St. Vincent
I woke up early so I could watch us come into port at Kingstown Harbor, St. Vincent. St. Vincent is the largest (150 square miles) of an island chain called the Grenadines. Thirty–two islands make up the Grenadines, with the second largest island being Bequia. Some of the other islands are Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Union Island, Palm Island, and Petit St. Vincent. St. Vincent’s population is a bit over 100,000 and its language is English. It was granted independence in the British Commonwealth in 1979.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Following the pilot boat into the harbor.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Arriving at the cruise terminal.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Before we could disembark, we first had to wait for the immigration officials to come on board. We also had to go through a mandatory fire drill. The captain spoke to us over the loudspeaker––in both English and French: The captain was French. (I was told that the easyCruise crew was made up of Americans, people from the UK, Filipinos, Croatians, and Poles––probably among some other nationalities.) Some of us were counting the number of passengers at our respective muster stations and we were curious as to how many passengers were on board––115 out of a maximum passenger load of 150. But more people were getting on the ship in St. Vincent and we kept adding new passengers, but also subtracting some, as passengers got on and off at different ports.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
There had been signups for three different tours today: Schooner Party, Kayak & Snorkel, and Scuba Diving. I signed up for the Schooner Party, but not enough people joined me in signing up and the tour was canceled. I know that the Kayak & Snorkel tour was run, but I don’t know about the Scuba Diving. So I was on my own for the day. You need to know that this is a cruise for independent travelers, and if a tour is canceled, there is no concierge to provide you with information of what to do. There was no tour company to greet our ship, but we were given maps of the island from the tourist office people. I saw two interesting routes on the map and hired a private taxi to take me around the island. At this point of the cruise, I did not know enough people to find other people who would have wanted to share the cost of a taxi. So a second easySuggestion: A sign–up sheet or even just a time and place to meet for people who want to share taxis. Even some of the young people who I met on the cruise thought this would be a good idea as some of them were also interested in sightseeing.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Welcome Sign––donated by the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Map of the Grenadines.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Warning sign: Watch out for sea urchins.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
I’m now in the taxi cab heading up the hills to a final destination of the Montreal Gardens. I had asked the driver, whose name was David (I had written his name down, so maybe my driver’s name yesterday was not also David), that he would first have to take me to an ATM so I could get some cash. I had run out of U.S. dollars because I couldn’t charge everything that I thought I would be able to. (Note: Since the second currency in the places that we visited is the U.S. dollar and since you can always use any extra dollars when you get home, it is better to take along more than you would think that you will need.) He decided to trust me and said he would take me to the ATM later.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Close–up of some interesting houses from this viewpoint.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
View of the Caribbean.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
It is hard to imagine a place as lush in vegetation as St. Vincent is––it was beautiful.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Going up the hill. St. Vincent is quite hilly.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Mama’s Corner Store. There very many small convenience stores on the sides of the roads.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Another view of the Caribbean.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We stopped for David to buy some home–grown limes from his friend.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Truck coming down the hill. The drivers are very courteous in making sure that the opposing vehicles make it back into their own lane in time.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Here it was unbelievably lush. Looking down over Mesopotamia Valley.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Up another hill. The road up to the Montreal Gardens was in quite disrepair.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
David stopped here to buy some home–grown bananas.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Driving down to the floor of Mesopotamia Valley. Even though this photo picked up reflections from the windshield, I am using it as you can see two stars painted on the road. These are actually campaign “signs.” There was a recent election and the star is the symbol of one of the parties that was running candidates.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We are in Mesopotamia, so named as it is located between rivers, as Ancient Mesopotamia was. However, David told me that three rivers join here in Mesopotamia. In Ancient Mesopotamia, there were only two.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We are now driving up a hill, out of the valley.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Goats (tails up) on the side of the road.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Very lush landscape.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Farther up the road.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Another goat on the side of the road.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We have arrived at the Montreal Gardens and I took a walk through them. What amazed me here was that most of the plants in these gardens are available for sale in our local nurseries in Southern California as they can grow in our own gardens. However, I have never seen most of these plants growing as well as they do here.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Montreal Gardens.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Montreal Gardens.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Montreal Gardens.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Montreal Gardens.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Brook in Montreal Gardens.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Montreal Gardens was in the middle of the lower half of St. Vincent and there was only one road to it, so we retraced our route back down. The road was also very narrow in places. Here we had to back up to allow this car to proceed.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Mid–day school break––the school children are walking home for lunch. The children are required to wear uniforms and each school has a different color uniform.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
House on the way down the hill.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
And another house.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Interesting window and door.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Probably an Anglican Church. You can see the “political” stars on cement railing and also some “political” keys. I think that the keys represent the opposing party.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Farther down the hill.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We are now on the Atlantic, southeastern, side of the island.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
One of St. Vincent’s black sand beaches. St. Vincent is a volcanic island––hence, some of their beaches are of black sand. The name of its volcano is La Soutriere, which is located at the northern end of the island and which last erupted in 1979. You need to hike to the volcano in order to view it.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
“Castle” overlooking the ocean.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
A cove along the Caribbean. We next stopped at Kingstown for me to go to an ATM. However, the bank and also their ATM had just closed and would not be open for again for a couple of hours. Anyway, I was not finished sightseeing and asked David to take me now to the western side of the island
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Photo taken from a hill northwest of Bridgetown––there’s our ship!
