The Caribbean tour (2). Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

May 5, 2018

Saint Vincent

It was my favourite Caribbean island – the least visited, least touristic, least commercial. This is where you can relax, play pirates, talk to people and not get handed the bill afterwards.

It is a volcanic island. The beaches are sandy but black. Behind me in the above photo is La Soufriere Saint Vincent – a still-active volcano. The last time it erupted was in 1979. No people were injured. You can walk there with a local guide, and even get down into the crater of the volcano. We planned to do that, but it happened to be a cloudy and rainy day, so the hiking trip was cancelled. But we had no hard feelings as we fell in love with the hotel and community living there, and the whole area around it, and were happy to have an excuse just to stay there for one day doing nothing.

Richmond Vale centre at Chateaubelair was the most inspiring and exciting discovery during this Caribbean trip. We booked a room just looking for a hotel close to the volcano for an early morning hiking start, but upon arrival discovered that it was not a simple hotel, but a whole activity centre with a fantastic multinational community of volunteers living there. Are you fed up with your current mundane life? Do you wish for some months in a peaceful area, which is isolated but still within an hour’s travel from civilization? We found that most people came from Europe and the Americas (who else would be so eager for a break?), but everybody is welcome.

We met a group of students doing their gap volunteer work there, as well middle-aged advocates, businessmen, scientists, people with an impressive career back home – in general, many intelligent people who have put their routine lives on hold for a while and come here to do something else. They cook and eat together, and get their hands dirty and grow fruits and vegetables themselves; some study and do experiments with the plants. They plan their daily lives all together like one big family: they clean and wash the dishes themselves, run a little business renting out some rooms for tourists, and organise hikes to the volcano, diving lessons, and horse riding activities, which generate some extra cash for extra food and maintenance of the centre.

The area itself is breathtaking. It is erected on the top of the hill, with the sea and volcano view. It is 20 min walk to a fishing village Chateaubelair, from where you can take public transport to get around the island. The camp is nothing luxurious, but clean and very cosy, well taken care of.

Another great thing about this community is that it promotes and participates in various social projects. So if watching spectacular sunsets, growing veggies and cleaning rooms is not enough, you can join Richmond Vale Academy’s activities. From what I witnessed, a group of people gathers every day to discuss various ideas and write projects to help developing countries. On the website of the Richmond Vale Academy, they say that it is an educational institution with the aim of training activists to fight global warming and global poverty. I found it so appealing to combine the rest from urban life with this brainstorming on how to address global issues.

I cannot sing the praises of this place highly enough – it was a fantastic discovery. The whole atmosphere there was inspiring and very relaxing even though we stayed in Richmond Vale for only two nights.

Being further from touristic places has its advantages (pleasure mainly) and some inconveniences. For example, on Saint Vincent island, public transport is chaotic, without a precise schedule, and when finally we got into those minibuses, the experience was scarier than highest and fastest Disneyland rides.

They drive incredibly fast on the island’s narrow, curvy roads on high cliffs which are not protected by any fences around. When I asked if any cars ever drop from those cliffs, the driver calmly said that it has never happened to him (ahaha, naturally), but yes, there was one car yesterday, another last week, etc. After one hour drive, I was not only sick to my stomach but literally weeping from all the adrenaline of that ride. An alternative solution is a taxi or asking locals for a ride in a private car.

In the photo below I am sitting at a public transport stop for the second hour, losing any hope of seeing it coming, and realising that there are already too many people to fit in one minibus. Interestingly local people spoke English, but because of the particular dialect, I could not understand a thing of what they were discussing between themselves. When talking to tourists though, they used to switch to regular English, and communication was never a problem.

On St.Vincent island, the movie Pirates of the Caribbean starring Johnny Depp was made. Today it is free to visit the abandoned filming area with all the tools left behind.

Talking about the movies, if you have seen The Bounty (with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson, made in 1984) or have read about this legendary mutiny on the boat, it is interesting that the original goal of that expedition was for Captain Bligh to take breadfruit plants from Tahiti and bring them to the Caribbean to feed communities there. So the legendary captain, as the movie and book tells, was kicked out of the boat by his rebelling crew, but he survived, repeated the trip (real story, not covered by the movie) and finally brought breadfruit from Tahiti to Saint Vincent. Today breadfruit is available all around Saint Vincent island. If you have never seen one, it is a massive round fruit that grows on trees. It is not sweet and tastes very similar to potatoes; people boil or bake it just like we do with potatoes.

Just before taking a boat to the Grenadines, we had a short walk in the capital Kingstown. It is small, just a few hours’ walk-around tour.

Bequia island

In the Grenadines island, we had our only opportunity to relax and enjoy the seaside & snorkelling for a few days.

The Bequia island is way more touristic than Saint Vincent. The beaches are sandy and white, and there are many ports for incoming yachts. We met some Europeans who had been living in yachts and travelling around the Caribbean region for 5-10 years. The pleasure of being a wealthy pensioner, I guess.