March 2021, MSC CRUISES – LESSER ANTILLES — St Vincent was the earliest country to drop out of the eight-country rotation on this cruise through the Lesser Antilles. As a result, it is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that I have not visited.
April 2024, after I had been to 189/193 countries, I started a trip to see three of the remaining countries beginning with St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation north of Trinidad and Tobago.
Bananas and other agricultural products remain the staple of this lower-middle-income country’s economy. Although tourism and other services have been growing moderately, the government has been ineffective at introducing new industries. Unemployment remains high, and economic growth hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors.
Capital: Kingstown
Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD). “$” or “EC$” (XCD). US$1 ≈ EC$2.7 (pegged).
Population: 199,300
Language. English
Country Code: +1784
Drive on the left.
Climate. Tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November). Hurricanes threaten the islands from July to October.
Landscape. Volcanic, mountainous. Highest point: Soufriere volcano (St Vincent) 1,234m
St Vincent was dropped from the MSC cruise because of COVID-19 rules in 2021. I had always thought that it would be my 193rd country. In January 2024, I finished 189/193 with the Marshall Islands and thought then that I would visit St Vincent, EG, and Yemen in April/June 2024. This is the start of that trip.
Day 1 Sun April 21
Flight: Air Canada 2U82Y5 Ticket #: 0142192472548
AC126 YVR Terminal M – YYZ @23:30- 4’25” layover 2’30”
AC 1338 YYZ Terminal 1 -Kingstown SVD @09:25-14:35 5’10”
Avis Car Rental. 3 pm Argyle Int Airport. CA$105
Colonarie River. After leaving the airport, I turned right to go up the highway on the east side of the island to this river. On the way, I passed through a lively town with almost everyone in town out to see the football game. They were sitting on rough “bleachers” across the highway with several food stands. There is little flat land here and this is one of the oddest football pitches – about half the size of a normal pitch and on a rolling piece of ground.
The river is a small very rocky creek, but probably the biggest river on the island.
I arrived at the apartment at about 6 pm, turned on the AC and went to sleep. I had probably had less than an hour of sleep on my two flights and short stop in Toronto.
ON Smithy’s Apartment, Brighton CA$54 AirBnB. A little out of the way and down some narrow back roads, this is a lovely apartment with everything one could want.
Day 2 Mon Apr 22
Drive around the island.
KINGSTOWN
Cathedral of the Assumption. The exterior was so black and the odd tower with all the small towers made me think it was a ruin. But it is lovely inside – a T shape with nice Ways of the Cross – painted bas reliefs behind glass in a simple frame.
Leone Church of Zion, Leone. Marked UCKG St Vincent & Grenadines. A bright blue 2 story church. It was unfortunately closed.
Fort Charlotte. Out of the way and on top of a small mountain, it was closed for renos. A worker let me in. Walk past the wall, through a gate and climb the simple bastion. Free
St Vincent Botanical Gardens
Rock Art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Tentative WHS (18/06/2012).
The Petroglyphs in Layou are located a short distance inland from the Leeward Highway in Layou. It is a short walk down to the creek and the large black basalt boulder overhanging the steam. Three great faces – two small round (eyes and mouth) and a large triangular face with ears and a nose. Very unusual. 5EC
Cumberland Forest Reserve
Vermont Nature Trail. In the picturesque Buccament Valley within the St. Vincent Parrot Reserve (Central Forest Reserve), the trail is approximately 2 miles (3.5 km) long, and winds through lush primary and secondary rainforest and plantations to ascend to a lookout. See the famous St. Vincent Parrot in its natural habitat. I walked up the paved path and then about 500m of the trail. It was very hot and I didn’t have enough time to finish. I didn’t see a parrot. $5 EC,
Dark View Falls. 25 km from the petroglyphs, the road here was narrow and tortuous as it climbed up and over everything. Park and walk about 4 min to the lower falls crossing a bamboo suspension bridge. The falls is about 25 m high. A stone swimming pool is just after the falls. Cross the creek and climb stairs to the second fall, about the same height. 5EC
I drove a few km past the waterfall turned to the beginning of the Soufriere Cross Country trail, walked a few hundred metres on the trail, and then returned.
