Blogs from Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Central America Caribbean - page 8

What a relief… to be south of the hurricane belt and back in the Grenadines, some of the most beautiful islands in the world. We love the Grenadines and have spent a lot of time here. But surprisingly, have not seen it all. So once we rested up for a couple of days and recovered from our sail down it was time to kick back, relax, and explore. We spent a couple of weeks touring the Grenadines. Of course we had to stop at some of our favorite anchorages, including Bequia and Union Island and the Tobago Cays and Mopion and Petite Saint Vincent… just to name a few. But we also wanted to check out some new anchorages as well. One place we stopped was Salt Whistle Bay, on the north end of Mayreau. We ... read more

Jammin’ Day 5 and reggae is playing on the car stereo as we swing around the winding roads up the Windwards coast of St Vincent. We wind our way between the banana trees along a bumpy track and up the hill, passing a lush array of trees including breadfruit, guava, cashew and passion fruit, before arriving at a shining building painted in the green and blue colours of the FAIRTRADE Mark.. This is Montaque, in St Vincent, it’s the brand name of a range of jams, jellies and juices, but for the banana farmers of St Lucia, Dominica and St Vincent it’s also a window to the future - their first venture into food processing, as a way of diversifying away from just the sale of the raw fruit. Two years ago the farmers of the ... read more

1st June marks the official start of the hurricane season in St Vincent, and almost like clockwork the rain is hammering on the roof of the reception centre at Langley Park, where the farmers are bringing their fruit for weighing, checking and shipment. Nearby, grey and copper coloured waves crash to the shores, and the coconut palms bend in the wind that gives these islands their name. Nioka Abbott was up early working through the downpour to cut and pack the twenty 18 kilogram boxes of bananas she’s promised for this week’s Asda and Sainsbury shipment. As she says, ‘here in St Vincent we love carnival. No rain ever stop our carnival. So rain can’t stop our farmers. Shipment ain’t gonna wait for no rain to stop.” Nioka was one of the very first farmers to ... read more

At the modest offices of the St Vincent National Fair Trade Organisation, there is a busy flow of farmers coming in to collect the bags they will need for the next harvest. Some of them are collecting Asda branded bags, some plain ones, as their bananas are also sold loose and as Caribbean smalls into Sainsbury’s. The Fair Trade Organisation is running a tight operation, everything is receipted, signed and stamped in duplicate, along with a constant friendly banter between the farmers as they come and grow. However today, the farmers and the Fair Trade Organisation have got a lot on their minds. If you’re a farmer in St Vincent, Friday is not just the day that you collect whatever bags or boxes you need for your next harvest, but it’s also the day you get ... read more

Bequia, Grenadines, le 25 mai 2009 Saint-Vincent et les Grenadines est le 15e pays où nous devons compléter des formalités douanières. Cela est parfois facile, parfois difficile, simple, compliqué et il faut le faire en général en entrant et sortant d’un pays. Mais retournons au 1er avril à Puerto Rico. Nous devions faire changer une valve défectueuse du réservoir sceptique. Nous prenons un quai à la plus grande marina des Caraïbes, Puerto Del Rey. 1000 places et un service de transport en voiturette électrique sur les quais tellement c’est grand. La seule valve disponible (standard U.S.) ne s’adapte pas au passe-coque (évacuation extérieure) de notre bateau (standard métrique). Nous devons donc faire sortir le bateau de l’eau pour changer le passe-coque, puis bien sûr, il faut s’en douter, notre tuyauterie ne s’adapte pas à cette nouvelle ... read more