17/12/2019: Dieppe Bay

So one of the great challenges of this holiday will be about what to do.    Our holidays usually involve covering vast distances on dodgy roads with unreliable vehicles somehwere in the middle of nowhere.  Our main issue is trying to cram every possible sight into 3 or 4 weeks.  It's not going to be a problem here!

St Kitts and Nevis together cover 261 km2.  Compare that with the Isle of Man which is 2.2 times bigger with 572 km2.  The population is 51.5 k as compared to the Isle of Man whose population is less dense at 86.5k.  Most of the population lives on or just off the circular coast road.  The middle of the island is dominated by three volcanoes, including Mount Liamuiga which stands at at 3792 feet or 1155 metres - higher than Snowdon but considerably lower than Ben Nevis at 1345 metres.  The sides of the volcanoes are covered in rich greenery and the top is almost always shrouded with cloud.

Liamuiga

St Kitts is not one of the main tourist islands in the Caribbean but it is a stop off for cruise liners.  Yesterday we saw three huge ones side by side in the port.  In a day you can, via a tour or hire car, see the main sights of the island.  This being the case, we have decided to ration ourselves and not do them all at once!!

So yesterday we decided to explore Dieppe Bay, the town where we are staying. It was re-founded in 1625 by Frenchman Pierre D'Esnambuc. Once a port it is now a sleepy fishing village with less than 600 residents. The headland here is apparently where the Caribbean sea meets the Atlantic and the bay is protected by a coral reef.

As previously mentioned our vista looks over to The Quill, the volcano on Sint Eustatius.  The main action involves watching a small green fishing boat a few hundred metres out to see, watching the crabs in the rock pools and watching brown pelicans fly by.

So we decided to explore the town today.  We're down on the beach, next to the derelict Golden Lemon Inn, and about 150 metres from the main road.  Walking up, people greeted us and were really friendly.  Initially we turned southwards where we had seen some ruined buildings.  On the map this area was called Beaumont Park but there is no historical interpretation signs to explain what had been there.

Goats were amongst the ruins as well as straying onto the road.

There were some beautiful flowers as well ss coconut trees.

The Caribbean is volcanic and there are tsunami warning signs along the road:

The road through Dieppe Bay is a bit bumpy but the government is doing it up:

Having reached the outer limits of the settlement we turned back along the main street north.  We passed several tiny bars and snackettes, some opened, some closed.  There was a health centre, post office (closed) and a couple of churches.  The place was neat and tidy and local people were friendly.

After maybe 40 minutes we had explored the town and decided to have a beer at the local shop and bar, Pierre's.  It was a small room crammed with dry goods, cans and freezers.  The door said it sold bulls and pigs feet!

The owner brought us two glasses of Stag beer and a bottle opener.

Locals came and went, nodding at us.  A couple of men in a white van delivered loo roll.  We had to tell them the owner was round the back, so they waited till he re-emerged.

A couple more beers and Kevin paid - about £1 a bottle.  The owner said he was from Wolverhampton.

So, it was back to the beach where there is a restaurant called Arthur's, once part of the Golden Lemon complex.  We checked if they did veggie food and then walked home.

We saw pelicans on fishing boats awaiting scraps and slim white birds which we believe are Great Egrets.

 The rest of the day was spent reading, writing and eating with, of course, Joan Instagramming our dinner.