Grand Case, St Martin

The last stop in the Caribbean leg is the French/Dutch island of St Martin/Sint Maarten for beach time and very little else. There are no volcanoes to climb, there will be no rental car; just a lot of swimming, eating and relaxing.

A BRIEF HISTORY
St Martin/Sint Maarten, also known as SXM, is one of those travel oddities - one island, made up of two nations, using three currencies. The island was sighted by Columbus on his second voyage but because of the salt ponds he didn't rate it highly, besides he was headed north for Hispaniola (Dominican Republic/Haiti). Even though the island was claimed in the name of Spain it was never settled by them, instead the Dutch and French competed for colonization rights and in 1648 the Treaty of Condordia decreed that the island be split between the two nations. The story behind how the island was split is an interesting if slightly whimsical one. Two men, one French, one Dutch began with their backs to each other on one coast of the island. The Frenchman took wine as his refreshment for the journey, the Dutchman gin. They walked in opposite directions around the circumference of the island and when the two met face to face the Frenchman, thanks to his fine wine, had covered far more distance which explains why France has around 5/8 of the island, and the Kingdom of Netherlands the remaining 3/8. The Dutch claim it had nothing to do with the wine or the dodgy gin but insisted the Frenchman broke the rules of the agreement by running instead of walking. This is the only place on Earth where France and the Netherlands share a border.

The Dutch side is strewn with casinos, clubs, huge beach resorts, Maho Beach at the end of the airport runway and the islands main cruise ship terminal in Philipsburg. The French side appears to be a little quieter and known more for beaches, food and shopping. For both, the economy revolves around tourism which means it's an easy place to get around and an easy place to get ripped off too.

MAHO BEACH
The short runway at Princess Juliana International Airport, and its position between a set of hills and a beautiful beach make plane-watching a must see. We walked with all of our bags from the airport to a hotel next to the beach and left of luggage in a storage room so we could have breakfast at the Sunset Bar at the far end of Mayo Beach. I promised Sara we would catch a taxi but the only driver I asked wanted US$4 each for a ride which would have lasted about a minute. It was fine and sunny but not too hot so walking was fairly comfortable but within a few minutes of ordering breakfast the heavens opened up and it rained heavily. We stayed and watched the planes land as we ate breakfast but didn't fancy a swim.

Landing over Maho Beach, Sint Maarten
The sunset bar is at the end of the beach

Lily at Maho Beach

Lily & Seb at the Sunset Bar

The taxi around to the French side, past the capital Marigot, to our hotel in Grand Case cost US$40. The driver said we could pay $40 or 40 Euros but because I didn't have enough US dollars I asked him to stop at an ATM, which he graciously did, so I could withdraw money. Over the next few days we found that although prices were advertised in Euros, paying the same in US dollars was often an option. I'd read that most people who live on the island are not born there, so starting with the taxi driver I conducted my own social experiment. Over the next three days, none of the 20+ people I asked were born here, most from France and the remainder from other Caribbean islands.

Grand Case, a tiny town on the French side of the island, is not much more than a beach, a mile long main street dubbed restaurant row and an airport surrounded by a large salt pond. The eating options are fantastic, ranging from sophisticated French cuisine to less sophisticated French cuisine - we started our stay with traditional French and ended with pizza on the last night. The crescent beach faces Anguilla, the waters are very calm but it gets deep very quickly which makes it an ideal spot for visitors to park their boats.

Grand Case Beach

Sunset at Grand Case

When Seb and I came to the island last year we stayed five nights on the Dutch side in Philipsburg and only two on the French side at a little boutique hotel called Love. This trip we decided to stay at Love again, this time in a new additional they called the Love Residences - right on the beach and in the heart of restaurant row as well. The room was huge - a mezzanine floor upstairs with a bathroom and queen bed and a queen bed and private balcony downstairs. As only the French can do, the decor was minimalist - the interior was painted white and there were no pictures or decorations on the wall.  Love also has a bar and Tapas restaurant overlooking the beach so we could sit in the shade while the kids swam in the sea. Seb and Lily both befriended the hottest topless woman (from Finland) at the beach and I made sure I wore my sunglasses at all times (to prevent wrinkles).

