Bequia – Island of the Clouds

One of the great things about sailing on a small cruise ship is that you are able to get in to ports that the larger ships are not able to both physically and because the infrastructure isn’t there to support the larger number of passengers. Today was one of those stops on the Island of Bequia, the second largest island in the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is a tiny island of only 7 square miles although it is the largest of the Grenadines and with a population of approximately 5300, the most populated.

From just a mini-exposure to the island it seems like it has a laid back lifestyle. The people are of African, Scottish, Irish and Carib descent and in the 1860s there was an influx of white Barbadians. I’ve only recently discovered that I have DNA that places my ancestors in Scotland for the most part so I figure it’s natural that I would feel comfortable here.

The island’s name means Island of the Clouds in ancient Arawak, but its mountains are lower than that of it’s parent island of St Vincent, 10 miles away, and so it gets much less rain than St Vincent. There are even cacti on the island.

Some famous people are connected to the island including Blackbeard who came here with his ship “Queen Anne’s Revenge” for repairs and Princess Margaret, for whom a beautiful beach is named. She had a home on nearby Mustique Island and she visited Bequia in the 1950s.

There is a long tradition of whaling on the island, and Bequia is one of only 4 places in the world where it is still legal to do whaling. However, they are only allowed to use traditional methods including a row boat and hand thrown spear and the limit is 3 per year per citizen. There are rarely any whales caught now and the government is helping to move the people away from whaling and into another of its traditions, ship/boat building. There is a Whaling Museum on the island as well as a famous restaurant, called the Whaleboner, whose entrance is festooned with the jaw bones of a whale, and the bar stools are vertebrae from a 75 ft. humpback caught in 1995

There is some agriculture, primarily Arrowroot powder, but also coconuts, sweet potatoes and ornamental flowers and there is also an effort to re-establish banana exports. Tourism and fishing are the other industries.

As with many of the islands, their governance is a parliamentary democracy in the Westminster style. The only difference between their government and ours is that they have only one house, which consists of 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators.

One of Bequia’s neighbouring islands is Mustique which is a private island that creates a buzz for it’s current and past inhabitants. In two seasons of The Crown, Princess Margaret is shown to travel to her home on Mustique when she needed to get away. She does in fact own property there and vacationed on the island starting in the 1960s. Mick Jagger and David Bowie have properties there and Prince William and Princess Katherine have also been know to vacation there. Some of the passengers from the Star Pride went on an excursion that circumnavigated the island and then stopped for lunch on the only public restaurant on the island. I haven’t yet talked to anyone that went, but I’ll be interested to hear about it.

Today we are anchored in Admiralty Bay, near the village of Port Elizabeth which acts as Bequia’s unofficial capital. Some of our groups went to see Fort Hamilton built in the 1700s to protect the harbour from pirates and French Raiders. Star Pride’s tenders dock in Port Elizabeth and will go back and forth to the ship every 15 minutes all day. It’s about a 10 minute trip each way.

I started my day with a snorkel trip on a fast power boat that took us 20 minutes or so from the tender dock to a bay on another of the smaller islands. It was a little wavy but no serious currents today in this spot that sported a reef sticking out into the bay. It provided some great fish spotting. I saw one fish I’ve never seen before which was almost translucent with purple highlights. I tried using my iPhone in a waterproof pouch to take underwater pictures with not much success. I had trouble seeing if it was taking the pictures and I kept accidentally switching it to video mode. But it was worth a try and I did get a couple of pics that give a sense of what it looked like and one not so good one of the purple fish.

On our way back we were dropped off for an hour at Princess Margaret Beach for an hour to swim, suntan or have something to eat at the waterfront restaurant there. It is a beautiful clean beach which I walked along from one end to the other. Then it was back on the tender and for a quick shower and lunch and then back onto the island to explore Port Elizabeth.

Port Elizabeth has one Main Street, Front Street that is two lanes, one for vehicles and one for pedestrians. There are some lovely shops and restaurants along the way. Artisans have colourful displays of their work under the trees in a park near the pier, with no hassle at all from the artists expecting a purchase. One that struck my interest was a wood worker who made miniature, brightly coloured boats.

Along the lanes for cars and pedestrians there are perhaps a dozen small stores and restaurants, all of which are just so cute. There is a famous shop selling pizza that claims to be the prettiest pizza shop in the Caribbean or perhaps the world. And it might just be, given it’s artfully painted walls situated next to a huge bougainvillea. At the end of front street there is a lovely surprise.

All beaches on Bequia are public and from the end of Front Street there is a path, called the Belmont Walkway, with what has to be one of the most beautiful views for a path in the Caribbean. It takes you to 3 beaches, the second of which is the famous Princess Margaret Beach. The path is narrow and in places needs repair, but it runs along in front of some private properties, restaurants, small resorts and shops. The views of the bay with boats galore bobbing in the harbour, and colourful houses lining the hillsides is pretty spectacular. I walked along the pathway, dodging waves and other walkers almost to Princess Margaret Beach, stopping along the way to sample a delightful lime homemade ice cream. Such a lovely spot I was sorry to have to grab the tender back to the ship.

This evening was a cocktail reception for passengers who have been on more than one cruise with Windstar. Held on the open deck with free flowing champagne, and wine, with some nibblies that I didn’t get over to, it was quite lovely and civilized. And for dinner this evening I was invited to attend the table of the Chief Engineer for the ship, and spent an enjoyable evening with the company of he and 5 other guests one of whom was a former Governor of Vermont. This is done frequently throughout the cruises with various different ships officers.

Quite the day. Tomorrow we’re on to Pigeon Island which is part of St. Lucia for our second iconic Windstar event, the beach BBQ.