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Published: January 14th 2009
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Admiralty Bay
Check out all the boats at anchor in Bequia- holy cow!!! Can you find the Rum Runner? One of the many questions amongst sailors in the last couple of months was, “Where are you going to spend Christmas this year?” There are a couple of islands that are popular during the holiday season like Antigua, Bequia, and St. Lucia. These islands celebrate Christmas with real gusto! There are tons of Christmas lights and live music and parties filled with holiday cheer. But there was no question of where the Rum Runners wanted to spend Christmas- in Bequia of course! Bequia, Sweet Sweet Bequia. It is our favorite island in the Caribbean, the people are so friendly and the water is so beautiful, palm tree lined beaches with soft white sand, and a wonderful town to explore filled with boutiques and great restaurants. So we set sail for Bequia a couple of weeks ago and settled into our spot at the anchorage in Admiralty Bay for the holidays. And we weren’t the only boat with this idea. There were over 200 boats anchored in Admiralty during Christmas- holy cow! Good thing we got here early and picked out our spot, as there were many anchor wars in the harbor.
Let the festivities begin! We had a wonderful time
Light Up
This is the Christmas lights at Le Pomme, the winners of the Christmas light competition. in Bequia, the whole town sparkled with Christmas lights and many of the boats in the harbor were decorated as well, including the Rum Runner. And everyone on the island celebrated, there was something to do every night from light ups to beach bonfires, even a caroling competition. Our favorite was the light ups. A light up is when one of the communities in Bequia turns on all their Christmas lights all at once and everyone from the island comes to celebrate, it is quite a scene. It basically turns into a big street party with live music and bbq, and the kids are running around getting soooo excited for Christmas that they can't contain themselves. It is also a big competition between the communities for the best Christmas decorations- so they go all out. I must say that I was very impressed with the sheer amount of lights and decorations. It is very jolly. After the light up, that community leaves on their Christmas lights for the rest of the season. And slowly, night after night, the whole town is eventually light up. What a great way to celebrate.
But no Christmas would be complete without Christmas music,
Caribbean Christmas
The Christmas lights up at Sugar Hill were amazing- it was indeed a Caribbean Christmas! so we decided to go to the Caroling Competition. Once again, what a party! The stage was set up in the middle of the soccer field and just about everyone on the island was there. Of course there was bbq and rum available, the traditional holiday food of the Caribbean. And we enjoyed socializing with some locals and other cruisers we have met along the way. Then we settled into our spot on the bleachers and got ready for the show. There were 8 different groups of singers that competed, each sang two songs. The first song had to be a traditional Christmas Carol, but the second song could be just about anything- as long as it had a Christmas theme. So we heard a lot of great music that night and some very original Christmas songs, including many reggae carols- we loved it. It definitely was a Caribbean Christmas!
Then we decided to rent a car for a couple of days with our friends Chris and Kelly to drive around the island and explore Bequia. But not just any car, we wanted to rent a mini-moke. Seriously, it is the best way to travel! The mini-moke is just
Ho Ho Ho!
Enjoying the light up in Hammilton. One picture can't capture the holiday spirit and all the Christmas lights. slightly more powerful than a golf cart, so we could get up the steep hills of Bequia. But it is still open and airy, so you can take in the sights. Jay would jump into the mini-moke like he was one of the Duke boys on the TV show “Dukes of Hazard”. And with all four of us in the mini-moke, it was kind of like a clown car. We would stop somewhere and all the locals would grin at us struggling to get out- some even took pictures! It was so funny. But we loved that mini-moke and drove it on just about every road in Bequia. We saw many beautiful sights, visited the turtle sanctuary again (who can resist baby turtles), and stopped at many beaches and beach bars along the way. One night we took it on a tour of all the Christmas lights and were really amazed at how many communities on the island participate in the light up. We had a great time and it certainly will be a Christmas we will never forget.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
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gran
non-member comment
GREAT
I am so happy that you had a joyous Christmas; not a Colorado Christmas, but spectuacular. Continue having a great time, but come back to us sometime. Love you