11 February 2013 | Sandy Island, Grenada, 12’29.06N 61’ 28.85W- Saline Bay, Mayreau, 12’38.02N 61’23.84W
Word association is an amazing thing. If you say Guinness someone will probably say Ireland. If you say tartan the image that pops into your head is of Scotland and if you talk about binge drinking on Friday nights where girls are clearly not wearing enough clothes you’d say Bolton or Newcastle. If you were to talk of azure blue sparking water, white sandy beaches where the sand is so soft it feels like silk and palm tress swaying in a cooling breeze that hasn’t seen land for 300 miles the crew of Ruffian would say St Vincent and the Grenadines.
We said goodbye to Grenada and moved into the beach playground of the fabled grenadines. We have taken in the luxury private resort island of Petit St Vincent, the island paradise of Union and the gateway to the Tobago Cays, Mayreau. Every island, although only a stones throw away from each other, are so different that they should be countries in their own right.
In the luxury resort island we found grumpy Europeans who were paying upwards of $1000 a night to look at Ruffian and although they may have been minted the money didn’t seem to make them happy. Union was an island that bustled with the smallest international airport we have ever seen and fruit stalls that are so bight they make the vibrant fruit look dull, whilst Mayreau was so chilled out that if one of the islands stray dogs so much as woke up and rolled over it would make front page news.
Whilst on Mayreau, one of the stray dogs did wake up and we adopted him for the day. We’d seen a map, of sorts, and thought that we’d be able to hike every hill and every track on the island. So after making front page news the happy foursome of Fiona, Iain, Larry and our new adopted friend, Schlong (we’ll let you imagine about how he got that name), hiked. The map turned out to be a bit of a work of fiction as some of the paths simply stopped in the middle of nowhere but some of them took us to the tops of hills where we had amazing views of the Tobago Cays and also to deserted beaches that ran for the length of the island sheltered behind a protective reefs.
For those of you who know Iain and Fiona well will know that the discovery of deserted beaches with azure blue water spells mischief. Onto the beach we walked, there were no footprints in the sand, no houses overlooking the bay and simply no sign of man. Quick as a flash, all clothes were shed and into the water we ran to play in an environment that was just so welcoming. Upon exiting the water the issue of drying oneself and hiking back to the boat presented itself. Just think salt and chafe!
On the hike home the island would give us a final gift. In our happy way we bid a local couple a ‘Good Evening’ and started to chat. Out of a bag they then produced what can only be described as dried poo. After a little encouragement we cracked open the ‘dried poo’ and found a super sweet super sticky gooey yummyness. We’d been introduced to the delights and had been given handfuls of Tamarind pods. Whenever we now go walking we are going to be on the search for these pods of sweetness.
Mayreau is the ideal hopping off point to get to the fabled Tobago Cays and this is the playground that we will be hoping to take in over the next few days. We’ll then be following in the footsteps of Will & Kate by making our way north through Canouan, Mustique and Bequia which many say are the gems of the Caribbean.
The white palm fringed sandy beaches are everywhere.
We are sure that the superyachts were chuffed to bits to be anchoring by Ruffian.
Nothing in the Caribbean moves quickly. Except for a boat boy who has spotted a potential fare.
The fruit and veg stalls in Union were uber colourful and the proprietors uber grumpy.
This is one place that Fiona didn’t fancy snorkelling.
Upwind we go. At least the green water is nicely cooling.
Ruffian where she belongs.
Larry discovers the national tipple.
The Caribbean where the skies are big.
Walking off the beaten track. Thankfully, Schlong, our trusty companion showed us the right way to go.
Windward bay with Tobago Cays. This is worth the miles we’ve put in.
Look look. It’s a beached whale. Oh no it’s just Iain.
Fiona is both a princess and an angel. She even has a Ruffian style halo.