Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts, viewed from Fortlands

It’s a cool, drippy morning in St. Kitts, where I arrived yesterday afternoon. St. Kitts is one of the islands that has always managed to bypass me on my Caribbean travels, so I’m more than happy to be here. So far we haven’t seen much more than a bit of Basseterre (which — at a glance, at least — seems very charming); and Warner Park, the island’s spanking new cricket ground, which opens officially today. This coming Tuesday, in fact, St. Kitts will host its first ever international cricket match, and I have to say they’ve chosen well. Kittians (and the scores of visitors from surrounding islands and elsewhere) will get to see the West Indies play India in the third One Day International, and with the five-match series at 1-0 (India won the first match in Jamaica on Thursday, and they play there again today) some good cricket should be witnessed by all (or at least let’s hope so).

We’re staying at the Ocean Terrace Inn (or OTI, as the cognoscenti refer to it), which is beautifully situated on a point above the western end of Basseterre in an area called Fortlands. The property itself is a bit of a mix of old and new (my room is in what appears to be the “old section”) but you couldn’t ask for a better location, and with free wi-fi in the common areas, what’s not to like.

Yesterday evening we also ate at StoneWalls, the restaurant and bar owned by my long-time Caribbean Beat colleague Garry Steckles. Highly recommended.