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This island is small enough that a quickie group tour can be accomplished in just a few hours. We were actually staying on the island but everyone else on the tour was a cruise ship passenger. The tour began at noon and the cruisers needed to be back at the dock by 4:30 p.m. The tours are conducted in modified, open backed pick up trucks, and it’s easy to find a guide in downtown Charlotte Amalie. We went with the guide affiliated with The Mafolie Hotel where we were staying, but if you decide to find a guide on your own downtown, go with one who has actual business cards and a phone number. This is worth mentioning because we talked to people offering us tours who did not have cards or phone numbers including one who told us he didn’t need a phone number. I say that the intelligent traveller in this day and age is always going to feel more comfortable if the guide has the trappings of a professional business set up – including a phone. Read the rest of this entry »
In other news Tito Jackson just tweeted that he will be performing in St Kitts and in the USVI this June. No specific dates on his website yet, but he seems pretty accessible via twitter, and I assume more information will be forthcoming in the near future.
The best travel writing starts out in the form of letters about what the traveller saw, but ends up further and further from that first impression as it’s polished and buffed by editors. By the time the reader gets it, in many instances it’s hard to get a feel for what the traveler actually saw. So I have decided to present my notes from my latest trip to Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVI. If you haven’t been, this is a duty free shoppers paradise, specializing in fine gold, silver and gemstone jewelry with a backdrop of serene, turquoise blue Caribbean waters. Here is how my day went:
Downtown
Cab arrived at 10 a.m. and dropped us downtown near the post office Basically the shopping district begins at the ocean and extends backwards in blocks from it. First we walked along the water front to the yacht club where the cruise ships come in. There are speakers all over the club grounds playing reggae music. Also the manicured landscaping is very nice. We went to a cafe there called Badass coffee – with a donkey for a logo – hah hah. It is like starbucks but indie and ironically the coffee is Hawaiian Kona instead of Caribbean, but the quality is top notch. I did not see a Starbucks anywhere on the island. The downside is that unlike Starbucks these cafes close at a ridiculously early hour – at 5 p.m. or something like that which is when the cruise ships leave.
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