The La Soufrière National Park. Tentative WHS (18/06/2012). St Vincent is one of a chain of active volcanic islands known as the Lesser Antilles caused by the subduction (underthrusting) of the Atlantic Ocean floor below the Caribbean Sea floor. La Soufriere volcano in the north is the only active volcano on the island and one of 20 other live volcanoes located in the Lesser Antilles.
La Soufriere occupies almost one-third of the island and has hot springs, several craters and dry rivers. La Soufrière has erupted in 1718, 1812, 1814, 1902-1903, 1971-72 and 1979. Loss of life was recorded in the 1812 (58) and 1902-03 (1500). St Vincent has a volcanic history of 2.7 million years. There are at least 3 extinct volcanic centres on the island located to the south of La Soufriere.
National Museum. A small museum in downtown Kingstown. The only exhibits are pottery, most from the Saladoid people from 100-1500 AD. Most are broken but there are some large unusually shaped bell pots. 5EC
I returned the car to Avis at the airport. Gas for the day costs 100EC or about US$35 (16.4EC/imperial gallon, the most expensive gas in the Caribbean). A taxi into town was 91EC (US$34). You could walk 400 m out to the road (all up a big road in the heat) to catch a very cheap share van. I ended up getting picked up on the road just outside the airport and hitchhiked into Kingstown. They dropped me off at the ferry with 1 1/2 hours to spend.
Kingstown – Bequia Express ferry – Depart 6 pm (8, 10:30, 1, 4, 6. Sat 8, 11, 5, 6). 25EC, one hour. I was met at the ferry by the taxi driver I had for the next day. 25 EC
GRENADINES (Bequia, Union, Canouan)
An archipelago of 32 islands and cays, to the south.
ON Cherryhill Apartment, Hamilton, Port Elizabeth. CA$111. +1 784-531-2309.floydepatterson21@gmail.com A huge complete apartment, much more than I needed.
Day 3 Tue Apr 23
Grenadines Island Group. Tentative WHS: (18/06/2012)
BEQUIA
Rent a taxi (he came at 11 am), see all the sites in Bequia, and drop off at the airport.
Fort Hamilton. North of Port Elizabeth and 300 feet above Admiralty Bay, it was a British fort constructed in the late 1700s that protected the harbour from American privateers and French marauders. The fort was named after Alexander Hamilton, who was born on Nevis in 1755. His father James lived on Bequia between 1774 and 1794. Today, the fort is gone; the spot is simply a breezy place with a gazebo to enjoy a great view. The road is very steep and winding.
Lower Bay Beach. A 300 m long expanse of yellow sand on the same bay of Bequia town.
Friendship Beach. This yellow sand beach must be at least one km long, encircling the entire bay.
Bequia Maritime Museum/Bequia Heritage Museum. Very out of the way, there are 5 boats, an anchor and a huge wood tiller outside. Inside is some history, ethnographic exhibits, pots and fishing equipment. 25EC
Note it is only open from 9-1 weekdays.
Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. The owner randomly collects freshly hatched turtles from the beach and puts them into the basin until they’re 6 or 7 years old. The owner claims he then releases them. Animal welfare guidelines state that turtles in captivity should be released at the age of 1 year. The tanks are small and dirty, there are too many turtles, people touch them, and dead animals are in the tanks. This is hardly a “sanctuary”, it’s more like a tourist trap. The owner is unwell and the staff is not knowledgeable. 15EC
Note that this is incorrectly marked on Google Maps. It is not in the town but on the south of the east peninsula.
Flights
Grenadine-Air.com flight 609 Flight#314DFC11 Bequia BQU – BGI (Barbados) @14:10-14:55
British Airways BGI-LHR @17:05-06:20 +1 8’15” US$757
Get In
By plane. Argyle International Airport (SVD). Most flights are relatively local, mostly flying to nearby islands such as Canouan, St. Lucia, Barbados, and Saint Kitts.
Barbados: Avianica, Air Antilles, Air France, Condor. UK: British Airways
By boat. Very few cruises stop in the country and the vast majority of travellers come to the country either by aeroplane or yacht.
Get Around. The island is relatively small, but the mountainous landscape makes it difficult to get around. The main highways run along the coasts and as such it is necessary to drive around the whole of the island to get from one side to the other. The road is narrow and tortuous.