The new addition to Love - the Residences

Room 19 at the Love Residences

The view from the bar at Love

And the view of the bar

After St Martin/Sint Maarten we have a few days back home before heading off to meet my brother at Heathrow for the next segment.

ST MARTIN/SINT MAARTEN QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Marigot/Philipsburg
Currency: Euro/US Dollar/Netherland Antilles Guilder
Language: French/British English
Drive on the Right
Beer of choice: Presidente

Frigate Bay, St Kitts

Seb and I spent a couple of nights in Antigua so we could make our day trip to Montserrat but after a day exploring English Harbour we caught an evening flight across to St Kitts to meet Sara and Lily. We arrived about 30 minutes after them but were in the arrivals hall at the same time. The kids had a hard time obeying the immigration rules but once we got to baggage claim there was mayhem - the kids had really missed each other and were super excited to see each other again. We made straight for the Marriott Beach Resort in Frigate Bay, which would be our home for the next five nights.

ST KITTS HISTORY
Columbus sighted St Kitts & Nevis on his second voyage to the New World - the larger one was originally called Liamuiga by the Caribs but Columbus chose to name it after his patron saint, St Christopher, shorting it to 'St Kitts' to make it quicker for tourists to complete immigration documents. The smaller of the two was known as Oualie to locals but seeing the clouds covering the volcano, Columbus used the Spanish word for snow (nieves), translated to Nevis for English speakers, but pronounced nay-vis.
The British and French fought over these islands for the best part of two centuries, culminating in a siege at Brimstone Hill where 8,000 French troops won a decisive battle in 1782 only for the Treaty of Paris to hand it back to the British the following year.
In 1983 St Kitts & Nevis became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth with the stipulation that Nevis could secede if a two-thirds majority ever should choose to. There was a close call in 1998 but for now the two remain joined in relatively happy union.

We rented a car for two days to explore both of the islands - Bullseye car rentals was an excellent choice and they picked me up from the hotel but I was given a left hand drive car for driving on the left hand side of the road. It took a little getting used to but at least it was an automatic. First on the tour schedule was St Kitts and it's unspectacular capital, Basseterre. There were three cruise ships in town that day so we didn't stop carrying straight up the western coast to Brimstone Hill Fortress (excellent), Black Rocks (missed it first time) and finally fish'n'chips at Ottley's Plantation on the eastern coast.

Brimstone Hill Fortress

The cannons atop Brimstone with the island of St Eustatius on the horizon

FERRY TO NEVIS
Lily and I took a day trip down to Nevis to see some of the famous sights and to take a ride on the Sea Bridge Ferry that connects the two islands. The drive through the southern part of St Kitts down to the ferry terminal is quite scenic with a number of huge mansions along the way and the odd mega-yacht parked offshore. We were 30 minutes early for the ferry and it left 30 minutes late - the same would happen on the return journey as well. I was told that this phenomenon was common. It cost around US$60 round-trip for the two of us and the car. Once on Nevis we stopped at a few plantations and pretty churches including Fig Tree church where the marriage of Horatio Nelson and Fanny Nisbet is documented. On the far eastern coast we found the wonderful ruins of the New River Sugar Mill overrun with goats and chickens. We saw loads of mongoose on the roads, most scurrying across from one side to the other, but no iguanas.

Fig Tree Church

Deserted sugar mill at New River on Nevis

Waiting for the Sea Bridge Ferry between Nevis & St Kitts

Sara and I had been to St Kitts on our Honeymoon cruise in 2001 but we didn't really see anything. From what I can remember we climbed aboard a catamaran and started drinking rum punch in the morning - next thing I remember performing a really bad solo haka followed by a conversation on a porcelain telephone back on the cruise ship toilet.

