Bequia Monday 5th June- 9th June
We had it all planned, we were going to have a few days exploring Bequia, maybe a day at the beach in the hammock too… well the wind is still so strong this morning and all day, gusting at 30 knots that we are not quite comfortable with leaving Mr X without supervision especially now that we have to leave the bimini up with the solar panels on top. Don’t really want to see them fly off really! So we tidy up and spend the day checking transits, reading and watching the goings on in the bay…Harbour TV, nothing like it. Hopefully, it will settle down and we will be able to go ashore tomorrow.
In the end, we spent 2 days on board, too much wind to leave Mr X, although the bimini and the anchor seem to be holding up ok, maybe we need to chill out.
We finally get to shore on Wednesday 7th June. First stop is to check in in Port Elizabeth, the main town of Bequia, nestled at the bottom of the bay. We are anchored off Princes Margaret Beach, just in front of Jack’s bar where we leave the dinghy. It is a nice walk to town long the cliff to start with, along the walkway, up some stairs to the wooded promontory with stunning views on the bay. On the other side, We are back on a white sand beach, bordered by bars and restaurants, all looking very inviting but desperately deserted. We like the whalebone with its bar stools made out of whale’s vertebrae and the Gingerbread hotel which is chocolate box pretty in pastel colours. The town proper starts with the church dark stones with white trim. I take a peak in the interior and find a man with a paint brush busy applying baby blue around windows and doors to match the colour of the pews. Along the main street plenty of little colourful shops and restaurants and on the main square a big emporium. The beach along the main street is strewn with all sort of vessels, mostly fishermen’s and other like the breadman’s who ply the harbour every morning to deliver freshly baked baguettes and croissants to the yatchies. It is busy on the ferry dock, loading and unloading. Not too many people at the customs and emigration office which doubles up as the post office, so formalities are quickly done. Next is the veg market further up in town. Only a few stall holders there, not many produce but it all looks good if a bit expensive. To entice us to buy more, we are given mangoes now in season, and passion fruits to try as well as a toffee tasting brown ball, I would tell you what it is called but can’t remember! Ian is doing the business with the boys whilst I have a chat with the ladies who have a far less forceful selling style. A quick detour by the tourist office, again not so useful, but we managed to get a map of the island with all the main roads, Not many trails are indicated and the lady suggest that we hire a guide if we want to go for walks. Guess we’ll have to make do with finding our way around, not so many roads anyway.
Back on Princess Margaret and we check up emails in Jacks before getting back on board. It is early afternoon and the sun has decided to put an appearance. We make the most of it by packing hammocks and swimming stuff and spend a few hours on the very deserted beach overlooking the bay.
Thursday 8th June
Mount pleasant is one of the highest peaks and not so far to walk, that is our destination today. We have to be on the road but it is quiet, not many cars. The slopes are steep bordered with loads of flowers, the flamboyants are magnificent all red flowers above and below where the fallen petals carpet the ground. Plenty of mango trees along the way shedding their fruits on the road and Ian is soon filling up a bag. We finally reach the top of mount pleasant, beautiful view of Mustique, Petit Nevis and other further islands. Shame the sky is overcast, the sea is gray but the view is still worth the climb. Getting back down, we found another road veering to the left, it is late morning and we need to find a nice spot for lunch. The road peters out soon enough and we follow a track which eventually leads us to a beach on the windward side of the island. The rocks and cliffs are battered by the waves and we spend our lunch staring at the incredible sight of huge rollers slamming on the beach covered by Sargasso’s seaweed. There are a few bits of rubbish tangled with the seaweed, heartbreaking to see. We definitely need to get rid of plastic. More wombling, Ian has spotted as fishnet’s float, well that is coming back to the boat! his excuse, he is cleaning up the beach. Some fragment of broken coral amongst the dry red leaves look particularly artful.
Time to make our way back towards Port Elizabeth. On the way Ian’s greed for the mangos is his undoing, as he leans down to pick one up, the plastic buoy (remember that!) swings round from his rucsac and clouts him on the side of the face. My sympathy is somewhat cancelled out by my mirth, as I chuckle away repeatedly while Ian twists his jaw around experimentally. Still too early to go home, we decide to go to the western point of admiralty bay, where nice sunset can be seen, won’t be today though. Along the road to Hamilton which is probably the less affluent part of the bay, still very pretty though and colourful. The climb is easy and we find the battery, canons aimed at the high sea. Fabulous view on the south end of the island.