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Published: February 20th 2015
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Wednesday February 11th, 2015. Kingstown St Vincent and Bequia
St Vincent is the largest of the Grenadines. St Vincent is often referred to as "the mainland" by inhabitants of the other, much smaller, Grenadine Islands. A necklace of 32 islands and cays, only 9 of them inhabited, St Vincent and the Grenadines is one of the most popular destinations in the world for leisure sailors, divers and snorkelers. There is little flat terrain on St Vincent. the windward coast is very rocky while the leeward coast boasts sandy bays and beaches. St Vincent was once known as 'Hairouna' by the Carib Indians who aggressively prevented European settlement until the beginning of the 18th century. African slaves were imported to support the plantation economy which eventually declined after the abolition of slavery and depressed world sugar prices. In 1902 La Soufriere Volcano erupted killing 2,000 people. Farmland was damaged and the economy deteriorated. St Vincent gained independence in 1979, and in the same year, La Soufriere erupted again. Although nobody was killed, there was extensive agricultural damage. The most recent natural disaster to occur on the island was Hurricane Lenny in 1999.
After breakfast we made our way to the
cruise terminal complex. M settled in at the same bar we had used last time to post some blogs, check emails etc. D went off with the camera to explore the town of Kingstown. He wandered around the general market and the fish market and then made his way to probably the only building of interest in the town, the Carnegie Old Public Library. this building was established in 1909 and has been a protected National Heritage Site since 2009 by order of the St Vincent and Grenadines National Trust. D returned to the cruise terminal and we were joined by Roy and Pati. Once back on board we lunched together.
The ship dropped anchor off the coast of Bequia (pronounced Beckway) at 2.30 pm. Roy and D went to the show lounge to await the dishing out of tender tickets. This was a complete farse. There was no orderly queue and when tickets were issued there was a mad scrum. Elbows, walking frames, walking sticks and crutches were all used as weapons. We ended up having different tender tickets to Roy and Patti which was a joke as we had planned an afternoon together. M had a quick
word with Daniel who offered her the last 'B' tender ticket and said we could go with three B tickets and a C ticket.
Bequia is the second largest island in the Grenadines (the largest being Carriacou) and is part of the country that is St Vincent and the Grenadines. It is approximately 15 km (9.3 miles) from the nation's capital, Kingston, which we had visited this morning on St Vincent. The native population are primarily a mixture of people of African, Scottish and Carib Indian descent. A substantial number of white Bajans also settled the Mount Pleasant area of Bequia in the 1860's and many of their descendents still inhabit the area today.
Relaxed and easy-going Bequia has a unique charm with beautiful sandy beaches, green hills and delightful little villages. It is only 7 square miles in size and was named the Island of the Clouds by the Caribs. These people successfully resisted the European colonisation of Bequia throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. After developing a relationship with the Caribs, the French developed settlements and indigo, cotton, sugar and limes were cultivated. In 1763 the Grenadines were ceded to the British who established many plantations.
Many of the islands earliest settlers were shipwrights, seamen and carpenters. The waters surrounding the island were rich fishing grounds and the building of whaleboats turned Bequia's boat building into a thriving industry. Descendents of these shipwrights are still building boats on the island today, employing skills and methods that have remained unchanged for generations. Bequia is one of the few places in the world where limited whaling is still allowed by the International Whaling Commission. Natives of the island are allowed to catch up to 400 humpback whales per year using only traditional hunting methods of hand-thrown harpoons in small, open sailboats. The limit is rarely met, with no catch for some years.
After disembarking the tender at the pier in the capital of Bequia which is called Port Elizabeth we secured a taxi to take us to Industry Bay which is on the Atlantic Coast. M had identified it as an ideal place to escape the rest of the passengers on the ship - which is no mean feat on such a small island. Our taxi driver was called Elvis. We drove up the hills through some tiny villages and lush vegetation until we arrived at a
hotel at one end of the bay. Here there were 4 empty sunbeds with our names on. D and Roy walked up to the other end of the beach in order to go for a swim as the shoreline was covered with a thick carpet of brown seaweed. M and Pati started chatting to some English ladies who arrived at the hotel. They explained that the weed had only arrived in the last couple of days. Industry Bay is located on the site of a former plantation. The beach is well known for snorkeling but unfortunately the weed made visibility very poor. The bar provided us with a rum punch (recommended by the X-pats) decorated with a slice of star fruit and beers for the boys. Pati promptly tipped hers all over M! What a waste! M shared hers with Pati though - as it was really very good indeed.
Elivis came to collect us at 5.00 as agreed and we returned to Port Elizabeth. M procured the mandatory FM. We walked along the main street watching the delightful, tiny humming birds collecting their pollen. We stood on the beach by the quay and watched the sunset which was
gorgeous. We then made our way to the local bar where we had a few locally priced drinks before making our way back to the pier for the last tender at 7.45 pm. The last tender arrived on time at 8.00. However, we were kept waiting until 8.30 for 3 "missing" passengers. It turns out they were already on-board. We were late for dinner so, after apologising to our table-mates, we ate on a table for 4 with Roy and Pati. Apart from the return to the ship we had all had a really pleasant afternoon.
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