ST KITTS QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Basseterre
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar
Language: English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Skol

English Harbour, Antigua

RETURN TO ANTIGUA
Seb and I came to Antigua last March and stayed close to St John's in a place called Deep Bay. This time we headed in the opposite direction to the southern tip of the island in English Harbour, site of Nelson's Dockyard.

Seb at the Antigua Yacht Club, English Harbour

English Harbour is about a 30 minute drive from the airport through central Antigua. From here, Guadeloupe is about 40 miles further south, and Montserrat about 33 miles to the southwest. The reason for coming back to Antigua is to use it as a launching point to reach Montserrat - with that now complete we had the best part of a day to enjoy the beach. the harbour and the dockyard.

Nelson's Dockyard

A LITTLE HISTORY

The Arawaks called Antigua 'Wadadli'; a name seen in many places, most importantly for me on the label of the best local beer. Columbus sighted the island in 1493 but it was the British that set up the first permanent European colony in the 1630's but the economy, based on tobacco, never flourished. It wasn't until Sir Christopher Codrington arrived from Barbados in 1674 and established Betty's Hope, the first of many sugar plantations with the help of African slave labor that Antigua matured economically. Codrington leased the island of Barbuda from Britain to establish food crops for the many slaves and named it's capital city after himself. Tobacco crops were converted to sugarcane turning Antigua into a prosperous plantation economy, prompting the British to build fortifications around the island and a naval base in the very south named after Lord Horatio Nelson - Nelson's Dockyard.

By the mid 19th century the sugar market declined, slavery was abolished and as plantations were closed down instead of handing the land to the former workers a handful of former owners maintained control forcing many into shanty towns or to be supported by the church, which explains so of the poor housing particularly around St John's.

November 1st, 1981 saw Antigua & Barbuda become an independent nation within the British Commonwealth, and Vere Cornwall Bird, after whom the international airport is named, became the first Prime Minister. My visit coincided with the 2014 general election where the incumbent Baldwin Spencer from the ruling United Progressive Party (UPP) faces a challenge from the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP).

ANTIGUA QUICK GUIDE
Capital: St John's
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (US$1:EC$2.6)
Language: British English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Wadadli

Near Plymouth, Montserrat

MONSTER RAT
Montserrat, or "Monster Rat" as Sebastian calls it, is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean similar to the British Virgin and Cayman Islands. While not a country in the strict definition, I count it since it's so far removed from Britain - besides, try to convince someone from Liverpool you've been to Britain because you went to Jack Boy Hill on Montserrat.

We did a day trip from Antigua, taking the first flight out at 7am and the last flight back leaving Montserrat at 5:30pm. The check in at the airport in Antigua was super quick but when we got into the waiting area there were no other passengers around and all of the shops and food stalls past security were closed. We waited at least 30 minutes by ourselves, until about 3 minutes before our scheduled departure the guy who checked us in came by and said "Let's go." He walked us out onto the tarmac and across to our waiting plane. Seb and I were the only passengers so we sat right behind the pilot for the short 18 minute flight. It was another really beautiful morning but difficult to get decent photographs without propellers in the way.

Montserrat, volcano covered in clouds on the left

Coming in to land at John A Osborne airport, Montserrat

As soon as we got through immigration and customs (90 seconds) I called one of the local taxi/tour operators, Charles Daly, and rented on of his Nissan sedans for the day for US$50. While he made his way to the airport I got a Montserrat drivers license for US$20 from the same guy at immigration. In a change from regular rental car orthodoxy the car had almost no gas in it so I followed Charles to the nearest gas station and put in double the amount of gas I thought I'd need. Turns out I put in about 20x more than I needed.

Back to driving on the left, back to an automatic transmission, back to potholes, back to lots of random honking, back to goats and chickens beside the road, back to precious few street signs. When you look at the tourist map of Montserrat there aren't that many roads so it should be difficult to get lost but within 15 minutes I was at the local landfill until I realized I'd missed the turn, and the closed gate, for the Jack Boy Hill lookout site. Even though it was a nice day there were clouds surrounding the volcano but we saw some of the devastation on the east coast of the island, included the now buried former airport.
 

