Tuesday 20-March: It was quite loud in the aft cabin last night. Even with our usual ear plugs in, the waves slapping on the underside of the hull seemed to challenge our sleeping. So we are awake relatively early and not feeling too fresh.
Today we will explore the east coast of St.Vincent in our RAV4 car, which we have hired for 3 days from rent-a-wreck. We leave Cloudy Bay with everything firmly locked and a cryptic warning message on the hatch, for any light fingered persons to read. Not sure if it would be effective, but no harm in trying. On the local cruising nets we have been hearing of multiple thefts, mainly dinghies and outboards, and mainly in St.Lucia; so we are trying to be as careful as possible.
By 10am we are on the road. There is only one proper road on the island which runs near to the coast, but does not go all the way around. There is a gap with no road on the north side. So today we will be up and back down the Atlantic coast. Tomorrow we will do the same on the west coast.
Similar to Grenada, there are menacing minibuses on the road, which drive like lunatics. Each one has silly customized wide wheels, a mural painted on the front, loud music inside and driven by a boy-racer who seems to be practicing for formula-1. Goodness knows how older people travel in them. They drive about 2m behind you honking their horns as if they own the road. Glen continuously pulls over to let them pass, hoping to find them upside down around the next bend! But somehow they never seem to lose control…. luckyly for the passengers.
We pass the new international airport (opened in 2017) cut out of sandy cliffs and long black-sand beaches covered in rotting Atlantic sea-weed. The further we go north the less population we see – just the occasional village in a valley. St.Vincent is known for its agricultural produce and it’s clear that all kinds of fruits and veg are grown here. But it’s not on any big scale, it’s just small holdings maintained by very manual labor.
Away from the coast, the land slopes gently upwards towards the several volcanic craters that are hidden under the clouds in the middle of the island. On the slopes of the volcano is lush jungle, as you might imagine a scene from Jurassic Park.
Through Owia village we are waved down by a policeman. Oh dear, what did we do wrong? But he only wants a lift to Fancy, the next village up the road. Our RAV4 is behaving more like a Citroen 2CV up the steep hilly road, and once the policeman joins us, we wonder if we’ll actually have to get out and push!
Our first stop is in Owia village where there is a “salt pond” on the coast. 10EC and what seems like hundreds of steps down we exit onto a rock-cut platform above the Atlantic waves, where a large natural pool has formed. There are several people swimming there and occasionally a larger wave comes over the protective rocks and into the pool.
On the way back through Sandy Bay village, we stop at a small colorful barbers shop, Nappy Cuts, where Glen bravely decides to have an over-due hair cut! The hairdresser is just a young lad, and he says that he only uses an electric hair trimmer, not scissors. We should have bailed-out there and then, but Glen says what-the-hell, let’s go for it! While the trimming is in progress, the young barber’s girlfriend and father distract Oana, showing her the things they are making out of various dried leaves – coasters, dinner mats and even a handbag. Meanwhile, the barber seems to be going around Glen’s head trying to even up the trim, rather unsuccessfully! He is starting to look like a GI-Joe, so Oana calls a stop to the proceedings before her hubby needs head-polish. Outside we take some GoPro and can’t stop giggling at the result. Still, at 10EC this has to be the cheapest trim ever!
On our way back southwards, we head inland on a very narrow road which takes us to the beginning of the 12 miles hiking trail to the highest volcanic crater, Mount Soufiere. There is no one there and the trail disappears upwards into the jungle. We fly the drone to see if we can capture the jungle scene, but the light is not so good as the sun is shrouded by the clouds over the volcano.
Back in the south of the island we again head inland to the Mesopotamia Valley where most of the fruit and veg is grown. We get wonderful views down into this fertile green valley as the sun is setting. And the other way, out to the south, we can see Bequia Island.
Even though we have only driven 100Km we feel like we have completed a marathon in our RAV4. So we go back to Cloudy Bay for a very late lunch as the sun sets, and settle in for a quiet evening.
