video is displayed, you are still several hundred feet below the main garrison. We had to have a rest and drinks before carrying on. The fort is truly impressive. Designed by the British and built by slave labor. The main garrison is sizeable but there were many outlying structures. Of course, I must mention the views. Being up so high we could see Saba Rock, St. Eustatia and Nevis. On clearer days you can see St. Martin and St. Barths (according to the guide book).

When we sat down to eat our lunch we recalled that we had no bread for our “sandwiches”. When in doubt substitute one starch for another.... Potato chips were what we could purchase....

The walk down the hill was less strenuous but still seemed quite long. Interestingly the heat was building us as we went down hill. A wait of less than a minute brought a bus along. If anything this was more terrifying than the previous one. The driver might have had aspirations to motor racing. I truly was saying some prayers. Once the bus got to the port area there was a traffic jam and the driver advised us to hop out and walk. We found the right area for the regular ferry but opted to take the fast ferry back again. The captain told us there was some ‘slight chop’. This resulted in the boat slamming down on the water a few times but we arrived back at Charlestown, Nevis safe and sound.

The Nevis - St Kitts fast ferry ... small, light and 600 HP of Suzuki outboards! Check out the height of the Captain compared to his crew on the left ... the latter were small but he was at least 6'5"