Seb at Jack Boy Hill

Montserrat is known for the Soufriere Hills volcano which ended about 400 years of dormancy in 1995 when a series of eruptions began which led to the abandonment and eventual destruction of the former capital, Plymouth. Two thirds of the population left for Britain or other Caribbean islands and Montserrat was divided into a Safe Zone, a Daytime Only Zone, and an Exclusion Zone (which I call the Zone of Certain Death. Those who have stayed are rebuilding and with foreign aid a new capital at Little Bay is beginning to take shape. There are precious few tourists these days, and most of those that come are focused on all things volcano related.

From Jack Boy Hill I drove through St John's and Sweeney's to the new capital at Little Bay. It's a very small bay and there is a lot of work currently underway but it appears that this location will serve mainly for administrative purposes - it didn't appear they were building a lot of residential buildings in the area. The drive down the western coast is quite pretty and we made a few stops along the way, notably the Runaway Ghaut to take a drink, thus ensuring our return to Montserrat someday.

We spent some time at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory and watched an excellent documentary about the eruptions but as we drove further south the road signs and roads became harder to find. After a few wrong turns we were very close to the Exclusion Zone - so close in fact that I almost drove the car into a dried up river bed as the road had been washed away. The photo below showed where I actually came to a sudden stop - luckily I wasn't driving very fast.

Washed out road

After I retraced my steps I came across the Exclusion Zone sign - it's possible to drive past it but the roads are in such poor shape a four-wheel drive is the only way of making any progress. There should have been a sign to prevent me reaching the washed out bridge. The goats and chickens in the north were replaced by huge iguanas in the south - most of them just amble out of the way as cars approach but get a little too close and they scurry away quickly.

The Exclusion Zone sign

Garibaldi Hill is the best and safest place to get views of Plymouth and the Soufriere Hills. Plymouth was by all accounts a pretty place but now there's nothing of value for anyone except scientists. The guy who rented me the car for the day says he still visits his old house, what's left of it. "It's still mine", he said.

Soufriere Hills volcano and the deserted city of Plymouth

The drive back up the coast was lovely but a cockroach in the car walking over my feet as I drove almost caused another traffic mishap. I brought the car to a halt as I took cover on the road - Seb was unaware what was going on and I wasn't about to freak him out. I never did find it so I spent the last hour of the drive half expecting it to make an encore appearance.

MONTSERRAT QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Little Bay (was Plymouth)
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar
Language: English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: There wasn't a local one so I had an Amstel

Trois Rivieres, Guadeloupe

GUADELOUPE
To get to Guadeloupe we flew Air Antilles from St Lucia on an empty plane to Martinique where we stayed in our seats while it filled up with French speakers for the short hop across to Guadeloupe. Each segment took about 20 minutes and we were on the tarmac in Martinique about 20 minutes as well. We skipped Martinique and Dominica on this trip because I've been to both with Sara on our Honeymoon - this trip is for places new (mostly).

The southern coast of Basse-Terre

I was really surprised at how big Guadeloupe airport was - it was bright, modern and very well equipped. I got some Euros out of one of the many ATM's and then picked up one of the multitude of Peugeot 306 rental cars from Hertz. Back to left hand drive so I had to remember to drive on the right again, but this time with the added challenge of a car with manual transmission. After a quick driving refresher we left the airport and was amazed by the dual carriage way highway and the lack of potholes. The better roads also meant faster speeds which made driving a little bit nerve wracking.

Guadeloupe is made up of two main islands, the mountainous Basse-Terre in the west and the flatter beachier Grande-Terre in the east, separated by a small river/canel called Sallee. There are a number of smaller islands dotted around the place that make up Guadeloupe but the majority of the population live on Basse or Grande-Terre. Interestingly there's a town called Basse-Terre on Basse-Terre but not a town called Grande-Terre on Grande-Terre.