By bus. Vans are the bus service. They ride fast and recklessly, hence you get a free rollercoaster ride for the fare. Many have graphics on the front and play loud music. Driving is on the left.
By plane. SVG Air. Direct to Barbados. +784 458 4380
By ferry. Bequia Express Ferry. Departs Bequia – M-F 6:30:8:30 9:30, 1, 4:30. Sat 6:30, 8:30, 1, 4:30
Rock Art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Tentative WHS (18/06/2012).
The Petroglyphs in Layou are located a short distance inland from the Leeward Highway in Layou.
Description
| Name of site | Latitude | Longitude |
| The 13 Stones | 13˚17 ̒29˝N | 61˚14 ̒52˝W |
| Petit Bordel | 13˚16 ̒51˝N | 61˚14 ̒56˝W |
| Barrouallie | 13˚14 ̒07˝N | 61˚16 ̒31˝W |
| Mount Wynne | 13˚13 ̒08˝N | 61˚16 ̒39˝W |
| Buccament | 13˚11 ̒20˝N | 61˚16 ̒00˝W |
| Sharpes Stream | 13˚09 ̒49˝N | 61˚13 ̒24˝W |
| Indian Bay | 13˚08 ̒02˝N | 61˚12 ̒29˝W |
| Yambou 1 | 13˚09 ̒15˝N | 61˚08 ̒58˝W |
| Colonarie | 13˚14 ̒32˝N | 61˚07 ̒55˝W |
The rock art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in the form of petroglyphs engraved or rubbed on isolated boulders and exposed rock faces largely composed of andesite. The country has some 18 recorded rock art sites distributed mainly in river valleys near the coast. One site is on a south coast peninsula and one is in a rock shelter. Two sites are in the Grenadines.
St. Vincent’s rock art depicts many features common to both Caribbean and rock art sites throughout the world. These features include many small, simple, anthropomorphic faces together with cup holes, polissoirs and patterns of geometric grooves.
Larger more complex faces show regional, stylistic characteristics in the Caribbean: dress and body decoration, double ears, ears joined to eyes and head-foot people.
The complex rayed heads found in St. Vincent are only found in South America. Spirals are the most common South American figure. They occur only in St. Vincent. The sheer size of some of the St Vincent engraved panels reflects the massive dioramas of South America.
Features like faces on ropes are shared only between St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.
Layou – largest petroglyph in the Lesser Antilles. 3 faces on a large black basalt boulder overhanging the creek.
Buccament – the main panel is engraved across the back wall of a rock shelter. It consists of two sets of abstract, script-like linear motifs forming rows eight metres: circles, spirals, dots and loops.
The rock art of the Caribbean provides evidence of people who migrated into the Caribbean in prehistoric times – an endpoint of a migration that began when the first hominids left Africa. The people who reached South America took the longest journey in prehistory over almost 2 million years. They came via Asia crossing over the Bering land bridge and south through North and Central America. Finally, in 3000 BC they reached St. Vincent over the next 5000 years.
La Soufriere Cross Country Trail. Goes from sea level up to the summit of La Soufriere Volcano (4048ft/ 1178m). The trail crosses the width of St Vincent, about 9 miles (15 km) long and can be walked from either the leeward or windward coast.
Windward (east) – the easiest and most popular side, which begins at the Rabacca trail head near Georgetown – two hours, 4 miles (6 km) long. The walk is moderately difficult, and a guide is mandatory for visitors. The summit is often covered in thick clouds, is cold, and the crater is difficult to see. Begin in the morning.
Leeward longer, more difficult and more overgrown. Since the hurricane in 22010, there have been many blowdowns and landslides. Most begin near Georgetown and few do the Leeward side. Keen hikers can walk the whole trail from coast to coast – about a 6-hour walk. At the summit, there is a small and difficult trail down into the crater which will add an extra two hours to the hike. The trails do not begin in towns or villages, so it is important to organize transport before you hike.
Distance from Kingstown: Beginning of windward trail: 26 miles (42 km) – 1 hour 20 minutes drive.
Tobago Cays Marine Park in the Grenadines. Sites where the movies The Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed.
Petit St Vincent. M@P:
Tobago Cays Marine Park
Islands
MUSTIQUE
UNION
CANOUAN
Canouan Anglican Church
MAYEAU XL
Saltwhistle Bay beach