Air fares and stop overs in Europe

Understanding air fares is difficult wherever you go. Typically it is annoying to get the cheapest flights with multiple and long stop overs. Being on holidays and curious to see new islands, we took advantage of the airline pricing strategies. The cheapest flight from St Kitts & Nevis to the Dominican Republic was with two 20h stop overs in St Marteen and Curacao, perfectly timed to have a day each in "Europe".

Contrasts

Hotels in St Kitts & Nevis start in the 400-500 USD per day and easily reach four digits. People were a bit surprised when we picked up our backpacks at the airport and walked into town…

Today we went into the area where the locals live and decided to get a hair cut, which was a great experience. Fully run by people from the Dominican Republic, we got our hair (and facial hair) trimmed within minutes. I am pretty sure he started his career in sheep shearing…

Credit terms

Different countries have different credit terms… - that's how it works in Nevis

Airport or bus stop?

Traveling in this region widens your horizon in many ways. One new thing I learned is the definition of an airport. Here an island with a few thousand people can easily have an "airport" with two daily flights and cows grazing just outside the runway.

"Army" of Nevis

Only 12‘000 people live on the tiny volcano island of Nevis but apparently they are afraid of an invasion or the like…

St Kitts & Nevis

The Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis is the smallest sovereign state of the Americas (population & area). Two tiny little islands were governed as different states for long time and tensions remain today with smaller Nevis feeling neglected. In 1983 they gained independence from the British and today it is all about tourism.
51’000 people
GDP / capita (nom / PPP) 14’000 / 21’000 USD

Antigua and Barbuda

The Spanish did not colonize Antigua as the Caribs were aggressive and there was not fresh water on the island. The English took over to run sugar plantations. In 1981 the country became independent but the Elizabeth II remains the Queen of Antigua and Barbuda. The twin islands rely on tourism as main source of income - it is not all that difficult to understand why tourists come here...
91’000 people
GDP/capita (nom/PPP) 13’400 / 18’000 USD