Originally I wanted to stay on the Grande-Terre side in a town called St Anne, but instead we made for the southern tip of Basse-Terre in the shadow of La Soufriere volcano - the tallest peak in the Lesser Antilles at 1,467m (4,812ft) - to an impossible-to-find guesthouse called Coco e Zabrico. I had to call the owner at 10pm to find us in Trois Rivieres and guide us through the town to the guesthouse. I never would have found it on my own with the directions she had emailed me. It was down a dirt road on a quiet hillside with no signs to guide the way - it was a fantastic little place though and we were greeted with homemade pumpkin soup and french bread for supper.

Our balcony at Coco e Zabrico

Seb and I climbed La Soufriere the next day. Unlike Gros Piton on St Lucia my little man made it all the way to the top with very little help. The smell of sulfur was strong near the summit and it was cold and windy while we were there. It took about 2 and a half hours to climb and probably about an hour to get down but a very different hike than St Lucia. The path snakes slowly around the volcano instead of straight up like Gros Piton. The clouds rolled in during our brief stay at the top so there were no majestic views, no great photo opportunities, just the satisfaction of taking Seb to the top of another volcano (we climbed Mt Scenery in Saba last year too). The only place to eat in town was the only place that was open, but the pizza at whatever it was called was excellent.

Country check at La Soufriere

Seb and I at the summit of La Soufriere

Looking back into the caldera - strong sulphur smell

Now we're getting ourselves ready for a trip back to the airport and another short flight to Antigua. I liked Guadeloupe but for me it was neither here nor there. It isn't as laid back or easy to navigate as the previous islands we'd been on and it wasn't sophisticated enough to get away with being overly French either. It's almost as if the place needed the lawns mowed, hedges trimmed and garbage collected. I'm sure the French tourists love it but to me, someone whose French consists of speaking English with a French accent, I was happy enough to leave and get back to the British Caribbean.

It was another perfect day for flying - 20 minutes from Pointe-a-Pitre to VC Bird airport in Antigua with great views of Montserrat out of our window. Tomorrow is our day trip to the place that was almost blown off the map in 1995.

GUADELOUPE QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Pointe a Pitre
Currency: Euro
Language: French
Drive on the Right
Beer of choice: Corsaire

Castries, St Lucia

The flight from St Vincent to St Lucia is barely 25 minutes. It was a beautiful afternoon and Seb and I sat on the left hand side of the plane to get the best views of St Vincent as we left the airport in the south and flew north up the eastern coastline past the large volcano, La Soufriere, in the north. No sooner had we passed St Vincent when out of the right side of the plane were the huge pitons of southern St Lucia. One of the highlights of this leg of the trip is to try to climb to the top of the large piton (called Gros Piton) but I wasn't too sure how Seb would handle it.

George FL Charles airport is very small and nestled beside the perfect Vigie Beach. The guy from Hertz was waiting for us after we collected our stamps and bags and within 30 minutes we has our Suzuki Swift rental car and were at the Bay Gardens in Rodney Bay in the far north western corner of the island.

Rodney Bay Marina

It took a lot longer than expected to drive around Grenada so I was a bit hesitant to take on the St Lucian roads but to my surprise most of the road circling the island is in decent shape. For something different we headed across to the eastern coast to explore the towns of Dennery and Micoud and take pictures of the rocky coastline.

Seb overlooking Dennery

We made a quick stop at the La Tille waterfall before lunch in Vieux Fort next to the International Airport. It doesn't sound like a nice location but the view of the Maria Islands Nature Reserve were spectacular and the lunch at Reef Beach Resort was excellent - free wifi too. It's a relatively quick journey down the eastern  and southern coasts but as the pitons come into view the roads start to snake around and the potholes get a little larger. It was overcast and too late to consider climbing Gros Piton on this day so we pulled into a resort called Ladera for afternoon tea and stunning views of the pitons. It's difficult to put into words but there were very few tourists, a lovely warm breeze and a view that I could never tire of.  We drove back up the Western coast through Soufriere, Canaries and Anse La Raye - all quaint little towns - before getting back in time for a late afternoon swim at the hotel.

