74. The Lesser Antilles (Caribbean)

This post from my trip in May 2018 features : Grenada, Barbados, St Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis and Antigua

I had no real interest in going to the Caribbean. I didn’t think that I would discover anything particularly interesting; the colonial history is shameful and recent history dogged by political turmoil. Mention of a trip to the Caribbean brought different reactions…

One friend said: “Why bother going to six islands – just go to one, they’re all the same.” I explained that it was part of my aim to visit as many different countries as I could, to which she told me to just lie as no one would ever know. While another friend exclaimed: “How wonderful! I bet they’re all quite different.”

The attraction was that I could add 5 new countries to my list of UN-member states visited, thereby taking my tally to 108 out of 193. The peak tourist season is from November to April – which is when the majority of cruise ships call. May is fairly quiet and the rainy season doesn’t start until June so, crowd-wise and weather-wise, it’s not a bad time to go.

Audley Travel very quickly pulled together an impressive itinerary that incorporated the 5 islands plus St Lucia, which I’d been to before. Flights out of & to the UK would be from Gatwick – which isn’t my favourite airport – but I would be flying with Virgin Atlantic…

Helpfully, May 7^th was a bank holiday, which meant that the 5am taxi ride up the M4 and round the M25 was pretty quick and traffic reasonably light. That changes, of course, once you get to Junction 9 on the M23: the junction for Gatwick. Is there a worse motorway junction in the UK? The lanes are ill-defined. Direction signs to the two terminals are poor and there are hundreds of converging cars, taxis and coaches; most of which have only a vague idea where they are going.

We were heading for the North Terminal – home to EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic. Check-in was easy & straightforward once I found the Virgin check-in desks, which are discretely located on the floor above EasyJet and too posh to require signs telling you that. The check-in lady was quite sweet. On seeing that I was going to the Caribbean for 24-days she said: “You know how to party, don’t you?”

Anyway, off through security, which was reasonably quick and efficient and then away to find the Virgin lounge, where I had breakfast and relaxed while I waited for the flight to be called.

The flight was on time with a flying time of just over 8-hours. The aircraft was an elderly A330-300 with a tired and worn interior. However, the crew were clearly in holiday mode – which made the atmosphere quite jolly and as I had 2 glasses of Champagne before take-off, I was soon in holiday spirit, too. All the seats in business class had aisle access and my seat, despite being by a window actually faced into the cabin – so I was staring out over my fellow passengers, which was a bit disconcerting.

The flight to Grenada made an initial stop in St Lucia. Passengers for St Lucia disembarked while those continuing stayed on the plane. St Lucia immigration officials then came on board to check that the number of people on the plane corresponded to the passenger manifest issued at Gatwick.

It didn’t.

Somehow the crew couldn’t make the number of passengers in economy match the aforementioned manifest. There was a discrepancy. They counted only 32-passengers. Somehow the thirty third person had vanished in mid-air over the Atlantic. Had we flown through the Bermuda triangle? No: too far south for that. Had they been sucked out of the aircraft through an air vent? Hmmm…

The immigration people were getting tetchy; a return flight to the UK was imminent.

Are we there, yet?

The Purser called for yet another headcount and this time – miracle of miracles – they counted 33 people in economy. It transpired that when the Purser instructed the crew to lock the toilets & ensure they were empty prior to doing the original count, the crew in economy didn’t. Or thought they had. Or something like that. “The man in the hat” had been in the toilet and was somehow missed. This was spectacularly unobservant of both the crew and the surrounding passengers who must have worked out that this guy was not included in the original count. But no – let’s all sit here on the tarmac in St Lucia – after all, we’re nearly in Grenada…

Immigration officials happy, the crew disembarked to start their 7-day lay-over. No wonder they were in holiday mode at Gatwick. The replacement crew boarded for the 45-minute flight and away we went. I think we still landed in Grenada a bit early but, really, what a farce…

Starting my Caribbean adventure at Gatwick

Grenada

Arrival at the Maurice Bishop International Airport was straightforward as was immigration – the lady at customs was a bit fierce, though. Wanting to know why I was in Grenada; where I was staying; did I know anyone in Grenada; was I meeting anyone and, finally, what was in my bags. What? No alcohol or tobacco? No.

She finally let me through and I was out to meet the St James Travel & Tours rep, who gave me an icy cold bottle of water and an ice-cold, menthol-infused towel to refresh myself. Very civilised.

Then to the car for the short drive to the Blue Horizons Hotel in Grand Anse, passing the Carib Brewery along the way.

Carib was first brewed in Trinidad in 1950. The brewery is one of three owned and operated by ANSA McAL, of Trinidad & Tobago. The brewery in Grenada was opened in 1960 and brews Guinness, Heineken and Mackeson under licence as well as Stag (another local beer) and Carib. ANSA McAl also owns the brewery on St Kitts – so Carib is the main beer there, too.

The Blue Horizons hotel is set in nice gardens about 300m from the Grande Anse beach and around 500m from a shopping centre that has a big IGA supermarket. The hotel is nice and friendly with a pool bar and a separate restaurant for breakfast and dinner – though I had dinner at the pool bar as it was easier. Checking-in was straightforward and I was offered a rum punch – something I discovered is offered on checking-in at every hotel. My room wasn’t ready – so I went off to have lunch and found that my first Carib beer was free. Oh well, if you insist…

On my first full day I got a taxi into St George’s – a minibus would only have cost $1US ($2.50 ECD) but I didn’t fancy playing sardines and the taxi was only $15US. St George’s is dominated by its big harbour and ringed by hills featuring the prison, the new parliament building and the forts Frederick and Michael. It’s an easy-ish town to wander around. The streets are a bit higgledy-piggledy and few have pavements – but follow the locals and you’ll be ok. Traffic is quite heavy but doesn’t move fast. St George’s has yet to get its tourist act together. The museum is sweet but a bit ramshackle; Fort George is in a shocking state of disrepair; the old parliament building and St Andrew’s church are empty shells, damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and not yet repaired; the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals are closed to visitors and the harbour front has no restaurants or bars.

Bridgetown aside, this is a common theme I found in the other island capitals. Tourists either come on enormous cruise ships that disgorge day trippers to be ferried around in minibuses to key landmarks on very tight schedules or they stay in all-inclusive beach resorts. Either way, exploring the island capitals is low down the priority – let alone eating and drinking there.

For my second day, I booked a tour of the island via the St James Travel & Tour rep who came to see me at the hotel. The driver met me at reception and we set off. First up was a tour of the St George University, founded in 1976 – which seems to have a very big campus and has 18,000 students, many of whom are from the USA, apparently.

http://www.sgu.edu

Then we went to the Laura Herb and Spice Garden, which was more interesting than it might sound as you realise just how fertile the island is and the diversity of fruit, herbs and spices that grow on Grenada is astonishing. After that we went to the Belmont Estate Cocoa Plantation and Chocolate Factory, which was also interesting. The heavens opened, briefly, allowing us to have a coffee break in the very smart gift shop and café and the driver to flirt with the lady who was serving. In fairness, they flirted with each other, which was sweet but I did feel a bit of a gooseberry…

To make up for being superfluous, I bought some chocolate…

After that we went to the River Antoine Rum Distillery, unique amongst the three distilleries on the island in that it still uses sugar cane. The sugar cane is locally grown. The distillery has been in operation since 1785, making it the oldest functioning water-powered distillery in the Caribbean. The distillery takes run-down to unparalleled heights but is very sweet and fascinating to see the old open-fermenters and equally old still. Production is quite small but potent. They make only white rum at two strengths: 75%abv for local consumption and 69%abv for export. Compare that with the UK where the majority of dark rum sold is 40%abv and white rum 37.5%abv. Apparently you can’t take spirits over 70%abv onto aircraft as they are too big a fire risk. So visitors buy the lower strength rum to take back home overseas. The higher strength rum is consumed locally – not much even reaches St George’s – and is apparently “very popular”. I was shown around the distillery by the lovely Patsy – who clearly doesn’t drink much of the rum as she was far too lucid, bright and entertaining. She let me try a sample of the 75%abv rum – a tiny drop – but good grief – surprisingly smooth initially and then fire breaks out. Patsy asked if I’d like another sample – smiling as she did so and even managed to feign surprise when I had recovered sufficiently to decline…

After that we went to the Concord Waterfall at the head of a beautiful valley. As it was still the dry season the water level was fairly low and so it didn’t look that impressive – but it was nice driving up through the tropical forest. There are five other waterfalls to see on the island along with three sulfur springs. The volcanoes on Grenada are dormant but “Kick ‘em Jenny” is an active under-sea volcano about 8km off the north coast.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-43400346

After that we drove up to Grand Etang Lake – a crater lake in an extinct volcano, high up (over 700m) in the centre of the island. Here you can see Mona Monkeys introduced from Ghana during the 18^th century. There is also a lot of bamboo, which grows well. Native bamboo is quite small and typically grows to less than 1cm in diameter and so has no commercial value. Asiatic species of bamboo were introduced to Puerto Rico and Trinidad in the early 1900’s, for commercial use, and then spread from there in the 1930’s and 40’s. There aren’t many native creatures here: opossum and the rare nine banded armadillo are about it. The colonists introduced mongoose – to eradicate the snakes; the Mona monkeys as pets and of course goats, sheep, horses and donkeys.

Back to base and my last night in Grand Anse. Grand Anse is reasonably straightforward to pronounce as it is basically “grand ants” but Petite Anse is contracted into one word that sounds like “petty-ants” (anse means bay or cove in French).

Grand Anse:

Chaac, having heard I was back in the region, said he’d pop over to say hello and Guabancex has also promised to drop by and say hello – fortunately Hu-Rakan is away on holiday
Chaac = Mayan god of rain; Guabancex = Taino goddess of wind and rain while Hu-Rakan (from whom the word hurricane is derived) (not the Spurs player) is the Taino god of hurricanes….

We passed the Carib brewery on the way from the airport – it’s just up the road from my hotel – the brewery is owned by Ansa Mcal – a trading company based in Trinidad and Tobago…

When you buy or exchange US dollars, try & get the latest issue – the notes are dated – and don’t accept torn or marked notes as they can be difficult to exchange…

St George:

The Harbour:

The Town:

The National Museum, St George’s, Grenada

The town’s 3 principle churches can be seen in this photo – all were badly damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004

St Andrew’s is a Presbyterian Church – partially destroyed in the hurricane of 2004 and awaiting restoration

The Anglican parish church of St George – it was shut so I couldn’t look around

The Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception – it, too, was shut…

The old parliament building – badly damaged by hurricane Ivan in 2004 – a swish new parliament building is due to open later this month…

This tunnel is for pedestrians and cars – when walking in St George’s, follow the locals – pavements are few, traffic is plentiful and a bit chaotic – so the locals will walk on one particular side of the street regardless of direction they are going – so stick with them…

This latest version of the Honda CRV hasn’t hit Europe yet – it’s been on sale in the USA for several months (as at May 2018)

Chocolate, Rum and Spice:

The Laura Herb and Spice Garden – actually very interesting

The estate is organic and they make chocolate from their own cocoa beans

The River Antoine Estate rum distillery – founded in 1785…

They make their rum from the sugar cane grown on their estate and from local farmers

The wonderful Patsy showing me around – they produce only white rum and at two strengths: 75%abv and 69%abv – most of it is consumed locally – not much even makes it as far as St George’s…

Grenada Distillers – this factory used to produce sugar – this ceased during the 1980’s but they still make rum – the molasses is imported either from Guyana or Trinidad and Tobago…

Inside the nutmeg processing plant in Gouyave (*guavé*)

Maisie waits patiently to begin the tour of the Jouvay Chocolate Factory. The French built the place as a rum distillery and the British turned it into a cocoa bean processing plant. No chocolate was made in Grenada until 2014 and now there are 4 chocolate producers on the island

Maisie, who was showing me round Jouvay, waits patiently as I take a photograph of this Cashew tree with its pretty pink flowers

Concord Waterfall and Grand Etang Lake:

Grand Etang Lake high up in the national reserve – it’s a volcanic crater

A view over True Blue Bay with the university to the left on the opposite peninsula

The drive up to Petite Anse was scheduled to take 6-hours which, given that it is only about 42km, is some going but it did mean getting to see the east coast having done the west coast yesterday.

