PORT ELIZABETH, Bequia -- An hour by ferry and nine miles south of
St. Vincent, Bequia (Beck-way) definitely rates a visit.
This is funky Caribbean, a seven-square-mile island where
fishing is a way of life, where whales are hunted (although rarely
caught) and model sailboats are the favorite souvenir.
I could have rented a car, but driving on the left is yet
another skill I don't possess, so I let Bill of Gideon's Taxi
Service be my guide. He's a middle-aged Bequian who fishes in his
free time and has no desire to ever leave his island.
"We don't get many Americans here," he said. "Most of our
visitors are Brits who stay in guest apartments for several weeks
at a time."
Bequia has six inns, small hotels and apartments, accounting for
approximately 70 of the 1,200 rooms throughout St. Vincent and the
Grenadines.
Although my room at the 27-room Friendship Bay Resort lacked all
amenities, including water pressure and an alarm clock, owner Lars
Abrahamsson has plans to renovate the guest rooms and expand the
villa units.
The resort's open-air beachfront restaurant and its bar with
wooden swing-type seats were packed at night with locals, guests,
several dogs and lots of kids.
It's not for everyone, but I had great fun.
Bill took me to Dawn's Creole Restaurant on Lo Bay Beach for a
lunch of fish-and-chips and Hairoun beer, the local brew from St.
Vincent. The beach was long, white and deserted.
Later, we passed a whaling museum, now closed, whose entrance
was a sunbleached arc of whale tusks.
"We hope the museum will reopen," Bill said. "It has historic
exhibits on the history of whaling on Bequia."
The whaling season runs from February through April. "We're only
allowed to take three whales for the entire island, and we haven't
caught one in years, but everyone tries," Bill said.
Indeed, it appeared that way. Wooden whaling boats and fishermen
lined every beach, preparing for the quest. Preparations included
new paint jobs for the handmade wooden boats with their steep
prows.
Definitely worth a visit is the Spring Studios, Pottery &
Art Gallery near Port Elizabeth, housed in the ruins of a
200-year-old sugar mill.
Light filtered in through arches in brick walls; potters'
wheels, artists' easels, clay sculptures and watercolor and oil
paintings lined the interior.
Two cobalt blue clay vases had "sold" tags on them. The buyer
was Mick Jagger, who owns a sumptuous villa on nearby Mustique.
Shackles still hang from the walls in two gallery rooms where
prisoners and slaves were kept in the mid 1800s.
The studio is open daily from November to the end of May.
My final stop was the Oldhegg Turtle Sanctuary in the rugged
northeastern part of Bequia where Orton (Brother) King tends to
endangered Hawksbill turtles.
Since he opened his sanctuary in 1995, King has saved more than
500 turtles, increasing what had been Bequia's dwindling turtle
population.
More than 200 turtles of all sizes and ages swim in giant tanks;
King calls many of them by name during his tour.
He charges no entry fee, but a minimum $5 donation helps cover
his operating costs.
To contact reporter Gay Nagle Myers, send e-mail to [email protected].
Get More!
For more details on this article, see Dwelling in solitude on St. Vincent.