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We explored the island riding the maxi taxis. Our first excursion was on the Mesopotamia Valley route. We rode it all the way to the end in the town of Mesopotamia. The valley is steep and incredibly lush. Every square inch seems to be planted with banana and nutmeg trees. |
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We picked a busy week to explore the agricultural section of the Island. There was a banana ship in Kingstown harbor, everyone on the Island was scrambling to fill it. This banana packing house was full of people filling cases with the bananas being delivered from the fields. |
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The next trip was trip was up the rugged Atlantic coast to Georgetown. This picture was taken from the window of the taxi of the coastline. The roads are a legacy of the British Empire, however they were built 100 years ago with donkey carts in mind, not Formula One minivans. This road features a tunnel, built to access the large plantations in the Georgetown area. |
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Georgetown was St. Vincent's second largest city until April13, 1979 when the volcano blew. Many thousands of people were displaced and the town was heavily damaged. Eleven years later, the damage was still very evident, many people did not return to their homes. We walked around Georgetown for two hours before our journey back to Villa. |
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This is the volcano that did it. La Soufrière covers the north end of the Island. Most of the Atlantic side of the island is covered by the Rabacca Farms estate. Here La Soufrière towers above the banana trees of Rabacca. |
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It's Thursday morning, and that means the Grenadines mailboat, M/V Snapper, will be heading south at 10:30 (sometime this morning, island time). Much of what the southern Grenadines needs travels on this boat, and the trucks are lining up to load it. The trip all the way to Union Island cost $5 EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars) per person. We ponied up the extra $2.50 EC for first class (that's $4.50 US dollars total). First class passengers had access to the boat deck from where these pictures were taken. |
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Bequia is the closest and largest of
the Grenadine Islands. In 1990, Bequia had no airport,
but was served by the large ferry M/V Admiral
several times a day (it left on time, too.) The Maxann-O (background) and the Friendship Rose (foreground) also served Bequia. These wooden schooners were built on Bequia and carried freight and a few passengers everyday. These are working sailing ships, not museum exhibits for tourists. They were an rare and impressive sight in 1990. |
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A better view of the Friendship Rose |