Our first stop was at the Grenada Distillers Distillery. It used to be a sugar cane factory until the 1980’s – although the old equipment and machinery is still all there. Now they just distill rum from molasses imported from either Guyana or Trinidad. The third distillery is the Westerhall Estate, which also distills rum from imported molasses.

Our next stop was at Fort Frederick, overlooking St George’s and from which you get great views. Very glad we stopped there. Fort Frederick is better preserved than Fort George – which isn’t saying much – and you do get a clearer idea of how the fort ran and life there.

I could see the swish new parliament building, which was due to open on June 21st. Sad that the old parliament building has been deemed “too expensive” to repair. The budget for the new building was almost $23m, with the UAE & Mexico putting up $5m each…

We drove through St George’s and out past the big new national cricket stadium and the equally big and new Kirani James athletics stadium – both built with Chinese funding. Kirani James is a 200m and 400m sprinter who won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Then we followed the coast road up to Gouyave (“gwar-vay”), where there is the GCNA Nutmeg processing plant. The factory was built in 1947 by local farmers and is still run as a cooperative. In 1999, Nutmeg and Mace accounted for 50% of Grenada’s exports. Fascinating to wander around and see. I didn’t know that Mace also came from the Nutmeg Tree – it’s the red stuff around the nut in the seed pod. Nutmeg is an hallucinogenic, by the way – so don’t go eating too much of it…

http://thegcic.org/index.php/grenada-co-operative-nutmeg-association

We had lunch – a roti – in Kelly’s Hot Spot, a local café across the road from the nutmeg factory and sat watching street life in Gouyave. Kelly’s was very busy, nice & friendly and the roti was good. And very big…

After that we stopped just outside Victoria to visit the Jouvay cocoa plantation and chocolate factory. The French had originally set the place up as a rum distillery but the British turned it into a cocoa processing plant. No chocolate was actually made in Grenada until 2014. There are now 4 small producers of chocolate – each using the anodyne slogan “from bean to bar”…

We then went on to Duquesne Bay to see some petroglyphs, which probably date from 900-1100AD – so not terribly old. But when you consider what the British, French and Spanish did to eradicate all traces of the indigenous Amerindians throughout the Caribbean, then it is interesting to discover any traces of their existence…

Which brings us on to Sauteurs and Leapers Hill where, in 1651, the remaining Caribs leaped off the cliff to their deaths rather than face the pursuing French – who would have killed them in any case.

After that we went on to Petite Anse, a boutique hotel on the coast at Mount Rodney. On arrival I was offered a rum punch and then shown to my lovely cabin looking out to the Atlantic coast. I also met the 7 cats and 4 dogs that live there – all rescue animals.

www.petiteanse.com

There were two other couples staying and we were all invited for drinks at the house of Annie and Philip Clift, who own and run the place, which meant piling into a couple of vehicles with assorted dogs in order to get to their house – a short drive uphill from the hotel. You get amazing views over the coast and surrounding area.

Despite the beautiful, unspoilt locations around Grenada and the many varieties of trees and bushes planted I could never detect the spice aromas that the guide books tell you are “everywhere” in Grenada.

It’s just wishful thinking…

I must admit to being quite lazy and on my first full day did nothing other than read and wander into Sauteurs in the afternoon looking for the bar, and a cold beer, as recommended by the hotel. I didn’t find the bar and, for once, it wasn’t my ineptitude (that’s not strictly true). The bar had changed ownership and so changed its name but, of course, the bar was there…

Still, it was a nice walk and interesting to wander around Sauteurs…

For the following day I booked a driver to take me across the island to Pearl’s Airport. This was Grenada’s main airport from 1943 to 1984. It was compromised by its location, a combination of hills and sea, which restricted use to daylight hours only. Since its closure it is used by learner-drivers, drag-racers and farmers to graze their animals. The reason for coming to see it is that there is a Cubana Airlines Antonov An-24 and an Antonov An-2, which carries Aeroflot markings. Both are rusting hulks, looted of anything remotely useful or useable. They are a reminder of a grim period in Grenada’s history since independence.

Grenada gained independence from the UK in 1974 and Eric Gairy became the first prime minister. In 1979, The New Jewel Movement, led by Maurice Bishop, took power in a coup while Eric Gairy was on a visit to the USA. The aim of the NJM was to introduce communism to Grenada and began by strengthening ties with Cuba and the USSR. In 1983, Maurice Bishop was himself ousted and executed by General Hudson Austin, who objected to his attempts to improve ties with the USA. This coup prompted the USA to invade Grenada, along with support from other Caribbean nations, and Austin was arrested.

Back to Petite Anse and I was offered the chance to go and see turtles coming ashore and laying eggs. I didn’t go but the two couples did – they only saw one turtle but seem to have enjoyed themselves. Petite Anse is a lovely, very informal place to stay. Annie & Philip are often around, along with the cats and dogs; staff are all lovely and friendly and, by virtue of its location, lots of local people call in for lunch or dinner so you don’t feel isolated from life in Grenada.

Sadly, my stay came to an end and I was whisked away by car back to Grand Anse for my flight to Barbados. I arrived too early to check-in and so sat around waiting. It’s quite a nice terminal and it was very quiet with few passengers. As soon as check-in opened, I got sorted very quickly and went through immigration and security – both quick and easy – to wait airside for my flight. I was flying with LIAT, who have a fleet of 10 ATR aircraft (a mix of 40 & 60 seaters) – nice aircraft – but LIAT has a terrible reputation. They behaved impeccably throughout my stay, however, so I can’t fault them. It probably helped that I was travelling at low season and the weather was good throughout my stay.

Fort Frederick:

A view over St George’s from Fort Frederick

Sauteurs:

The French massacred the Caribs here – elsewhere, the Spanish set about eradicating the Arawaks – today there are some Arawak and Carib in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Dominican Republic. The history of this region is so complex that I’m not even going to try and explain it but for anyone interested, Irving Rouse of Yale has written what is probably the definitive book on the early inhabitants of the Caribbean…

Petite Anse:

A Ylang Ylang tree – the flowers smell lovely, as you can imagine…

The Petite Anse boutique hotel is a glorious place to stay…

My cabin at Petite Anse was called “Lemon” – hmmm…

There are 4 dogs and 7 cats at Petite Anse – all rescue animals – this little cat seems to have adopted me…

Pearls Airport:

From 1943 to 1984, Pearl’s was Grenada’s airport – it only operated between 6am and 6pm – the airport was seized by the US forces during the 1983 invasion and the Aeroflot plane provided proof of Russian intervention in Grenada…

The airstrip is now used for drag racing, cattle grazing and for learner drivers to practice…

The wreck of a Cubana Airlines Antonov An-24 -at least, I think it’s an An-24…

There was a security guard on duty, watching over the aircraft – not sure what she was guarding or why…

This is also an Antonov but with Aeroflot markings – I think it is an An-2, which could carry 12 passengers but was also used as a crop duster…

Barbados

Barbados has its own currency, the Barbados dollar, whereas all the other islands on this trip use the East Caribbean Dollar. Both currencies are pegged to the US dollar, which is also accepted and used everywhere.

Barbados is an expensive place, though. The Caribbean is generally expensive by UK standards, anyway. It is hardly surprising since so much has to be imported and the islands rely on oil from either Trinidad or Venezuela to generate electricity. The islands have only just started installing solar-panels and there are a few solar farms – but not many. Despite the islands being generally breezy places the only wind turbines I saw were off-shore in Antigua and then only about 5 turbines. I realise installing solar and wind turbines is expensive and the islands would probably still need oil as a back-up during hurricanes, but just think how much the islands could boost their economies by using what would effectively be free energy and their environments would benefit from significantly reduced oil consumption. Where is the IMF? Come on, IMF, do something useful…

Anyway, immigration was quick as I was greeted at the plane’s steps and taken through a priority lane, which was very nice. I again got quizzed by the Customs officer as I had been in Grenada. Seriously, if you’re that concerned about what I have in my luggage then scan the bags as they do at airports in Central and South America. Don’t just ask what I’ve got and assume I’m telling the truth. Maybe I should become a security consultant for airports throughout the Lesser Antilles…

Out into arrivals and I was met by another rep from St James Travel and Tours, who presented me with a bottle of cold water and an icy, menthol infused towel to refresh myself. What a life – I could get used to this.

Into the car – a fairly new Nissan X-Trail – and off on a 40-minute drive to the Atlantis Hotel on the Atlantic coast. The driver, Junior, was a bit of an odd chap. Young, very serious with a curiously clipped and precise way of speaking. He left me in no doubt that he was the best driver and guide on the island.

One of the first things you notice about Barbados is that it isn’t a volcanic island – the rock is mostly limestone. It is hilly but there are no soaring peaks. There’s no lush tropical forest, either. The British destroyed most of the forest cover in order to plant sugar cane.

Legend has it that the Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos named the island “Os Barbados” after he & his men became fascinated by the Bearded Fig trees lining the coast. The island is divided into 9 parishes each with a church – so in addition to the familiar English place names, the churches all look like English parish churches.

The roads disintegrate the further east you go and around Bathsheba, where I was staying, the roads are pretty ropey. This is a political thing, apparently. The population is low in the parishes of St Joseph and St John, so there aren’t many votes to be gained in resurfacing roads. Interestingly, there was an election on May 24^th, which was won in a landslide by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) – they won all 30 seats – and Mia Mottley became their first woman prime minister. Let’s hope that Ms Mottley takes a more pragmatic approach to infrastructure…

After 396 years, Barbados became a republic on December 1st, 2021 with Dame Sandra Mason sworn in as president, replacing the prevailing British monarch as head of state – let’s hope other islands follow suit…

The Atlantis Hotel is a nice old, colonial style building; only has 9-rooms and the restaurant is busy at lunchtimes. Their Sunday buffet is something of an institution – the place was rammed when I arrived. I already knew that the restaurant didn’t open on Sunday evenings and I was too late for lunch. As I checked-in I was told that the restaurant wouldn’t be opening in the evenings until the start of the new season in November – I was only booked-in for three nights, not seven months, so that wasn’t especially helpful and the only other place in Bathsheba wasn’t opening in the evenings, either. I also discovered that I was the only person staying. The Atlantis has a sister hotel, Little Good Harbour, with an adjacent restaurant called the Fish Pot. They had arranged for a taxi to take me to and from the Fish Pot on the evenings I was staying. The drive from Bathsheba to Six Mens, in the parish of St Peter, is about 19km and takes around 25 minutes. Valence, the taxi driver, lives across the road, opposite The Atlantis – so he was happy enough driving me there and back. It does seem daft, however, and I don’t know why they didn’t simply transfer my reservation to the (fully open) Little Good Harbour…

Bathsheba is quite sweet – there’s not much there apart from a sleepy local bar and a beach restaurant called Dina’s Bar & Café that I ate at on my first night. The manager at the Atlantis made a reservation for me at Dina’s for 6pm – which was just as well as they closed once they’d served me. I had flying fish with rice and peas and a couple of nice, cold Banks’ beer.

