Last Saturday a couple girlfriends and I went to Port Zante for some shopping and girly fun. I don't have a car, so we braved the bus system for the first time since being on the island. Now St. Kitts doesn't have an organized commuter system but rather has individual vans that are registered as buses. Many have interesting paint jobs or detailing that is very flashy, but the only way to determine if it is a bus or not is the "H" designation on the license plate. To board the bus, simply stand on the side of the road and wave at it as it approaches. It will stop on a dime to pick you up (be careful if you're driving behind it!). Then you cram yourself in like and hang on as the bus barrels down the tiny roads to downtown Basseterre. The ride should have been nerve-wracking, but it was actually pretty fun. It was also cheap: less than $1 US.
Once we got downtown we wandered around port for awhile. It's mostly for tourists from the cruise ships, but they had lots of cool stuff. The best part: DUTY FREE! (as long as you let them think you're a tourist)
We sashayed over into downtown Basseterre and visited the pharmacy where I was very interested to see that they sold, among other things, high proof grain alcohol. Geez, and I thought Wisconsin was bad. This doesn't look shady at all...
A good lunch was had at Ballyhoo restaurant which overlooks the main square in town, called the circus. Had a delicious mango smoothie. Since I moved here I'm now addicted to mangoes, by the way. All in all a fun outing with the girls (thanks Beth'l and Jocelyn!). Also, using the bus and figuring out where stuff is downtown should prove useful.