The Pitons & the town of Soufriere

The next morning we drove straight to Soufriere for breakfast at the Hummingbird Beach Resort overlooking the pitons, then we climbed the big one. It was a much tougher hike than I thought and Seb had to stay with the guide at the half way mark because it was getting too difficult for him, and too dangerous to carry him. It took us just over an hour to get to the Petit Piton viewing area and that's where Seb stayed and played Plants v Zombies for a little bit.

Seb & I at the Petit Piton viewing area - halfway up Gros Piton

The view from the summit of Gros Piton

The rest of the hike was straight up for about 50 minutes but the view from the top was definitely worth the effort. You cannot do this hike without a guide so there were a number of groups, maybe 10 that I saw, making the ascent. It costs US$30 for adults and half that for children, presumably because they only get halfway up. The trip back to Seb at the halfway mark only took about 30 minutes and we took a leisurely pace to the bottom before giving our guide a ride back to her village. Climbing Gros Piton was a great achievement and our next destination, Guadeloupe, would offer the chance of scaling another volcano - La Soufriere, close to our guesthouse in Trois Rivieres. La Soufriere, meaning Sulphur, is a popular name in these parts - volcanoes in Guadeloupe and St Vincent, a town in St Lucia and I'm sure lots of other places too.

ST LUCIA QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Castries
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (US$1:EC$2.6)
Language: British English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Piton

Bequia, St Vincent

ST VINCENT, BUT QUICKLY TO THE GRENADINES

We dropped our rental car at the airport in Grenada at 9:30am and checked into our flight to the airport serving Kingstown on St Vincent. It's only a 25 minute flight but long enough for both of us to fall asleep since we'd both stayed up late the night before. The flight was continuing on to Barbados and only two other people got off with us which had me wondering what was wrong with the place. No rental car this time, instead we caught a taxi to the ferry terminal at Kingstown and the next boat to the Grenadine island of Bequia (pronounced bek-way).

Seb and I arriving in St Vincent & the Grenadines

The Bequia Express leaving Kingstown

I'd read some really promising reviews about Bequia and I wanted a few days where we could make our way around on foot and keep things simple. It's only 7 square miles, has loads of good shops, restaurants, quaint accommodation and a turtle sanctuary on the far side of the island. We decided to stay at the Village Apartments in Belmont beach with hosts George and Val Whitney - a driver was waiting for us at the ferry terminal and within five minutes we were in our room overlooking the bay getting a lesson on how to work the ceiling fans in our room.

Our unit at the Village Apartments

A BRIEF HISTORY

St Vincent & the Grenadines is another example of British and French squabbling over the same piece of paradise. It was one of the last areas of the Caribbean to be settled by Europeans because many displaced islanders from Grenada, Barbados and St Lucia fled to St Vincent. Ownership changed hands between the French and British no fewer than fourteen times before the Treaty of Paris in 1783 finally handed the islands to the British. The locals put up a good fight and it wasn't until  a few years before the turn of the century when 5,000 Caribs were forcibly moved to Roatan in Honduras when things began to settle down.

In 1979 St Vincent was combined with the remaining Grenadines (some belong to Grenada) as last of the Windward Islands to gain independence from Britain, ten years after St Vincent had first earned statehood status.

The beach leading to the tiny port of Port Elizabeth on Bequia

Admiralty Bay at sunset

The appeal of coming to Bequia is to escape the busier island of St Vincent and enjoy something more of the traditional Caribbean, whatever that means. It was the sort of place where everyone said 'hello' as they walked by, lots of acknowledging other people and an enjoyment of the simple things - the sun going down, feeding seagulls, chasing crabs, fishing. There weren't many kids about so Sebastian drew a lot of attention without much effort. From our location at Belmont beach a path runs beside the bay, past restaurants and dive shops to the town - we followed it as the sun set into the Caribbean Sea, stopping for a bite to eat as we fed the seagulls and chased crabs. Seb was intent on catching one for Lily.