Banks’ beer was first brewed in 1961. Founded by the exotic sounding Peter Stanislaus D’Aguiar, a Guyanese businessman, who had launched Banks’ beer in Guyana in 1955. Initially it was a subsidiary of the Banks Brewery in Guyana but soon gained independence and entered into various agreements giving it exclusive rights to the Banks name throughout the Caribbean and then, later, worldwide export markets. It explains why I drank Banks in Guyana. Mount Gay is the oldest commercial rum distillery in continuous production in the world having started life in 1703, although rum distillation in Barbados can be traced back to 1637. The story goes that a man by the name of John Sober (sic) inherited a distillery and asked his friend John Gay to help him…

My room: called “Soup Bowl” after the Soup Bowl in Bathsheba, which is famous in the world of surfing; faced the Atlantic – so I left my windows open and was serenaded all night by the wind and crashing waves – restful despite the lively conditions. Being an old building of largely wooden construction, the hotel did creak a lot during the night as it was battered by the wind coming off the ocean…

The next day I had an island tour booked with the same car and driver. First stop was at the Codrington College, founded in 1743, the oldest Anglican seminary in the western hemisphere. Then on to Ragged Point, or East Point, the most easterly point on Barbados where there is a lighthouse and lovely views along the coast.

After that it was Mallalieu’s Motor Collection, set in an old English Garrison in Hastings – a suburb of Bridgetown. This is a fascinating collection of cars from the 1940’s through to the 1970’s – all packed in tightly in a fairly small space. We then drove up to the UNESCO World Heritage garrison site with its race track, 17^th century garrison buildings, George Washington House, collection of cannon and museum.

From the sublime to the ridiculous and a visit to Sandy Lane – an area of absurd opulence – where Junior pointed out who lived where and who had stayed at the Sandy Lane Hotel and what they got up to while they were there. It seems strange that this little enclave attracts such wealth – wealth out of all proportion to the world around it. And what is it with rich people that they all feel the need to live and holiday together?

Anyway, we then stopped at St James’ parish church, built in 1627 and the oldest church in Barbados, where I could pray for the lost souls of the rich and godless. Apart from Rihanna, of course, who lives at No.1 Sandy Lane. She is divine and doesn’t need praying for as I’m sure that God has several songs of hers on the omnipotent iTunes playlist thereby proving anyone wrong that insists that the devil has all the best tunes…

After that it was up to Speightstown, the second biggest town in Barbados. It was known as “Little Bristol” as it used to be a major port. Now it is a sleepy little town with some nice colonial buildings. We didn’t stop – although there is the Arlington House Museum, which would have been interesting to visit. Instead, we drove through it about as quickly as it is humanly possible and went on to Six Mens to look at the fishing village, not go to the Fish Pot, and then to see the big cement factory owned by the bizarrely named Arawak Cement Company. This is up at the top of Barbados in the parish of St Lucy – so we stopped to take a picture of the St Lucy parish church. There really was a Saint Lucy – or more correctly, St Lucia – and she came from Syracuse. She was only 20 when martyred by the Romans.

There are around 10,000 saints. Pope Francis canonized 813 souls in May 2013, so the Catholic Church is still busy creating new saints. No one seems to know for sure who the first saint was – and those that think they do can’t agree. Strangely, while Protestant churches are generally named after saints, there aren’t any actual Protestant saints…

After that we went to St Nicholas Abbey built in 1658, which is an old sugar plantation and is regarded as the oldest surviving 17^th century house in the Caribbean. The house was built of brick, which is why it has survived – that and luck, of course. There is now a distillery on site where they make exclusive and expensive rum from sugar cane grown on the estate. The house is beautiful, complete with period furniture and they do tours – you can look around downstairs by yourself but not upstairs. The grounds are lovely, too.

In the last hundred years, Barbados has got off pretty lightly during the hurricane season. It wasn’t always the case as during the three hundred years from 1600 to 1900, Barbados was hit by lots of hurricanes and suffered dreadfully with the worst happening in 1675, 1780 and 1831. Hurricane Janet, which struck in October 1955 killing 35 people and leaving 21,000 homeless was the worst storm in the 20^th century.

The most severe hurricanes to strike the Caribbean are the Cabo Verde hurricanes as it has been shown that they became well developed shortly after emerging from Africa. Under normal atmospheric conditions, the strength and speed of the winds, which revolve anticlockwise around a low pressure centre, dictate the direction the cyclone will travel. If a hurricane forms to the east of Barbados, there is a 90% probability that it will pass to the north of the island and this is because of the Coriolis Force. Because of the earth’s anticlockwise rotation and the direction of the Trade Winds, air movement is deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere: all things being equal.

http://www.barbadosweather.org/PDF_Uploads/Can%20Barbados%20be%20Hit.pdf

From there we went to Cherry Tree Hill, which is a famous viewing point where you get fabulous views over the east coast and – on a clear day – you can see the lighthouse at Ragged Point. After that we stopped at the Morgan Lewis sugar mill. This is a restored Dutch sugar mill and it still works. Throughout the Caribbean these mills are referred to as sugar mills, not windmills.

Our last stop was at the Hunte’s Gardens, created in a sink-hole like gully. It’s a strange thing – beautiful and lush but a bit twee and contrived at the same time. It was easy to lose myself in the gardens as I wound down the steps, wandered around and then across and up and then down, by which point I’d forgotten where the exit was…

After that it was back to the Atlantis Hotel and a chance to see if I’d memorised the entry code correctly. Luckily, I had. Actually, that’s not strictly true: I’d written it down in the notes app on my phone. There were a few members of staff finishing up for the day – so I wasn’t the only person in the hotel. Yet. I had booked dinner at the Fish Pot and Valence was due to pick me up at 6.15 for the drive across Barbados to the intriguingly named Six Mens.

Dinner was fabulous: sitting right on the Caribbean looking at out some small boats, beautiful calm sea and a fine sunset. The food was great, the service was very good and friendly. Valence picked me up at 7.30, as arranged, to go back to the dark and empty Atlantis Hotel, away from the bright lights of the Good Harbour Hotel, across the road from the Fish Pot…

Another slightly odd thing is that the Atlantis had it in their (administrative) heads that there were two people staying and were baffled to find it was only me. They clearly thought this was a ruse as the reservation at the Fish Pot was made for two people on both nights…

The Atlantic was quite rough during the night and when I got up in the morning I discovered sea water sloshed all over the bedroom floor by the open window.

I had booked a trip to Bridgetown and after breakfast the same driver, Junior, arrived to take me over to the capital.

At some point yesterday we should have gone to Gun Hill – where the first of a series of hill stations was built in 1818. The station here has been restored and is maintained by the Barbados National Trust. From Gun Hill you get amazing views across Barbados.

But I’d forgotten about it as, presumably, had Junior. However, he remembered it this morning – so on the way to Bridgetown we drove by it but didn’t stop, which was a bit irritating as it would have been nice to go up the hill, see the views and take some pictures.

Anyway, Junior dropped me by the statue of Nelson, which is near the parliament buildings, and we agreed a pick-up time giving me time to wander around the city. The statue of Nelson here was erected in 1813 – about 30 years before Nelson’s Column in London. The statue was moved to the Barbados Museum in the Historic Garrison Area in November 2020…

I had made a list of things to see, including the parliament buildings. The list also included the Nidhe Synagogue & Museum, St Michael & All Angels Cathedral, St Mary’s Church and Independence Square. The Nidhe Synagogue museum is utterly fascinating – well worth a visit.

The city centre is busy and bustling, while the harbour area has some nice colonial buildings. It’s a very easy city to wander around – it is flat, too, which is a bonus. The historic garrison area is a 2km walk from the centre and it isn’t very well signposted. I only saw two random signs pointing to it – which is strange. I guess most people don’t walk there. Because it took me quite a while to get my bearings and be certain that I was heading in the right direction, I didn’t have enough time to visit the museum or look around George Washington’s House. It’s quite sweet that they call it George Washington’s House as he only stayed there for about 2 months while his brother recovered from tuberculosis. In those 2 months, George contracted smallpox and because of the ever present threat of malaria was not an especially healthy place for either of them to stay.

Anyway, having reached the garrison I had to walk back to meet Junior at our agreed time. We then drove back to the Atlantis where I had time for lunch before wandering off to the Andromeda Botanical Gardens about ten minutes uphill from the hotel. The gardens are quite sweet – nicely laid out and each plant well sign posted. I saw several Green Monkeys in the gardens – they were watching me – looking to see if I’d steal any fruit. The monkeys in Barbados came from Senegal and Gambia – brought over as pets. I also came across a Manchineel Tree – the name is a derivative of the Spanish manzanilla (“little apple”) – with a warning sign advising visitors not to approach or touch the tree. I wondered why:

The tree grows up to 45′ in height, has a dark grey bark, shiny green leaves and produces small white-green flowers. The apples are green when young turning a greenish-yellow with a pleasant sweet smelling fragrance when they ripen. The leaves, bark, sap and apple-like fruit of the Manchineel are all poisonous. Contact with any of these will cause severe blistering or burning of the skin. Eating the fruit of the Manchineel, which has a pleasant smell and sweet taste, can cause death, just tasting it will cause blistering and swelling of the throat. All parts of the tree can cause problems, even burning the leaves and inhaling the sap filled smoke causes blistering of the skin and getting the smoke in the eyes can cause blindness.

The trees are found near beaches in most if not all of the Caribbean islands and South America. The Manchineel is useful in that it provides a natural windbreak and its roots help to stop beach erosion by stabilizing the surrounding land. If it rains do not take shelter under Manchineel trees as the water dripping from the leaves can also cause blistering of the skin.

In the gift shop I came across a book by a local author – so I bought a copy. It was pretty good: Prickett’s Well by Edison T Williams. On my Kindle I had discovered “Absolutely Barbados” written by Julian Armfield – which was reasonably interesting but oddly written. While I was buying the book, I asked the women whether one should say Barbadian or Bajan as I had heard both while I was in Barbados. Apparently, they are each correct.

Dinner that night was back at the Fish Pot – no, sorry, still only one person – and then back to my empty hotel.

My flight to Bequia was scheduled for 12.30 and St James Travel & Tours had booked my pick-up for 10.45. I changed that with Junior to 10.00. I then got a call from the St James rep saying that my pick-up would be at 11.00 – to which I said no and that I wanted it at 10.00. Bearing in mind that it’s at least 40-minutes to the airport, they weren’t giving me enough time. Although as it turned out, 10.30 would have been better.

