The optional excursion, St Kitts Scenic Railway, started in St Kitts Scenic Railway-owned Coaster buses for a transfer to the Lavallee Station on the northwest corner of the island.
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| We passed the Basseterre Market, closed on Sunday |
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| The Bubulcus ibis/Cattle Egret Rookery (KSS) |
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| Roadside coconut vendor |
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| Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine was initially open only to Americans (I guess that means citizens of the USA!) and Canadians, but recently opened up to citizens of St Kitts and Nevis |
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| Sheep mow the lawn of St Thomas Anglican Church (est 1623, church 1860) |
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| An earthquake in 1974 damaged the bell tower and roof of St Thomas, but was supposedly repaired and reopened in 2000; yet the bell tower looks to be still under repair, perhaps due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017? |
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| An island home with some gingerbread embellishment |
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| Okay, now we take off on the purpose-built train of the St Kitts Scenic Railway, pulled by a PKP class Lyd2 (L=narrow gauge, y=3 axles, d=diesel, 2=hydraulic transmission) built in Romania, followed by the power car, which provides electricity to the rest of the train |
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| St Kitts Eco-Park is a demonstration farm and gardens created in collaboration with the government of Taiwan, but is now solely owned by St Kitts and Nevis |
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| We were traveling through abandoned sugar cane fields, on a 29-km/18-mile trip down the east coast of St Kitts; originally the railroad circled the entire island for 48 km/30 miles |
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| We passed through small towns, on a winding route that was laid in 1912-1926 to deliver sugar cane from the plantations to a centralized sugar mill in Basseterre |
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| The center of St Kitts is dominated by volcanic mountains, but with the rain clouds we would not be able to discern Mount Liamuiga, the tallest at 1,156-m/3,792' |
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| There were many ruins of sugar cane mills; this one was being taken over by nature |
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| St Kitts was looking forward to Sugar Mas, their festival to welcome the New Year with dancing masqueraders, and a couple were on the train for entertainment |
I'm sure it was difficult to hop around on one foot on a swaying train.
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| We saw goats and sheep, and cows, plus this pig (KSS) |
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| A coconut ginger cookie |
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| St John's Church, Belle Vue, St Kitts may have been founded by newly emancipated enslaved persons |
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| One of the trestles that carried the train over streams |
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| Ruins of a sugar mill plantation |
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| Surf of the Caribbean Sea |
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| The St Kitts Scenic Railway has five double-decked “Island Series” rail cars (2002, designed by Colorado Railcar) with an open second deck covered by a canvas roof and an enclosed air-conditioned first deck |
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| A view of a black sand beach |
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| Starting across a trestle/Hermitage Bridge |
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| Island's Quarry |
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| 6wDM locomotives (6w=6 wheels, D=diesel, M=suitable for mixed use) of the St Kitts Sugar Manufacturing Corporation |
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| We ended at the Needsmust Station near the airport |
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| The narrow gauge tracks are 762 mm/2.5' apart |
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| At times we noticed clouds of dust ahead of us, then saw our train was preceded by this Fairmont Track Car, whose purpose seemed to be to chase goat herds away from the tracks |
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| We had to return in the same Coaster bus in which we arrived at the other station |
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| Sure looks like Ziziphus mauritiana/Giant Jujubes |
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| Back at Port Zante, the Chlorocebus pygerythrus/ Vervet Monkey handlers were ready to earn money for photos with their pets |
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| Who needs to go into town with all these shops at the port? |
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| Old Treasury Building (1894) was the original gateway into Basseterre when it stood at the edge of the bay, but with reclaimed land, there is the new gateway; this building will house the National Museum of St Kitts |
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| MV Christena Memorial (2022) remembers those who died in a ferry boat accident in 1970 |
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| Street barbecue |
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| Berkeley Memorial Clock (1883) honors Thomas Berkeley, a president of the Legislative Assembly in the 1880s; it is located in the center of the Circus, which in British parlance means a circle at the intersection of streets |
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| A cattle egret in the Circus |
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| Independence Square (1750 as Pall Mall Square, was renamed in 1983 when St Kitts & Nevis achieved independence) was the location of the former slave market |
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| Independence Square Fountain (c 1859); the bird sitting on top is not part of the fountain (KSS) |
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| The Georgian House (c 1790) is said to be where the enslaved were kept in the cellar before being sold in the square |
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| Courthouse (c 1792, rebuilt 1998 after a fire in 1982) |
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| Rooster in Independence Square (KSS) |
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| Co-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (1927-1928, by Father Claeys in Romanesque style) is a Co-Cathedral within the Diocese of St John's, Antigua |
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| Interior of the cathedral |
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| The cathedral had a wish tree |
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| The Parish Centre is in French Colonial style |
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| Queen Victoria Monument (1902, relocated in 1960s) looks like it is missing a statue, but it instead has a relief of Queen Victoria seen under the white star decoration |
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| Here we are again at St George's Anglican Church (1869) |
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| A mural or sign painter at work |
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| Government Headquarters (1965, by Colin Laird, rebuilt 1995) |
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| These coconut tree seedlings were not for sale at the port! |
Next: Road Town, British Virgin Islands.
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