We anchored this morning off the coast of Bequia (BEK-way), at 18 square kilometers the largest of the Grenadines in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Grenadines aren’t band mates of Anne Clark; they’re a string of small islands that, together with “the mainland” (as the island of Saint Vincent is called by SVG natives), form a nation in the eastern Caribbean – the 112th country on my life list.
Plenty of Caribbean islands tout themselves as “heaven on earth.” To me, Bequia has as good a claim as any, with its sun-spangled clear water, steep and lushly vegetated hills, beautiful harbor, and some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet.
This morning, Eric and I walked around the harbor, first heading to the left to a viewpoint at Fort Hamilton, then around to the right to Princess Margaret beach.
To reach the Fort, you have to walk in the road, but there is scant traffic and drivers are respectful of pedestrians.
The Fort is 1.7 km from the tender pier, and all but the last stretch is flat. (The last couple of hundred meters are steep, but the total elevation gain is only around 90 meters.) There’s lots to see along the way, including colorful houses and interesting shops, and everyone we passed wished us a genuine good morning.
From the Fort, you can see the entire sweep of the harbor and several of the neighboring islands.
After chatting for a bit with the genial proprietor of a stand selling clothing and other items, we headed back down to pick up the Belmont Walkway, a narrow sidewalk hugging the waterfront from the tender terminal to the headland, where it connects with the Princess Margaret Trail.
After following the Trail over some stairs, you reach the beach; the total walk from the tender terminal, like that to the Fort, is 1.7 km.
After grabbing lunch on the ship, I headed out on an excursion to the Bequia Heritage Museum, located in St. Hillary with beautiful views of Friendship Bay. If you’re interested in either the history and culture of this stunning island or the process of boatbuilding, this is a must-see attraction. The Museum is small, consisting of two modest buildings, but it’s packed with relics and information from the first settlements on the island (c. 300 CE) to the present day.
We began the tour in the blissfully air-conditioned Annexe, which houses artefacts from the pre-European era along one wall and from the colonial era along the other. Although the collection isn’t enormous, the Museum’s director, Nicole, brought it to life with her enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge, which she shared with the aid of a stimulating Powerpoint presentation.
The second building contains three boats. Two were used during the heyday of the island’s whaling industry, and the third is a traditional Amerindian dugout canoe. This building also has a variety of tools and equipment used in the island’s maritime history; for many years Bequia served as a vital repair point for ships because of its excellent harbor and skilled boatbuilders. (There’s also a recently decommissioned whaling boat outside the Annexe.)
If you’re not a cruise ship excursion, check the operating hours by visiting bequiatourism.com and clicking on the link for the Heritage Museum.
From the Museum, we drove to the top of Mount Pleasant, at 270 meters the highest point on the island. From the top, there are lovely views of neighboring islands, with the bonus of a soundtrack provided by maa-ing goats from nearby compounds.
Although I’d never heard of Bequia until this trip, I’m very happy to have visited. Perhaps I’ll return some day, and meet some other members of the band as well.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a post from Grenada.