However, Grenadine Air Alliance runs to its own idiosyncratic time scales. The GAA desk should have opened at 11.15 – the woman sauntered up at 11.35 and proceeded to take 15-minutes checking in 3 guys who were travelling together. Another 5 minutes or so checking in a mother & daughter and then 5 minutes explaining to the couple in front of me that she couldn’t check them in for a completely different flight. Needless to say checking me in took the usual 90 seconds.

So with 30 minutes to get to the gate I went off to go through to immigration.

Except, of course, I couldn’t get to Immigration. There was a desk with an officer checking boarding cards and passports first – with a nice long queue. I watched as the people on my flight, ahead of me in the queue, disappeared into departures. While I was despairing, another officer appeared and, fortunately, I was through reasonably quickly. Immigration was quick, actually but then security was a shambles – a swirling mass of passengers desperate to get through and catch flights.

Going through airport security is one of those things that makes you despair for the future of humanity. Despite knowing that they have to remove items containing metal; hats, glasses and coats people arrive at the belt fully dressed and slowly remove the offending items while looking around grinning inanely as if it is a hoot, a lark, a merry jape. Of course they don’t remove everything required, beep as they go through the scanner, get sent back and so on...

Anyway, I got through with about 5 minutes to spare, conscious that the check-in lady had told me to be at the gate 20-minutes before boarding. Having a laugh there, clearly.

I saw the mother and daughter wandering around, looking a bit lost – bizarrely they asked me which way to go to the gate. So we headed off to where I thought it was – and sat hoping we were in the right place. The three then guys turned up – where had they been? – and then the lady who had checked us in arrived to call us for boarding, about 20-minutes after the scheduled departure time. Which is presumably what she meant by telling me to be at the gate 20 minutes before departure…

The plane was a little 19-seater, De Havilland Twin Otter; quite comfortable, nice cabin – well, nice compared to the nightmarish Cessna Caravan – and boy do they take-off quickly. It is referred to as a short take-off and landing (STOL) aeroplane: they aren’t kidding. We set off down the runway and were airborne astonishingly quickly – very impressive. First stop was Union, where the mother and daughter got off; then Canouan, where the 3 guys got off and, lastly, Bequia where I got off. It was a very nice flight – with great views of the rocky Grenadines and the beautiful Caribbean.

Bathsheba:

The view of the “soup bowl” from my room

My room at the Atlantis – sea water on the floor not shown…

This rock is famous, apparently (hence the photograph) but can’t now remember why…

Banks: best served cold with flying fish, rice and peas

Around Barbados:

Codrington College – built in 1743, it is the oldest Anglican seminary in the western hemisphere – the original house was built in 1670

The Royal Palms that line the drive are quite impressive but they are also a symbol of old plantation houses…

The lighthouse at East Point (or Ragged Point) – the most easterly tip of Barbados

Bath beach: note the Sargassum seaweed that seems to be plaguing this part of the Caribbean

The Mallalieu Motor Collection:

The cars are crammed in at the Mallalieu Motor Collection…

The Mallalieu Motor Collection is housed in what used to be a British garrison in Hastings…

The buildings are built from the red bricks that were used in the old sailing vessels as ballast – the bricks would be unloaded and the ships loaded with sugar cane for the voyage back to England

Holetown:

St Lucy’s:

St Nicholas Abbey:

The rum distillery uses sugar cane from the estate

This is a Field Marshall tractor – built by Marshall & Co., Gainsborough, Lincolnshire

Around Cherry Tree Hill:

A view over the east coast from Cherry Tree Hill – you might just be able to make out the lighthouse at Ragged Point

The Morgan Lewis Sugar Mill is the last of the many Barbadian windmills once used to produce sugar, and one of only two functioning sugar windmills in the world – built by the Dutch, natuurlijk…. https://www.wmf.org/project/morgan-lewis-sugar-mill

The lack of tropical forest is thanks to the British, who destroyed the natural forest cover in order to create sugar plantations. Barbados is not a volcanic island, hence the undulating terrain

The Hunte Gardens:

Hunte’s Gardens are located in the parish of St. Joseph in a naturally formed gully…

The Fish Pot in Six Mens:

The hotel opposite the Fish Pot that is open all year round…

My table for dinner at the Fish Pots Restaurant in Six Mens, Barbados

Sunset at the Fish Pots Restaurant in Six Mens, Barbados

Bridgetown:

St Michael and All Angels Cathedral – the original church was built here in 1660 but was destroyed by a hurricane in 1675 – it was rebuilt and suffered more hurricane damage in 1780 and 1831 – the last hurricane to do any serious damage to Barbados was Hurricane Janet in 1955…

Originally built in 1654 (6 years before St Michael’s) it was destroyed in the 1831 hurricane; rebuilt but fell into disrepair and was sold off in 1925

The Nidhe Synagogue and Museum were restored in 1987…

Around the Garrison:

The largest collection of 17th century cannon in the world, apparently

The area around the garrison is a UNESCO World Heritage site – about 2km from the centre of Bridgetown – it’s a reasonably straightforward walk once you know which direction to head in – a lack of signs and random pavements don’t help

A statue of Nelson by the Parliament buildings in Bridgetown – it was erected 36 years before Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square…

Irony at Work:

The sun has set on this once mighty Empire…

Bathsheba:

This is a manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) – everything about it is poisonous – don’t even think about going near one

This Bearded Fig is over 200 years old – legend has it that the Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos named the island “Os Barbados” after he & his men became fascinated by the Bearded Fig trees lining the coast…

Barbados has Green Monkeys – which are a pest but remain protected, while Grenada has Mona Monkeys. Neither are native – they were brought over as pets during the 18th century

The Airport:

Once through the queue to get into departures; the queue to get through immigration and the ridiculous, chaotic queue for security – I made it to the departure gate – this is our DHC -6-300 (DeHavilland Twin Otter to the rest of us) to Bequia…

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Bequia

I was met at Bequia’s sweet little airport by Cordelia and Rima from the Bequia Beach Hotel and a driver. We set off in an open truck – essentially a pickup with seats and canvas roof. Cordelia gave me a bottle of water and we chatted on the short drive to the hotel. On checking-in I was offered a rum punch, naturally…

Arriving in the idyllic island of Bequia to be greeted by Cordelia and Rima is pretty much how I hope my arrival into heaven will be…

The Bequia Beach Hotel is quite a big resort – it has 65 rooms and suites dotted around the large estate in Friendship Bay. It is a very swish place: the rooms are luxurious and the gardens are manicured to within an inch of their lives. But what really makes this place special are the people here. In addition to the lovely, friendly, welcoming and efficient Cordelia and Rima, all the restaurant and bar staff are just wonderful, too…

Really? I have to stay here 4 nights? I didn’t think anywhere could top Petite Anse…

Through Rima I booked a tour of St Vincent and tried to book a tour of nearby Mustique. A tour of Bequia was included in my stay. It later transpired that I couldn’t do the Mustique trip as there was no boat available to take me there. I should have booked it from the UK – oops…

So I opted for another trip to St Vincent: do the Leeward side on the first day and the Windward side on the second day.

Bequia, pronounced “bekway”, is a small volcanic island of around 7 square miles with a population of about 4,500. By virtue of the mountainous landscape much of the island is uninhabited. The roads are narrow and hilly: very steep in places. You don’t get out of second gear very often and changing up from is third pointless.

I set off for my tour of the island with Jason – driver and guide. I’d been told it was a two hour tour but Jason said it would take about three hours. I didn’t think anything of it other than I wanted to be back at the hotel for 2.30 so I wouldn’t miss lunch. We drove down into Port Elizabeth, the main town, where the harbour is and on up to Hamilton where the fort is. The fort was built in the late 1700’s and named after Alexander Hamilton – he of $10 note and USA founding-father fame. From here you get lovely views over Port Elizabeth and, depending on the weather, you can see St Vincent, which is about 9 miles away.

After that we went to the Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, founded in 1995 to assist in the conservation of the endangered Hawksbill turtle. We then continued driving around the bits of the island you can reach by car. There’s not a huge amount to see other than various vantage points from which you get amazing views. You also get to glimpse Baliceaux Island where the British deported 5,000 Caribs to and where around 3,000 subsequently died as there was little food and water. Those that survived were shipped off to Honduras, of all places.

Near the hotel they are creating a little maritime museum. For a time there was a whaling station here on Bequia – but I think that has stopped, although the islanders are still “permitted” by the IWC to kill 4 humpback whales annually…

During the tour I started to appreciate the scale of the problem caused by all of the Sargassum seaweed washing up on the Atlantic shores:

https://environment.bm/sargassum-seaweed/ https://www.caribbean-council.org/seaweed-tourism/

It was only on checking out that I discovered that the first 2 hours of the tour were free and that I had to pay for the third hour. It was only $30US but I can think of better ways to spend it and two hours was quite enough.

The view from my table at breakfast, lunch and dinner…

Hairoun (“home of the blessed”)- the local beer – is owned by CND of the Dominican Republic, which in turn is owned by AB-InBev

Looking over at Port Elizabeth, the main town on the island – the population on Bequia is around 4,500 – the town of Hamilton is on the left

Hamilton Fort was built in the late 1700’s – and named after Alexander Hamilton, who is depicted on the US $10 note

Looking over at Industry Bay on the Atlantic Coast – there was a coconut plantation and factory there – hence the name

There are several Mini Mokes on the island

St Vincent

Next day I caught the ferry to Kingstown, in St Vincent. The nine mile crossing takes about an hour. There was quite a swell out in mid channel. We were shadowed by 4 Brown Boobies – flying alongside and swooping up and away before diving into the sea to catch the flying fish. I managed to get some neat video clips of the Boobies flying, swooping and diving but, needless to say, I’ve no idea how to feature them…

I was met at the quayside by Sophia – “You’ll like Sophia,” Rima told me – and indeed she was lovely. We agreed we’d do the Leeward side of the island and set off for the improbably named Wallilabou Bay, where scenes from the Pirates of the Caribbean films were shot. The film company had built quite a big set, but have to say that I didn’t recognize it and there isn’t much to see. It’s a major tourist attraction, in fact it’s probably the only real tourist attraction, so you’d think they’d capitalise on it and tart the place up a bit.

By the time we got to Fort Charlotte the weather had changed and we were treated to some of St Vincent’s famous rain. The fort was built in 1806, housed 600 troops and had a battery of over 30 canons, most of which pointed inland to defend against the Caribs.

Then we went into Kingstown to see the Anglican St George’s Cathedral, which is in poor condition. Opposite is the weird and creepy St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral that incorporates a school and a nunnery. It really is a most bizarre design – sort of gothic crossed with science fiction. The Botanical Gardens were closed for no discernable reason – so we couldn’t go in, obviously.

We had more luck at the Grenadine House Hotel – owned by the same people as Bequia Beach Hotel. Rima had arranged for us to have lunch there and transfer the bill back to Bequia – except that they insisted I pay cash for Sophia’s lunch, which was just daft. Anyway, lunch was nice and I had a couple of refreshing Hairoun.