Silhouette Seb strolling at sunset

GEEZER & THE MASK GUY
We spent the best part of the next day exploring the island, starting with a trip up to the old fort for the best views of Admiralty Bay. I was trying to buy a mask from on of the vendors when a guy called Geezer (or maybe Gary) offered to show Seb and I around the island. He helped me bargain a good price for the mask so I agreed to let him drive us around. There's precious little left of the fort except for a few cannons but the views were first rate.

The Old Fort on Bequia

Once outside Port Elizabeth the roads are pretty sketchy but Geezer took us north past the beautiful but poorly named Industry Bay to the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary which was absolutely brilliant. not only was the drive really scenic but it gave both Seb and I the chance to get up close and personal with hawksbill sea turtles - from babies through to the fully grown adults. These guys are endangered so it was great to see preservation efforts up close.

Seb with a hawksbill turtle

Industrial Bay

After our island tour was over we ran into Geezer a few more times before we left the island - it's hard not to given the size. I was really impressed that he took the time to show Sebastian the different types of birds, plants, bugs etc but he truly wanted to make sure we enjoyed ourselves.

Geezer, Seb & I

The morning we left Bequia, Seb and I wandered down to the Frangipani Hotel for a full English beside the bay. As we left the Village Apartments George yelled out his goodbye's to Sebastian. The waitress at the Frang did the same as we headed for the boat. We saw the man who sold us the mask - a fist bump for Seb. Geezer was there too with a shout out to Seb and the driver who picked us up on our first day yelled his goodbye's too. And that summed up Bequia - just a quaint small town with real friendly people and killer atmosphere.

Our mask seller - pretty sure he's high

On the boat back to Kingstown I chatted with an Italian guy, Max, who lives in London. He was on the same flight as us later that afternoon to St Lucia, but he was going all the way to Barbados. Seb and I will be in London in about seven weeks so we may well see Max again in a later episode. We spent a few hours in Kingstown but after Bequia I found it too busy and not very appealing. There didn't appear to be an awful lot to see and I was already getting mentally prepared for another new country.

ST VINCENT QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Kingstown
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar
Language: English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Hairoun

Grenada - the Spice Island

A BRIEF HISTORY
Grenada is known as the Spice Island for the abundance of nutmeg, and like many islands in the Caribbean it has a rich and bloody history. Originally inhabited by the Arawaks, then the Caribs, the fate of the island was determined in large part to the third voyage to the free world of Columbus in 1498. The first British colonists arrived about 100 years later but with little success and it wasn't until the French 'purchased' the island and established tobacco, coffee, sugar and cocoa plantations and imported slaves from Africa that the economy started to take shape. The French and the British fought for control of the island repeatedly but the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ceded Grenada to the British. That didn't stop the animosity between the French and the British and the French briefly held Grenada again before the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 when the British prevailed. For the best part of 200 years Grenada belonged to the British. It wasn't until 1974 when Independence was achieved and Eric Gairy became the first Prime Minister. He was more concerned with UFO's and the Bermuda Triangle to govern effectively and Maurice Bishop, whom the airport is named after, took over in 1979. Bishop was a communist with strong ties to Cuba and Russia but he was overthrown four years later by childhood friend Bernard Coard (whom the airport is not named after), and executed by firing squad at Fort George in the nations capital. That's when Reagan decided to join the action and invaded Grenada in late 1983 citing the risk to American students at St George's University. The American's pulled out before the end of the year, citing a lack of fast-food restaurants and not enough TV game shows, and since then the political situation has been relatively stable.

St George's Grenada from Fort George

St George's from the Carenage, which runs around the waterfront

EASTERN CARIBBEAN

Seb and I have come down to the Caribbean a few weeks ahead of Sara and Lily to fill in a few gaps. We meet the girls in St Kitts on my birthday (March 15th) but not before visiting all of the islands between Trinidad and Antigua that I'm missing from my collection. In all, the next three weeks will see us visit nine Caribbean nations including St Lucia, Guadeloupe and the volcanic island of Montserrat which was almost blown off the map in 1995. Most of the places we are to visit use the East Caribbean Dollar - a useful currency because there's a map of all the nations that use it on each note. First stop is four days in the peaceful Morne Rouge Bay at the Kalinago Beach Resort, not far from the airport in Grenada.

