St Vincent on the Ferry

St Vincent on the Ferry –  Monday 13 June

I apologize for the picture overload, but I couldn't decide which ones to leave out!

We decided that the weather had settled enough for us to go to St Vincent on the ferry on Monday morning. We rushed to get the fast ferry but missed it by minutes. According to the guys on the later ferry the fast ferry can be very bumpy. The ferry ride was about an hour and although we were on the 9am one it was quite empty. Apparently a lot of the Bequia children go to school in St Vincent as the schools on Bequia aren't big enough to accommodate all of them. That is quite a commute every day.

Wi-Fi on the ferry

The trip across was quite bumpy but not as bad as it would have been on a 43 foot yacht. We watched the land getting closer and closer while the seagulls and frigates followed in our wake.

St Vincent

As soon as we got off the ferry we were accosted by tour guides demanding our attention. We thought they were too pricey and continued walking up the street. I was quite keen to do a bit of walking and peruse the market in search of a birthday present for Laura. One tour guide, Mike, was quite persistent and followed us down the road. He said he would charge us 450 EC for a day tour, which was a bit less than what the others were charging. Rubber arms bent, we decided to go for it. In truth, there was really no better way to see the island other than hiring a car ourselves, but then we wouldn't really have known where all the good tourist spots were. What we didn't realize was that he would only take us around the western side of the island.

There is a volcano on the eastern side of the island which last erupted in 22 April, 2021. Volcanic dust spread for miles around. Mike suggested we go back another day and see the other side of the island.

After quite a long drive we stopped at a beautiful waterfall with a river running down through a lush green forest.

The river runs through the hole in the wall

Bamboo Forest

The tree was huge

Enormous bamboo

Dave and Sandy

The root system of this tree was amazing. The roots spread all along the bank of the river. One would think the tree would die as the roots were not only exposed but were also in the water.

The highlight of our tour was stopping at Wallilabou Bay for lunch. This is the bay where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean, Revenge of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest. There was all sorts of memorabilia lying around from the sets and the films. 

Red-footed tortoises

After lunch we stopped at Fort Charlotte and had a walk around. On the way up the road a gust blew Andrew's cap off his head and over the wall. He risked life and limb to go and fetch it! Not really, but he did say he had to pick his way around all sorts of rubbish that had been thrown over the wall.

Just before Andrew lost his cap

Port Control's office

Entrance to the fort

We were meant to go to the Botanical Gardens, but it rained quite a bit and it was getting late. We had to catch the ferry back at 4pm. So Mike dropped us off at the supermarket and we did a bit of grocery shopping before heading back to the ferry. I didn't manage to buy any clothes for Laura or anything else for her birthday present. Oh dear, Plan B!

Heading home

I hope you enjoyed our short trip to St Vincent. In the next installment we spend a few days on Mustique.