Founded in 1985, the St Vincent Brewery brews Hairoun and Wadadli, the beer of Antigua. Hairoun means “land of the blessed” and was the Carib name for St Vincent. Wadadli was brewed in St John’s, Antigua but they closed the brewery and transferred production to Kingstown. Wadadli is a corruption of the Carib name for Antigua. The brewery is owned by Cervecería Nacional Dominicana, which in turn is owned by AB-InBev…

After lunch we went back into town and visited the market, generally wandered around and then realised we were stuck. Traffic wasn’t moving. The traffic in Kingstown doesn’t flow at the best of times. It’s all stop-start. But now it wasn’t moving at all, total gridlock. Just to add to the fun a sort of mini carnival procession appeared. There were a couple of floats blaring out absurdly loud music – allegedly calypso – and dancers. Some of the dancers were dressed in black costumes that represented the Arawak (why Arawak and not Carib I don’t know) while another group was young women in tee shirts and skimpy shorts. Somehow, we broke through the gridlock and dancers and Sophia got me to the port in time to catch the return ferry.

Our return trip was again escorted by Brown Boobies. It rained heavily, the sea got quite rough but it didn’t seem to bother the Boobies in the slightest.

The next day, Saturday 19^th, presented a slight problem in that there was only one ferry out, at 10.00, and one back, at 18.00 – which was going to make for a long day on St Vincent. Sophia met me again on the quayside and we set off to see the Windward side. As it was a Saturday, traffic was light. Sophia explained that, as government employees don’t work on Saturdays and schools don’t open, there was only the need for one ferry each way. Except that it wasn’t strictly true. There are two ferries: the Bequia Express and the Admiral and guess what – yes, they sail at the same time.

Genius.

Anyway, we drove out of Kingstown in the opposite direction from yesterday and out past the old airport that, amusingly, sits alongside the national cricket stadium. Today the airstrip is used for drag racing – drag racing is popular throughout the Caribbean.

Then out past the new Argyle International airport, which opened in February 2017 some six years behind schedule – which is nothing to shout about given that Berlin’s fancy Brandenburg Airport, which was due to open in 2011, has no opening date in sight and is currently running at €5bn over budget (it eventually opened in October 2020, a mere 14 years after construction started)

We continued up the east coast to Georgetown, after which we were in Carib territory and up to our destination, which was Owia, just north of Point Village. There is a little park here and in the bay there is a curious rock formation that has created a rock pool big enough to swim in and is safe from the roaring Atlantic Ocean. We had lunch in the park – Sophia had bought it from a little restaurant in Georgetown on the way up. I bought some drinks from the little café and bar and we got talking to two local women and the park warden.

It was amazing to discover that there are still Caribs living in St Vincent. I assumed from what I had read that they’d all been wiped out years ago. There are also Carib and Taino communities in Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago but finding out anything about them isn’t easy as the only sources of information I can find are on Wikipedia and so cannot be relied on for accuracy…

After that we visited an Arrowroot factory just as the heavens opened and then continued driving back down towards Georgetown. We stopped at Black Point, where there is a park that runs alongside a beach with black, volcanic sand and a curious man-made tunnel. The tunnel was created to allow for the transport of sugar cane from the estate to the bay so that it could be shipped back to England.

From there we went back towards Kingstown to visit the Belair natural spring in Montreal Gardens in the Mespo Valley. According to Sophia the water has magical, rejuvenating properties – so I drank some: it didn’t taste too bad and has a natural spritz.

After that it was off to Grenadine House for a coffee. Sophia was running out of things to show me and so I suggested going back to the docks as I was happy to wait until boarding time. The return ferry hadn’t docked at that point but was due in around half an hour. So I said goodbye to Sophia and waited for the ferry. Which was late. There was a big aggregate lorry on board and it had broken down, which had delayed the departure from Bequia. There was a further delay in getting all the other vehicles off the boat before towing the stricken truck onto the quayside. I was on board by this time so it was quite comical to watch. We were only about 20-minutes leaving, which wasn’t too bad.

The Crossing:

Wallilabou Bay:

Apparently this waterfall features in Pirates of the Caribbean

Leeward:

It was raining when we got to Fort Charlotte

Here you can see a strand of Sargassum seaweed that seems to be plaguing this part of the Caribbean – no one knows what to do with all the seaweed that is washed ashore – they should run a competition to see who can come up with the best uses for it

My guide, Sophie, unimpressed with the “English” weather that I’d brought with me

They are trying to raise funds for restoration

The weird and creepy St Mary’s Catholic church, convent and school

Sophie wondering how many more pictures I’ll be taking

Windward:

Still, the Bequia Express beat the Admiral on the 9-mile crossing from Bequia to St Vincent

The old airport was adjacent to the cricket stadium

The new international airport opened in 2017 – construction involved cutting through rock to create enough flat land for the runway

A curious rock formation in this bay at Owia Bay – about as far north as you can drive – there are Carib communities in this corner of St Vincent

The volcanic rock creates black sand – well, more sort of dirty grey…

Enjoying some more of St Vincent’s excellent rain

A curious man-made tunnel at Black Point – it was built in 1815 to speed up the movement of sugar cane from fields to boats

Lots of bats in the tunnel – needless to say I failed to photograph them successfully…

Next morning I had to check-out, which was very sad as I’d had a lovely time on Bequia. Rima and Cordelia didn’t come with me to the airport but they did wave me off at the hotel – which was very sweet. Checking in at the airport was quick and easy but necessitated handing over $40US for the privilege of leaving. You have to open your luggage for security inspection – which didn’t take long and there weren’t many people there. My flight was due at 10.25 but the plane that arrived at 10.25 wasn’t mine: “sorry, sir, yours is the next one”…

I’m not sure what time it turned-up but it transpired that GAA had switched the routing. Instead of flying to St Lucia via Canouan and Union, I would be flying directly to St Lucia as the plane had already called at the other islands. I don’t think it made any difference to my arrival time in St Lucia. I was the only person getting on here, although there were 5 other passengers already on board.

Off we went on the short hop to St Lucia.

Sheep Patrol at the JF Mitchell International Airport, Bequia

All aboard! Oh – it’s only me getting on this one…

Bye Bye Bequia Beach Hotel – very sad to be leaving: lovely hotel, fabulous staff…

This gives an idea of how bad the Sargassum seaweed problem is – it only affects the Atlantic coast…

St Lucia

As we flew over St Lucia in the little Twin Otter I marvelled again at the beautiful Caribbean Sea and at the island’s dramatic scenery, epitomized by the Pitons. Gros Piton is 771m high (2619ft) and Petit Piton is 743m high (2461ft) – they are volcanic plugs, created over a million years ago. There are sulfur springs nearby and the area was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 2004. There’s a hiking trail to the top of Gros Piton – not that I did it. If I had stayed an extra night it would certainly have been worth doing.

Piton is also the name of St Lucia’s beer. The brewery is owned by Heineken and started brewing in 1975. They also brew Heineken & Guinness under licence.

We landed at St Lucia’s Hewanorra International Airport and went into the arrivals hall to fill out the wretched immigration form. Each of the islands I went to had virtually identical immigration forms. The front of the form required the usual personal, passport and accommodation details while the reverse required customs information. There was a box that required you to list the countries visited in the previous six weeks – by the time I got to St Kitts there wasn’t enough space and arrival in Antigua required tiny writing and abbreviations. There is a portion of the form requiring departure information that is detached to be retained until departure. Annoying and pointless at the same time.

Anyway, form completed, immigration was quick as was customs – the guy was even friendly. In the arrivals hall I met the St Lucia rep who gave me a bottle of water and an icy cold, menthol infused towel as we chatted waiting for the car to arrive. Soon I was on my way to the Fond Doux Plantation and Resort, which is near the Pitons and south of the town of Soufriere.

I had been to St Lucia back in 1991 coming out to visit the distillery that supplied our own label rum. I don’t remember very much about the trip as it was short – 2 nights in Castries – but one thing I do remember is that the roads were shocking and it seemed to take forever to get from the airport to our hotel. So it was a nice surprise to find roads in very good condition. The drive to Fond Doux didn’t take long and I was soon checking-in with a rum punch in hand.

The Fond Doux Estate is set in glorious tropical woodland with its own cocoa trees and chocolate factory. The grounds are lovely to explore and I saw several humming birds – amongst other things. There aren’t any monkeys on St Lucia – there aren’t any in St Vincent & the Grenadines, either. Mongoose, of course, but no monkeys. My cabin was called African Tulip and, sure enough, there was an African Tulip tree right outside. It was in flower, too.

Monday 21^st was Whitsun and so a public holiday, which curtailed some of the trips I’d thought of doing. I booked a trip to Castries, including a visit to the distillery at Roseau for old times’ sake, for Tuesday. This left Monday as a free and lazy day.

Fond Doux is a bit of an odd place. It was quite busy – several couples staying – and lots of people coming and going but it all seems faintly shambolic and quite how it all hangs together I’ve no idea. They don’t do laundry, which was a pain but probably just as well…

So, on Monday I mostly sat around and read – undertaking the plantation tour being the most strenuous thing I did. An English mother & daughter were staying a couple of cabins up from me and they also did the tour.

On Tuesday a car and driver appeared to take me up to Castries – stopping the other side of Soufriere to take a lovely picture of the Pitons, with Soufriere itself nestled in the valley below. Once in Castries, the driver dropped me off, we agreed a pick-up time, and I set off to wander around Castries.

I started off at the colourful Cathedral and then just went walkabout as I discovered the museum I wanted to see had closed in 2017 due to lack of funding.

That seems a bit short-sighted but then I realised that, just as in St George’s, most tourists don’t bother actually exploring the city. There’s a curious duty-free shopping plaza for cruise ship passengers – which was a bit half-hearted and empty. I guess most of the passengers come off their boats, get herded into minibuses and whizzed off to the Pitons and then brought back.

Castries is another easy town to wander around. It is lively and bustling – not especially attractive although there are some nice old colonial buildings. There are also a couple of markets to wander around.

Piton: the beer of St Lucia – brewed by Windward and Leeward Brewery, a Heineken subsidiary. I can never remember which are the Leeward Islands and which are the Windward Islands – you could say that geography of the Caribbean is my Antilles’ heel…

The Pitons:

Castries:

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception,

The Central Library – donated by the remarkable Andrew Carnegie – who also funded many libraries throughout the UK – https://www.carnegie.org

Only one cruise liner in Castries harbour today

Playtime over, I met up with my driver who then took me to Marigot Bay to have lunch, prior to visiting the distillery.

I seem to remember that the distillery I visited in 1991 was surrounded by sugar cane fields and generally in the middle of nowhere. Certainly not just off a main road. I also remember it as old, dilapidated and not very impressive but I knew enough that, providing the distillation process is carried out correctly, there’s not much that can go wrong and the distillery doesn’t have to be pristine. It just has to function.

By the late 1950s, two distilleries remained, one at Dennery, the site of the Barnard family plantation, and the other Geest-owned at Roseau, the location of the current distillery. St Lucia Distillers was formed in 1972 when the two distilleries amalgamated. The Barnard family bought out the Geest shares in 1992 and in 2005 sold it to CLICO, an insurance company based in Barbados, who in turn sold the distillery to the Martinique-based Group Bernard Hayot in 2016. Rum is produced using molasses imported from Guyana as very little sugar cane is now grown on St Lucia.

Just to add a bit of colour to the story, the original distillery at Roseau burnt down in 2007 – arson was suspected – and the current distillery inaugurated in 2009. It would have been intriguing to see the old distillery at Dennery – assuming it still exists.

Anyway, history lesson over we drove back to Fond Doux.

