Kumar and Corinne picked us up at about 8:30am. The loose plan was to drive up the windward side of the island (we have seen a little of the leeward coast by land, and all of it by sea). First stop was the gas station, then off towards the east coast.
St. Vincent is not one of the more polished islands. Many other islands have a much more developed tourism sector. What St. Vincent does have is a rough beauty that hasn’t been formed by or molded by anyone. The core of this island is still quite agricultural, even if they don’t have the markets they once used to have. It looks like there are efforts to develop new crops to adapt to what may make money for the farmers. It is said that marijuana is the biggest cash crop on St. Vincent, but at least that market is not affected by trade protectionism, just the fact that it is illegal in most places. Legal crops are being explored.
This is a stunningly beautiful island. Vistas that have as much “wow” factor as anyone could ask for. The rough agriculture that the geography forces them to is a lesson in hard work. Women bent over in the hot sun working the ginger fields, men working with “cutlasses” (machetes) to clean the fields and as their general work tool. Things haven’t changed all that much in a century, except for the crops and who is the recipient of the fruits of the labour. Far from the cultivated fields that most of us are used to, many of the crops here are planted on a kind of terrace arrangement, to compensate for the steep slopes. Fortunately, the soil is excellent, which is a blessing when so much work has to go into the crops in the first place. It is no surprise that young people aren’t interested in becoming farmers.
It’s interesting to see the new airport they are building, big enough for jets. Tourism is the big hope for this island, according to the government, like it often is for the islands. The current airport can take turboprops, but nothing larger. The new development already has the terminal building built, but the runways are a little way from completion. The big hurdle is the need to bridge a river… not so bad until it goes into flood mode, then it turns into a monster. The other problem is that while they are building the airport, there has been very little development for resorts or places for these planeloads of people to stay and vacation.
Back in December St. Vincent had a lot of damage due to heavy rains. Water shortages, roads washed out, everything. The damage is still very evident, as it takes a lot of time to recover from that kind of damage. We saw some bridges that were wiped out or severely damaged, including one that is “broken” in the middle, but still used (it collapsed in the middle which has made it somewhat functional). Life goes on, but it requires the occasional detour here.
We definitely want to explore the island more, and plan to make more stops here. It would make it more accessible to cruising boats if it wasn’t a crap shoot to check in on the main island. We had it that Customs and Immigration were both not available in Chateaubelair. Wallilabalou has Customs and Immigration available from 5-6pm, and will charge you overtime, even though that is the only time they are available there (and it is a reasonably high fee by island standards); the aggressive boat boys are also a big turn off. The multiple stops to check in from Young’s Island Cut is not conducive to repeat visitors, unless they have time on their hands, or wait until after 4pm and then pay overtime fees. It is no surprise that yachties skip the big island and go straight to Bequia where Customs and Immigration is available without difficulty. Which is a shame, as St. Vincent has much to offer, and at reasonable costs.