We rented a car for our stay on Grenada, a 4-door Suzuki Vitara with a bazillion miles on the clock and windows that went down but not up. When we did the car check at the airport the lady from J&B car rentals was enthusiastic about pointing out all the dings, dents, scratches, scrapes, masking tape etc... after 10 minutes I was losing interest until she finally said "..and remember we drive on the left here." My response was something like "Alright, Alright, Alright. Which way is out?". She gave me directions to our hotel and purely by chance we made it without a wrong turn, in the dark, with no signs, in about seven minutes.

Our accommodation at Kalinago in Morne Rouge Bay - beautifully quiet

Same, same, but different

Grenada's capital, St George's, is a wonderful little town on a sheltered harbor surrounded by hills that used to form the rim of a volcano - and I love volcanoes. The feature of the city is the Fort George perched atop the western hills overlooking the harbor. The Carenage, also called Wharf Road, is the main thoroughfare that takes you around the harbor and through the Sendall tunnel to the cruise ship terminal, fish market and most importantly, the cricket stadium. Seb and I spent an afternoon wandering the city on foot and getting lost in the side streets and alleys. Lunch was beside the harbor at the Nutmeg Restaurant - roti for me and chips for my companion since he didn't like the look of anything else on the kids menu.

Sebastian at Fort George - ticking off Grenada, his 15th different country

Four phone booths, all broken. Only one is a time machine.

Grenada is small enough to drive around in a day so we set off after breakfast for Concord waterfalls about mid-way up the western coast. It's about 40 minutes to Concord then from the main road about ten minutes up a one-lane road but the lower falls are right next to the parking lot which was perfect for Seb. After sitting in the car for an hour he was keen for a swim and we were the only tourists there so he had the whole place to himself.

Sebastian at Concord Falls

Sebastian at the brightly colored Happy Hill

Heading further north we drove through Gouyave, past the fort and on through Victoria and past the petroglyphs where the road heads inland and gets confusing. There are some junctions where the road forks but it's not obvious which is the main road and which one leads to certain death. Twice we took the path of certain death only to be redirected by bearded men with machete's who pointed us in the right direction. The road to certain death is often the road less traveled but Seb needed a juice box and I needed to find Sauteurs on the northern coast. 

One of the few road signs in Grenada - this one in Sauteurs shows only 8.5 miles to Paradise
We missed the turn and never found it!

Our friend Lacey had recommended the River Antoine Rum Distillery and that was our next destination. We headed south past Lavera Hill, River Sallee, Lake Antione and finally the distillery. The tour was really interesting because the rum is made completely from fermented and distilled sugar cane. Unbelievably strong, the 69% alcohol, 138% proof variety was the best of the lot so I bought a bottle for Seb and headed to the Belmont Estate for some chocolate tasting before making tracks for home.

Sebastian at the River Antione Rum Distillery

Heading south through Grenville the road was windy and bumpy and Seb was car-sick all over himself. The poor lad couldn't keep the juice-box or his breakfast down but was gracious enough to put up with the hour long drive back to Morne Rouge Bay where he went straight into the ocean to 'clean-up' and then to the shower to really 'clean-up'.

Seb and I looking over Grand Anse, Grenada

I'm glad we had the chance to drive around the island but the road signs could do with some improvement. A number of times I wasn't really sure if I was on the right road but it was refreshing to be driving on the left hand side of the road again. The side I grew up with and the side I will always feel more comfortable on.

Sunset from Morne Rouge Bay

Tomorrow we take a short flight to the next stop on our destination - St Vincent & the Grenadines. We're going to stay on one of the Grenadines - Bequia.

GRENADA QUICK GUIDE
Capital: St George's
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (US$1:EC$2.6)
Language: British English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Carib