Marigot Bay:

The Distillery:

There is very little sugar cane grown in St Lucia now – so most of the rums are made from molasses imported from Guyana…

Fond Doux:

This sweet little cottage was built by the French and was in Castries before being moved and reassembled here at Fond Doux Plantation and Resort

My little cabin: African Tulip – there’s an African Tulip tree adjacent to it – at night I’ve been serenaded by a chorus of frogs and insects – a glorious noise

The estate has cocoa trees – amongst many other plants – and makes chocolate – reviving a 250-year old tradition

Star Fruit – never seen them growing before

Next morning I was collected at 5am to go to the George FL Charles Airport in Castries for my flight to St Kitts. Once on the main road and having swept up and down and round a few hills and bends, the driver said: “There’s something wrong with the brakes – but don’t worry, I’m an engineer.” He continued saying this off and on until we got to Canaries – a village on the way and which is pronounced as in “canneries” not as in the yellow song bird. I couldn’t hear the mysterious noise he kept referring to. The road to Castries is pretty good – but it is hilly and twisty – a great driving road, in fact. He’d driven up from Vieux Fort, so if there really was a fault I’m sure it would have manifested itself before arriving at Fond Doux.

Anyway, we got to the airport in good time and I was able to check-in but not go through immigration and security. So I had time to get a coffee and a croissant. This trip was the one most worrying me, as the flight was in two stages. The first leg was from St Lucia to Antigua and from there to St Kitts on another flight. I had a stopover in Antigua of over two hours and my bag was tagged through to St Kitts, so there was no rush provided that the flight from St Lucia was on time. Flight LI310 originates at Port of Spain, in Trinidad, and calls at St Lucia before going on to Antigua. Today it seemed to be on time and pretty soon we were off and on our way to island five, albeit via island six.

Antigua’s VC Bird International Airport is pretty swish. The terminal is big, glassy, open, light and fairly new, having opened in 2015. Going through transit was easy and I went through into departures to wait for my next flight. St Kitts is only 65 miles (104km) from Antigua and the flight was expected to be about 20 minutes. So I got a coffee and a roll and sat and waited.

St Kitts & Nevis

St Kitts

Flight LI317 was on time – in fact we boarded and took off a bit early. As is often the case, boarding and getting everyone seated took longer than the actual flight. You would think that, by now, boarding an aircraft would be ingrained in most people – after all, it is a pretty straightforward exercise:

Climb up steps or walk along airbridge as appropriate
Show boarding card to cabin crew who will do a further check that you are on the correct flight, remind you of your seat number and maybe even give you an idea whereabouts in the aircraft it is
Walk along the aisle, noting the row numbers and the sequence
Arrive at row and sit in correct seat
If you have a bag you may put it in the locker above the seat or under the seat in front of you

But no – this is what most people do:

Climb up steps or dither in the airbridge as appropriate
Forget what you’ve done with the boarding card and struggle to find it in order to show to the cabin crew at the door
Get into the plane, forget seat number – panic – try to remember those school lessons where you learnt to recognize numbers and how to count
Dither along the aisle whilst trying to discern the strange symbols above the seat rows
Wave boarding pass at a member of the cabin crew in the vain hope that they can decipher the weird graphics
Eventually arrive at correct seat, stand in aisle holding everyone up as you try and remember how to sit down
Is it head first or arse first? Quite the dilemma
Look around in panic – what are other people doing?
Notice that other people are likewise looking around them in glassy-eyed panic
Decide to put bag in locker, eventually sit down
Decide you need something from the bag in the locker, get up and block the aisle again as you ferret for whatever it was you so desperately needed
Item retrieved, sit down again
And so on
Repeat on deplaning

I could never be a cabin crew member as I simply don’t have the patience.

Anyway, the flight was quick once we got off the ground. Immigration would have been easier if I hadn’t upset the lady on duty by stepping forward before the “the buzzer” sounded – which was the buzzer they started using once they realized it wasn’t being used and which was why passengers, like me, were stepping forward when they saw the booths clear…

Dressing down over, customs was quick and I was out to find the St James rep who gave me a bottle of cold water and a refreshing towel while we waited for the driver who was going to take me firstly to Brimstone Hill Fortress and then to Cockleshell Bay to catch a speedboat to Oualie Beach on Nevis.

Brimstone Hill Fortress, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, dating from the 17th century. Built by African slave labour for the British to protect the coastline from a sea attack and to provide a safe refuge for the island’s citizens. The engineers, who designed the fort, made use of the natural topography of this double-peaked, steep volcanic hill rising 230 metres.

St. Christopher (St. Kitts) was the first West Indian Island to be colonised by Europeans, specifically the French and English, and was the scene of many battles in the struggle for dominance in the region. The earliest use of Brimstone Hill was in 1690 when the British installed a canon to drive out the French. The fortress evolved over the next century and served until 1853 when the British military abandoned it and dismantled many of the buildings. The French besieged and captured the fortress in 1782 only to have to hand it back to the British in 1783, following the Treaty of Versailles.

It is an impressive fortress – in good condition as the St Kitts authorities maintain it – and from it you get amazing views of nearby islands and the landscape below.

On the drive up to the Brimstone Fortress we passed Bloody River at Bloody Point. In 1626 the British and French combined to slaughter around 2,000 indigenous Kalinago – whereupon the river was adjudged to have flowed red with the blood of the massacred. The story goes that the Kalinago were going to launch a surprise attack on the British and French in order to get their island back. In a cruel twist of fate, the British learned of the plan and struck first.

Brimstone Fortress:

Having – unintentionally, obviously – upset the already grumpy immigration lady, I was eventually allowed into St Kitts and here I am at Brimstone Fort

Brimstone Hill Fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage site – founded by the British in 1690 so that they could take control of the island from the French. The fortress itself was built by African slaves. The French besieged and took the fortress in 1782 but signed it back to the British in the 1783 Treaty of Versailles

Overlooking the Dutch colony of Sint Eustatius – although the cannon are placed somewhat randomly

Brimstone Fort stands on a rocky outcrop at about 800 feet above sea level

Nevis

After this sightseeing excursion, and yet another opportunity to learn how vile our history sometimes was, we set off to Cockleshell Bay and the speedboat to Nevis. The crossing was scheduled to take 6-minutes, I was the only passenger and I was given a cold Carib to enjoy on the voyage. Except, of course, I couldn’t. As we bounced up and down over and through the waves there was every danger that I’d knock my front teeth out. So I had to neck the beer quickly as we docked.

I was met at the beach by Daiyana Ramnauth, the lady from St James, who handed me over to a driver – Curvis (“There’s only one Curvis on Nevis!” he told me, proudly) – for the drive to the Montpelier Estate Hotel. The hotel is set around an old plantation house, with sugar mill, lovely gardens and nice cabins strewn about the place. It is a Relais & Chateaux member and so pretty swish. I was worried that it might be a bit posh and I’d have to wear a jacket, tie, brogues and a boater for dinner – but it isn’t and I didn’t. And Cosmo, the friendly hotel Labrador, keeps things informal.

Opposite the hotel is a donkey sanctuary: there are lots of wild donkeys on St Kitts and Nevis. No longer needed to work in the sugar cane fields, they were simply let go to wander the islands and fend for themselves. There are lots of Green Monkeys, too – not that I saw any.

I had booked a tour of Nevis and a tour of St Kitts with Daiyana, so next day I set off with a different driver, Ellery, to see the island of Nevis. The island is dominated by Nevis peak, a dormant volcano, the cone of which is normally shrouded in cloud.

Our first stop was at Hermitage, another hotel and again based around an old plantation house. Well, not just any old plantation house but the oldest plantation house on Nevis, dating back to 1670. It is run as a hotel and sort of living museum to a bygone era and set in beautiful gardens. It would be a lovely place to stay. Then we went to the New River sugar factory that closed in 1958. There isn’t much to see: a few derelict buildings and bits of old machinery lying around – a bit forlorn, really. Sugar ceased to have any commercial value by the 1970’s and today there isn’t very much of it grown on either St Kitts or Nevis.

Next stop was to visit St Thomas’ Church, dating from 1634 – a sweet little church, perched on a slight incline with fine views of the coast, Nevis peak and the Four Seasons Resort. The Four Seasons is a huge – well, huge compared to Nevis – resort of over 50-villas and golf course. It is a major employer with some 800 staff out of an island population of around 11,000.

Into Charlestown, the island capital and a visit to the very good museum of history and Alexander Hamilton – yes, him again. Charlestown is an attractive little town with lots of fine colonial buildings. There are lots of banks and financial services offices here, so the old buildings are maintained and in fine condition.

People from Nevis are called Nevisians while natives of St Kitts are Kittitians – not “kittens”, sadly…

There’s a hot sulfur spring and baths, which is popular as the water allegedly has healing properties. Adjacent to the fine Deputy Governor’s House, which dates from 1910, is the Horatio Nelson museum – which was a bit feeble. Friendly but feeble. In 1787, Nelson married Fanny Nisbet at the Montpelier Estate in Nevis. The original Montpelier Estate house no longer stands – but it wasn’t very far from the hotel that bears its name. Fanny Nisbet was a widow and had inherited her husband’s estate.

Back at the hotel, I had lunch and then wandered up to the Botanical Gardens, which cost $13US – quite a lot, really, for such a disappointing place. The gardens are quite nice and dotted around are various Buddhist and Hindu artefacts – which probably shouldn’t be here – but the owners are obviously rich and can get around pesky bans on exporting religious and historical artefacts…

Dinner was lovely – have to say that the food at the Montpelier Estate is fantastic.

The Montpelier Estate Hotel:

Lord Nelson married Fanny Nisbet here on Nevis…

The Montpelier Estate is now a rather fancy hotel with lovely grounds, including the remains of this sugarmill

This is a Weeping Fig – it’s huge – it looks like two trees have merged to become one….

Still life with hammock – hammock being an Arawak word

Cabin 11 at the Montpelier Estate – where Princess Diana stayed – there: you feel so much better for knowing that, don’t you…

Across the road from the hotel is a donkey sanctuary – the donkeys on Nevis were originally used in the sugar cane plantations – but the sugar cane has long since gone and now the donkeys roam free…

Around Nevis:

The oldest surviving wooden plantation house in the Caribbean – now called the Hermitage Hotel it dates from around 1670 – the site is in beautiful grounds and has many artefacts from colonial times

The New River sugar factory – it closed in 1958 – sugar ceased having any commercial relevance on Nevis in the 1970’s

St Thomas’ Church, Nevis, dates from 1634

Agni – the Vedic god of fire – here telling you not to waste your time visiting the Botanical Gardens here on Nevis…

Charlestown:

A museum of Nevis history and Alexander Hamilton, who was born on Nevis. It’s only a small museum but incredibly poignant…

People from Nevis are called “Nevisians” while folk from St Kitts are “Kittitians” – not “Kittens”, sadly

The Deputy Governor’s house – dates from 1910, so quite recent

St Kitts

Next morning, Ellery picked me up to take me to the harbour in Charlestown in order to get the ferry to Basseterre, on St Kitts. I met Daiyana at the harbour and she gave me my tickets for the ferry – even giving me a dollar coin ($ECD) for the departure tax on the return crossing. She also gave me a bright blue wrist band so that the taxi driver would recognize me at the port in Basseterre. I had agreed with Daiyana a list of places to go on St Kitts and she in turn advised the taxi company. The driver would meet me at the port, take me where I wanted to go and then drop me back at the port so I could then wander around Basseterre.

Good.