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
The town of Layou.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
An old sugar cane mill.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
New housing offered free to the poor of St. Vincent.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Another black sand beach.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
This should be the town of Barrouallie.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We turned off the main road to travel via a rustic road to Wallilabou Falls. Donkey on the side of the road.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Wallilabou Falls.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
A cow at the falls.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Another cow across the street.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
There were three young tourists at the falls and we asked them if they needed a ride somewhere. No, they were waiting for the public bus/van. These brightly colored vans serve as public transportation in St. Vincent (and in many of the other islands that we visited). The seem to have set routes and you just wait on the side of the road for one to pick you up. They are a very low–cost way to get around.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
A photo at the falls of David, my driver/guide, and his taxi.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
A pig farm across the street.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
Another photo of the pig farm and some pigs.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
We drove from Wallilabou Falls to Wallilabou Bay. This is where the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
The Pirates of the Caribbean dock. Sequels of this movie will also be filmed here.
St. Vincent
Kingstown
We stopped next in Kingstown, the capital of St. Vincent, at a bank. The ATM here was somewhat confusing. The ATM machines are in an enclosed room with a lock on it. You can only enter when someone is finished using a machine (if no one is in the room, then you have to press a button to be able to enter). Then it takes a while to figure out that you need to put your card into the ATM with the magnetic side up. I got that far but then ran into trouble. The ATM kept telling me to try my transaction again. It wasn’t going to work for me. I tried to go into the bank to get money there, but the bank had just closed. I wasn’t too worried about paying David as I did have some euros with me that I had left over from my last trip to Europe. But I still had David take me to another bank. This ATM was similar but I tried something different. It had been my fault at the first bank as I had added two zeroes after the amount that I wanted to take out as I have to do at my bank at home. As the exchange rate for Eastern Caribbean dollars, used here in St. Vincent, was about three Eastern Caribbean to one U.S. dollar, I had been asking for quite a huge sum of money and the ATM was just not going to give it to me. I paid David and he dropped me off at a restaurant he recommended for a late lunch. Then I took a walk around Kingstown. The Police Building.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Statue in front of the market. Its dedication: “To the Glory of God and in Memory of the Sons of Saint Vincent Who Gave Their Lives for King and Country in the Great War 1914–1918.”
Kingstown
Kingstown
Inside the market. For sale––spices and very strong rum.
Kingstown
Kingstown
All kinds of spices.
Kingstown
Kingstown
More vendors along the wall.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Vendors in another room in the market. It is now late in the afternoon, but I imagine that earlier there were many more vendors here.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Sidewalk vendors across the street.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Coconut vendor.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Fish vendor.
Kingstown
Kingstown
People on the street. The man with the colorful hat on is a Rastafarian. The Rastafarians accept Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Ethiopia, as the black Messiah. Dredlocks are symbol used by the Rastafarians. However, not all the men sporting dredlocks on the islands are Rastafarians.
Kingstown
Kingstown
KFC is big in the islands. I only saw a McDonald’s in Martinque (French island). Many of the Caribbean people do not eat enough beef to make a McDonald’s profitable.
Kingstown
Kingstown
There are a number of Georgian buildings in Kingstown.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Another Georgian building.
Kingstown
Kingstown
A bell tower on the side of the last building.
Kingstown
Kingstown
St. Mary’s Cathedral of Moorish, Romanish, and Georgian architecture. It was difficult to take a good photo of it this time of day because of where the sun was.
Kingstown
Kingstown
St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Right across from St. Mary’s Cathedral was the St. George Anglican Church.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Inside the St. George Anglican Church.
Kingstown
Kingstown
The House of Hope Society.
Kingstown
Kingstown
You can catch one of the bus/vans here in front of the fish market.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Time to walk back to easyCruise I.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Interesting art work in the cruise terminal.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Shop owner at the cruise terminal. She said that she is married to a doctor and has this shop and a shop on another island, but she also told me that easyCruise passengers spend little if any money in the shops in the cruise terminal.
Kingstown
Kingstown
Some of her items for sale. Many she designs herself. I ate dinner on the ship after having a very interesting day.