Except that the driver, Mr. Marshall, was oblivious to this and assumed I wanted him to take me on an island tour. I explained that I just wanted to see a few specific places around the island then come back to Basseterre, which threw him completely. So we set off, with the first stop being Bloody River.

Except that we didn’t stop – he slowed down to explain what it was and pulled away – at which point I had to ask him to stop as I wanted to take a photograph. We did then stop at St Thomas’ Church, which dates from 1625 but wasn’t open, unhelpfully.

We should also have stopped at the Wingfield Estate, adjacent to Romney Manor. The Wingfield Estate is an old sugar cane plantation dating back to 1625 and in operation until 1920, when all cane processing was centralised in Basseterre. However, the place was heaving with minibuses and passengers galore from the two big cruise ships in the harbour. It was a nightmare but fortunately Mr. Marshall was able to turn around and we made our escape.

We then continued driving north, following the coast road up to Dieppe and then Tabernacle before heading back into Basseterre. At the harbour I said goodbye to the still baffled Mr. Marshall and went exploring.

At the harbour there is a big duty-free shopping complex that the cruise passengers come into as they leave their vessels. Judging by the crowds not many people leave the sanctuary of this little slice of America – other than those hardy souls in the minibuses at the Wingfield Estate. Apparently only about 30% of cruise ship passengers bother disembarking at ports to go off on excursions. Which is strange…

I went into the National Museum, which is very good and then set off to find the two cathedrals. The grand – and normal looking – Catholic Cathedral is in Independence Square and was built in 1928. The square itself has nice gardens and around it are several fine colonial buildings. The Anglican Cathedral of St George is a couple of blocks away and even grander. Basseterre has lots of fine old colonial buildings in various states of repair and is another easy town to wander around and explore. It has more to see and explore than Kingstown or St George’s and is more attractive than Castries.

Eventually it was time to return to the ferry terminal, where I paid my dollar and waited to board. As I waited to board, the seats around me filled up and soon the waiting hall was almost full. A mother sat down in the chair across the aisle from me, leaving her daughter standing with nowhere around to sit. So I offered her my seat so that she could sit adjacent to her mother – and she seemed reasonably happy with this. I then went and stood at the back of the hall where a young guy accused me of being racist by standing up when the lady had sat adjacent to me. I was taken aback and baffled – especially as everyone else sitting around me was local. I explained that I’d stood up so that the daughter could sit close to her mum – which seemed to confuse him, but prompted him to say: “Well, at least you’ve got a heart, man.”

Hmm…

Anyway, onto the ferry and back to St Kitts for my last night on Nevis.

Around St Kitts:

This is Bloody River where, in 1626, the British and the French combined to massacre around 2,000 indigenous Kalinago – the resulting slaughter caused the water in the river to flow red with blood…

St Thomas’ Church – the first Anglican church in the Caribbean – built in 1625

St Thomas’ Church – it wasn’t open, unfortunately…

Basseterre:

The National Museum – it’s very good with lots to see

There are lots of old colonial buildings and English-style phone boxes in Basseterre…

Independence Square, Basseterre – St Kitts & Nevis gained independence from the UK in 1983…

The Harbour:

2 cruise ships in today – the season is winding down – the island economies rely heavily on these cruise ships – there is a shopping precinct just to the left of the vessels – passengers are encouraged to browse and shop

Pick-up next morning was at a civilised time, allowing me to have one last superb breakfast, with fresh papaya, before checking out. Ellery picked me up for the drive to Oualie Beach and the speed boat back to Cockleshell Bay. Daiyana was there to see me off and gave me another bright blue wrist band so that the driver on St Kitts would recognize me. Given that I was the only passenger and we were the only boat docking, I didn’t think it necessary – but, hey: protocol.

Back to the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport – the bigger the name: the fewer the flights – for the hop back to Antigua. The queue for check-in wasn’t too bad but did seem to take a while. On checking me in, which took the usual 90-seconds, the woman sighed: “You are the easiest person I’ve checked-in all morning” – I thanked her and said it was my pleasure. I did feel for her, though…

Immigration and security were quick and easy – although I did “beep” going through the scanner, for some mysterious reason. I had nothing remotely beep-worthy about me…

Air-side is pretty basic – just one hall with 3 doors (gates); a coffee shop; some small gift shops; a big and empty duty free shop and 4 monitors – none of which worked.

I leant on one of the counters while I filled out my immigration form for Antigua. I noticed two passports on the next desk. No one seemed aware that they were there and certainly no one was coming to claim them. So I went off and got somebody from security to get them and somehow reunite them with their, presumably, frantic owners.

Having done my good deed for the day, I went and got a coffee. The departures hall was rapidly filling up as there was a Delta flight to the USA leaving about the same time as ours. Canada & the USA are sufficiently close for airlines such as Air Canada and Delta to use 737’s. How boring…

My flight was called and I boarded for the short hop back to Antigua.

St Kitts’ Robert L Bradshaw International Airport: the bigger the name the fewer the flights. There are only 4 gates so maybe it isn’t necessary but none of the 3 monitors were working so I had no idea what flights were leaving when and where to…

The worst duty-free shop in the world, probably…

Antigua & Barbuda

I was met at the steps by two very smart women who took me past the long, snaking queues to the priority channel. I only had to wait while the couple in front were dealt with – unlike the poor passengers on the recently arrived BA 777 and Virgin A330.

I was then taken to the baggage hall by the same smart, friendly women and waited for my bag to arrive. Luggage came through quite quickly and I was out to meet another St James rep to be given another bottle of cold water and another lovely, icy cold, menthol infused towel. Oh how I was going to miss this on my return to England…

The driver took me across the island to The Inn at English Harbour, which is adjacent to Nelson’s Dockyard and Falmouth. One of the small towns we drove through was Liberta – named by the freed slaves who bought land there – and passed the church of St Barnabas – built from a green limestone that is peculiar to the area. The church is being restored inside and out. It was built in the 1670’s as a school and was consecrated in 1843. A little further along and we came to the parish church of St Paul, built in 1672 and which doubled as the courthouse during the week.

Most of the islands are divided into parishes, a reminder of their English colonial past. There are 9 parishes in Barbados and St Kitts; 6 in Antigua and Grenada, while in Nevis and St Vincent there are 5. St Lucia, betraying its French colonial past, is split into 11 quarters. Only the French could have eleven quarters…

We soon came to English Harbour with a fabulous view over Falmouth and Nelson’s Dockyard before turning into the hotel resort itself.

From the main road you drive down towards reception and the restaurant. The chalets, apartments, beach restaurant and pool are all down at sea level. Which is quite a drop. The hotel runs a shuttle for guests to summon if they want to go up or down. Me? I walked it, naturally. It’s quite a stiff old climb but doesn’t take long and you quickly get used to it. Dragging your luggage up isn’t recommended, though…

Anyway, I had a beach chalet – which was very nice and a stone’s throw from the beach bar where they serve breakfast and lunch. Dinner is served up the hill.

My first full day was a Sunday, so I didn’t do much other than take advantage of the complimentary water taxi to Nelson’s Dockyard – a slightly longer stone’s throw away. This dockyard is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a fascinating place to see. There are several old buildings still standing, one of which is a very good museum. Another building is a pub/restaurant – I had lunch there with a couple of nicely chilled draught Wadadlis – the not so local beer. I was told that there are plans to reopen the brewery in St John’s and bring Wadadli back home – which would be nice but is it commercially viable?

Antigua relies on reservoirs to store rainwater and three desalination plants to supply water to the island. Each house has its own water storage facility and there are also a few wells. During the dry season managing water resources can be a challenge. So having a commercial brewery on the island is probably not viable unless it were to have its own desalination plant…

Very close to English Harbour, and up high on a promontory, sits Shirley’s Heights. The site of an old fort it is now a Sunday institution for Antiguans. There is a bar; live music and food. The party starts in the afternoon and goes on late into the night.

I had booked a tour of the island for the Monday. I would have needed an extra night if I’d wanted to see Barbuda and I was told that, right now, there isn’t very much to see. Barbuda was smashed to smithereens by Hurricane Irma in September 2017…

The driver, George, arrived in an old Nissan Patrol to take me off around Antigua. I reeled off my list of things and places I wanted to see and which he pretty much ignored, as had all my drivers and guides during this trip. We did start off near Shirley’s Heights, though, at Blockhouse which was the site of another British fort and from where you get stunning views of the coast. Then we went to Shirley’s Heights itself – which was part of the same complex. The bar is in an old colonial building and out on the terrace you get sensational views of English Harbour, Falmouth and Nelson’s Dockyard – simply stunning. The terrace is also where the Sunday party happens…

After that we went to see the Devil’s Bridge, which is a curious rock formation – created over hundreds of thousands of years and destined to vanish at some stage as the relentless Atlantic waves batter the rocks into submission. It’s an intriguing site and, again, you get great views of the coast even though it’s at sea level.

Then on to Betty’s Hope, an old sugar plantation, where there is a small – but good, if depressing – museum of plantation life and slavery. In the grounds there is a restored sugar mill.

On the way to Fort James we had a puncture. Luckily for George, two of his friends were following behind and stopped to help. Well, I say help, they changed the wheel and put the spare one on. George just stood and chatted to them even though he was twice their size and didn’t need a jack to lift the Patrol up. Anyway, tyre changed we went to a repair shop to get the puncture fixed. After that we were away to Fort James.

Fort James is a little way out of St John’s at Fort James Beach and the entrance to the big natural harbour. The fort is in a strategically good position but is in a shocking condition. They simply don’t have the money to restore it – which is a shame as it could be a useful tourist attraction. Giving it UNESCO World Heritage status wouldn’t help as there is no money attached and the site is too much of a mess to warrant it, anyway. Very sad.

We then went into St John’s so I could see the cathedral – which stands on a small hill and looks very impressive. From a distance. Up close and you see it’s boarded up as it is undergoing restoration. We drove around St John’s but I didn’t get to see as much as I wanted or even wander around a bit.

George was on a mission and that mission being lunch. Well, he was on two missions, actually. Mission one was lunch at OJ’s Beach Restaurant and the other mission was to stop at an ATM for me to get some cash so that I could pay him.

My dollars had lasted me well – balancing cash with credit card payments had proven easy with the exception of this little excursion where I couldn’t pay by card.

Anyway, lunch at OJ’s was fantastic and lived up to George’s billing. I had Red Snapper fillet and a Wadadli – only one, it was too hot for beer. The restaurant’s beach location looking out over the beautiful Caribbean was idyllic. George was a very interesting chap to talk to and we covered lots of topics such as history, colonialism, politics, tourism and religion – all the best to be avoided topics. I’m not sure who was the more surprised that we agreed on everything…

We drove back to English Harbour via Fig Tree Drive to see what’s left of the tropical forest – the British had removed most of it in order to plant sugar cane and then to Liberta, passing St Barnabas and St Paul on the way.

English Harbour:

Nelson’s Dockyard:

Shirley’s Heights:

View from the Blockhouse – an old British fort

Looking down from Shirley Heights over English Harbour; Nelson’s Dockyard and Falmouth Harbour

People come to Shirley’s Heights on Sunday afternoon and evening to eat, drink, listen to live music, watch the sunset…

Around Antigua:

The Devil’s Bridge – a curious rock formation

Betty’s Hope – an old sugar cane plantation – it has one of its sugar mills restored and there’s a little museum here, too…

Fort James used to guard the entrance to St John’s Harbour

There’s a commanding view of the entrance to St John’s harbour from Fort James

It’s fair to say that Fort James is in shocking condition

The Cathedral of St John the Divine, St John’s – closed for renovation. This cathedral dates from 1845, earlier cathedrals were destroyed by earthquakes in 1683 and 1745.

Wadadli – it was brewed in St John’s but is now brewed in Kingstown, St Vincent – there are plans to reopen the brewery here

The Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope in Tyrell

St Barnabas’ Church, Liberta – built in the 1670’s as a church school it was consecrated in 1843 – note the green limestone used to build the church

Restoring St Barnabas to his former glory…

St Paul’s- also in Liberta – was built in 1672 and used to double as the Court House during the week

I had a late check-out on Tuesday with a 4pm pick-up. I had to switch rooms (from 9 to 21), which was neither here nor there – having a room at all was great. I had a late lunch, showered, sorted out my hotel bill and was back on the road to VC Bird’s fancy International Airport.

Checking-in was easy and I was surprised to find that there’s a lounge – shared by various airlines – so that was a bit of a treat. It took me an hour to work out that there was an outside terrace, though – from where I could soak up the last of the sun’s rays and watch the Virgin Atlantic A330-200 being loaded and refuelled.

The return flight was delayed by about three hours as someone was taken ill just as the crew had closed the doors; cross-checked and set to automatic. A doctor was brought on board and the passenger subsequently left the aircraft. Another passenger then decided to leave the aircraft and, finally, two others decided that they didn’t want to fly. This obviously necessitated locating and unloading their bags.

The aircraft was an ex-Air Berlin A330-200 – one of 4 that Virgin Atlantic have leased while they wait for their delayed 787-9’s to be delivered. So while the interior was again a bit tired, the crew were good, the food was nice and the IFE music selection was excellent and I came away with a list of over 20 tracks to buy from iTunes (from both flights) – many of them from bands & singers I hadn’t come across before.

We were only an hour late landing, which wasn’t too bad. Passport control was great: e-gates and no daft immigration form. The queues for non-EU passport holders was horrendous, though – another UK embarrassment.

No cold bottle of water or menthol-infused towel to greet me – just out to find my taxi for the drive back to Maidenhead.

The VC Bird International Airport in Antigua is pretty swish but not designed to allow easy taking of photos of planes – hence this squished picture – my 3 weeks of indolence in the Caribbean are now up and it’s time to go home…

After about an hour of sitting around I discovered there’s an outside terrace….

The holiday was great – much more interesting and enjoyable than I thought it would be. I’m not a beach holiday person, so having the excursions and keeping busy exploring was essential and made the holiday a success. The timing on each island worked out well. An extra night in St Lucia would have enabled me to do the Grand Piton trek and an extra night in Antigua would have enabled me to get across to Barbuda. With the benefit of hindsight I’d have allowed extra time in Bridgetown and booked a trip to Mustique while I was still in the UK. But these are things you only discover while you’re away and none of them detracted from a brilliant experience and coming away with a list of things to go back and see is a sign of a great holiday.

An English couple I spoke to at The Inn, English Harbour had spent their ten day holiday at the hotel with just one brief excursion on a boat that they hadn’t enjoyed. A nightmare for me but paradise for them…

I don’t have a favourite island – each had its charm – but I did have favourite hotels: Petite Anse and Bequia Beach – simply wonderful places to stay with lovely staff. The Atlantis was nice but it would have made more sense for them and me to have transferred my booking to the Good Harbour Hotel.

Everyone I met was friendly and helpful – not sure if I won round the lad on the ferry or not but – hey – I’ll continue to stand for people young or old; male or female, whatever nationality and whatever religion if I think they might want or need to sit down…

The flights were all good and I was impressed by Virgin Atlantic and LIAT. I still don’t like Gatwick very much.

No one mentioned Windrush…

History

History

The Taíno were an Arawak people who were the indigenous people of the Caribbean and Florida. The ancestors of the Taíno entered the Caribbean from South America. At the time of contact, the Taíno were divided into three broad groups, known as the Western Taíno (Jamaica, most of Cuba, and the Bahamas), the Classic Taíno (Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) and the Eastern Taíno (northern Lesser Antilles). A fourth, lesser known group went on to travel to Florida and divided into tribes.

The Taíno were historically enemies of the neighbouring Carib tribes, another group with origins in South America, who lived principally in the Lesser Antilles. The relationship between the two groups has been the subject of much study. For much of the 15th century, the Taíno tribe was being driven to the northeast in the Caribbean and out of what is now South America, because of raids by the Carib, resulting in women being taken in raids and many Carib women speaking Taíno.

Modern historians, linguists and anthropologists now hold that the term Taíno should refer to all the Taíno/Arawak tribes except for the Caribs, who are not seen to belong to the same people. Linguists continue to debate whether the Carib language is an Arawakan dialect or creole language, or perhaps an individual language, with an Arawakan pidgin used for communication purposes.

The Taino began populating the region around a few hundred years B.C. They slept in hammocks, held celebratory rituals and worshiped a male and a female god using icons called “zemis,” which were stone and wood figurines. They considered rain, wind, fire, and hurricanes their natural spiritual forces and believed the afterlife was in a place called “coyaba” – a hallowed land of dancing that was free of sickness, hurricanes and hunger. The Arawaks had no written language and little of their culture has survived with the words hammock and barbecue being the famous exceptions.

The Caribs arrived around 1200AD and began systematically forcing the Taino off the islands. Although the Caribs had superstitions, they were largely uninterested in religion. A warrior tribe, the Caribs wore their dark, black hair oiled and long. Their native dress consisted of parrot feathers, necklaces made of victims’ teeth, and red body paint. While the males fished and hunted for food, the females tended the “carbet,” a circular, thatched shelter which was their primary dwelling. As many of the women were actually Arawak captives, they spoke their own language among themselves.

The Carib people cultivated foods such as yucca and sweet potatoes. The Caribs were also said to be an expert and aggressive hunting tribe; the men were excellent shots with bows and arrows but their rapid-fire hunting was not limited to the land: with 100-men “piragua” canoes they would attack vessels on ocean waters.

Book Details

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-became-of-the-taino-73824867/

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/natives-of-the-caribbean-wiped-out-during-colonization-left-dna-behind/

Christopher Columbus’ voyages heralded the start of New World exploration. After the fall of Constantinople, the previously safe routes to the Far East were sealed off, affecting the ancient spice trade. There was an increased desire to explore the west and forge new routes that would reopen the spice trade. This was the motivation for Columbus’ historic voyages to the west and he called the islands he stumbled upon the Indies because he thought he’d found the western passage to Asia and maintained such until his death in 1506.

Under Spanish patronage, Columbus set sail in 1492 and first spotted land on October 12, 1492. He christened this Bahamian island San Salvador. He would eventually touchdown in Cuba before crashing the Santa Maria off the coast of Hispaniola, known today as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Columbus abandoned thirty-eight of his crew members on Hispaniola and returned to Spain where he proclaimed that he had reached Asia.

Some islands changed hands more than twenty times as various European powers fought among themselves and with the Carib Indians.

Pirate ships plagued the Caribbean coastline in the early 17th century. Some pirates made their homes on Hispaniola living in small clans and were seafaring misfits, ship deserters and former indentured servants. Their eventual home base was the island of Tortuga off the north coast of Haiti, overlooking the Windward Passage. From here they pirated the high seas, attacking vessels as far away as the Indian Ocean.

The 18th century brought about a turning point in Caribbean history when slavery was brought to the islands. European importers demanded high quantities of sugar, the product of sugarcane, which grew easily in the Caribbean’s temperate weather. As demand for sugar increased, so did the demand for plantation labour.

The indigenous Arawak were the Europeans’ original slaves but they were quickly dying out. In trying to protect the indigenous people from slavery, Bartolomé de las Casas inadvertently suggested enslaving Africans. Hence, many new slaves came from Africa’s Guinea coast. They were shipped to the West Indies via the notorious Middle Passage–a horrendous mode of transport in which slaves were packed into the ship’s hold so tightly that they could not move freely and sometimes suffocated to death. On average, 12 percent of slaves died on the trip; those who survived were fed, “oiled”, and paraded through the streets to the slave market where they were auctioned off and traded for liquor, guns, and other goods.

They were pawns in the infamous “Triangular Trade”: European ships set sail for the Caribbean colonies with bartering goods, arms, and liquor for African slave traders; slaves were captured and shipped from Africa to the islands; and in the final step, sugar and rum were exported from the Caribbean back to Europe.

The average life expectancy for an imported slave was only seven years, but many died within the first year of arrival. The acclimation period, or “seasoning” as it was called, was a time of brutal adjustment for the new slaves. They were forced to adopt new cultural customs and language.

On the plantations, owners demanded slaves sever every tie to their homeland and kept slaves of the same culture apart. Rebellion was common, and slave owners exercised harsh punishments for disobedience or acts of will; indeed, it was not illegal to kill an African man in the British colonies until the beginning of the 19th century.

In the 1770s, anti-slavery movements began to take shape in Europe. The Society for the Abolition of Slavery was established in 1787 to raise public awareness of the inhumane treatment of slaves. It wasn’t until 1807, however, that a law was passed banning the trade of slaves on British ships.

Soon after the law was passed, many other countries enacted similar laws; in 1831, a massive anti-slavery rebellion in Jamaica destroyed many sugar estates, motivating Parliament to sanction the Emancipation Act of 1834. After a four-year “apprenticeship” during which the slaves were still bound to plantation life, they were released unconditionally.

It wasn’t until the Emancipation Act of 1834 ended slavery and Europe no longer relied on the islands for sugar production that the Caribbean became less of a battle ground; however, their lasting influence on the history of the Caribbean remains.

Cuba was still importing slaves until 1865, and did not officially abolish slavery until 1888. The French possessions did not free their slaves until 1848, followed by the Dutch in 1863 and Puerto Rico in 1873. Many freed slaves purchased parcels of land for subsistence farming. On some of the smaller Caribbean islands, however, there was little land left to buy, so they had to return to plantation work.

Haiti gained independence from France on January 1^st, 1804 and the Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti in 1844. Cuba defeated the Spanish in 1898, with American support, and finally gained independence in 1902. The French possessions remain departments of France; citizens of these islands have French rights and privileges and the Euro is the currency. In 1962, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from the UK; Barbados did the same four years later. Throughout the 70s and 80s Britain granted independence to any of its islands that requested it.

The former Dutch Caribbean colonies of Curacao and St. Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in October, 2010 in a change of constitutional status dissolving the Netherlands Antilles. The two joined Aruba, which in 1986 had already gained this status that maintained direct ties with Holland, while three other islands, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, became autonomous special municipalities of the Netherlands.

http://origins.osu.edu/milestones/july-2015-bartolom-de-las-casas-and-500-years-racial-injustice

74. The Lesser Antilles (Caribbean)

Grenada

Barbados

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Bequia

St Vincent

St Lucia

St Kitts & Nevis

St Kitts

Nevis

St Kitts

Antigua & Barbuda

History

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Grenada

Barbados

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Bequia

St Vincent

St Lucia

St Kitts & Nevis

St Kitts

Nevis

St Kitts

Antigua & Barbuda

History

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Related

One thought on “74. The Lesser Antilles (Caribbean)”

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