A warning, this report is a bit long but wanted to give the islands that we visited a nice write up as they deserve it along with the wonderful people who live there.
A trip to the Grenadines are the best FF mile tickets one could use!!! The best part of our vacation was the wonderful island friends we made; and by surprise our paths would continually cross on one island or the next; reminding us what a delight to have met them. Other highlights were walking everywhere, up every mountain or hillside taking it all in, catching fish either by hand, rod or hand line, getting a fire going and cooking up fresh lobster on the beach, watching the guys play basketball at sunset on the top of the mountain, catching a sail (instead of the ferry) from one island to the next, changing our plans daily to just go with the flow, going to the whaling station seeing the whale they caught, each of these giving us a spiritual awareness so hard to describe its just magical to say the least!
Our itinerary April 1st thru April 11, 2006
Departed 830am Sat 4/1/06 Orlando-san juan-st lucia-canouan arriving 530pm
Canouan - Sat night/Sunday and first ½ of Monday
Mayreau - 2nd ½ of Monday/Tues/Wed/Thurs
Bequia - Fri/Sat/Sun/Monday till 6pm
Canouan – Monday night
Departed 730 am Tues 4/11/06 from Canouan-st lucia-san juan-orlando – arrive Orlando 835pm
Flights on AA were pretty good – considering we used FF miles we had no hiccups.
Leaving Orlando was on time but AA changed our return flight a few weeks before our trip; instead of arriving home at 330pm; they changed it to 835pm with a 4 hour layover in san juan instead of 1 hr. – I called AA to try and change it back but they said the 1135am flight was no longer on the schedule – low and behold when we arrived in san juan I checked the monitors as we were waiting to go thru security heading to customs and seen they in fact did have an 1135am flight departing that would arrive Orlando at 330pm!!! A breeze getting thru security since we only travel with carry-on luggage we ran to the gate and asked the female agent if we could get on the flight; she informed us the plane was already boarded and they were getting ready to depart, I informed her we were suppose to be on the flight but they changed our tickets and please please cant we get on that flight – that we have our luggage 2 small carry-ons, you could tell she was thinking about it, I was shooting “the look” at my husband so he could charm her then all of a sudden a male agent walked up and interrupted by stating “no, the flight is leaving, the plane is full, no”, he was persistent and speaking in a demeaning tone, in which now made the female say “sorry but no”, I still pleaded but it got us no-where, so we were not happy to say the least with a 4 hour layover getting us home after dark was the PITS! At least on the flight down we only had to wait 2 hours, slam a couple beers and all is well, but you can only consume X amount of beers in 4 hours and after a long vacation of partying we couldn’t get but a 6 pack down so 4 hours took forever to come. Next time we’ll venture outside the airport and get some fresh air, instead we seen the whole san juan airport walking from each gate wing to the next to make the time go by.
Guest Houses-Canouan - Crystal Apts for 2 nights (across the street from Ocean View Hotel)
Great little house Na’nann rents out as 2 separate units – with a covered porch, picnic table & chairs.
It’s a small cottage type house; with 2 sliding glass entry doors w/key lock, it has a major wall that separates the house into 2 units, (she has 2 houses next to eachother set up this way)
Comes with Full kitchen, big fridge, stove/oven, sink, 1 full size bed w/mosquito net and 1 twin bed also
Standing rotating fan, full bathroom, sink, toilet and shower but no hot water – but being its so warm daytime and night you really didn’t needed it -
Mayreau – Dennis Hideway for 4 nights (suppose to be for 3 but having such a great time stayed for 4)
Great 8 room hotel/guest house that Dennis runs, full bathroom, toilet, shower no hot water, ceiling fan w/temperature control for a/c, small fridge in the room, 2 twin beds, small lounge couch, big closet w/small night stand, great balcony with 2 chairs overlooking the grounds with a sea view, in the building next door to the guest rooms is the internet café on the 1st floor with aprox 4-5 computers, 2nd floor is the restaurant w/small bar, and the basement is the laundry/storage room, there is a small gazebo in the garden that is the honor bar where would we congregate drinking beers deciding “where to next”
Bequia - Keegans Guest House for 3 nights – Lower Bay
Located a few steps from the beach; the main building is the bar/restaurant/and several rooms is on one side of the street and on the beach side is a gazebo/bar with aprox 10 covered picnic tables with concrete steps leading to lower bay beach – we had room #7 located on 2nd floor, wrap around balcony with chairs with sea and sunset view, louvered hand crank windows to let in the cool breeze (no screens), 1 big room with queen size bed w/mosquito net, ceiling fan, standing rotating fan, small color tv, small fridge, dresser w/several drawers and closet, there is a wall that separates the bedroom from the bathroom and another wall which separates the toilet and shower both having a curtain for the door; sink, and the plus is hot water operable with a switch for on/off
Sat 4/1/06
An all day travel-left Orlando 830-arrive san juan around 1130am; got some beers ate our homemade sandwiches having a good time talking with a group of 35-40 that were heading to st croix for a wedding-what a fun group to chat with; helped making the time go by, good flying weather we had awesome views of the Caribbean sea, had to stop in st lucia to let about 20 people off, leaving just 3 of us to Canouan; so we jumped from seat to seat taking in the views of the pitons (?) in st lucia and the beautiful mountains; we were just awestruck! Then trying to figure out what island is below us, I think Union, St Vincent and others ??; and about 20-30 min we landed into Canouan.
Canouan airport is very very small, 1 building with 2 entrances 1 for departure/1 arrivals-only 1 person inside to check your paperwork; not even 5 minutes we were on our way, however, the other gentlemen that was on the plane with us was not happy; he asked for his luggage they said “what luggage, there is none on the plane”, telling him when they stopped in St Lucia and asked us 3 several times if we had our luggage, all of us said yes, well low and behold his luggage was taken off the plane in st lucia. The kicker; he was to attend his sisters funeral that Monday and needed his clothes, he was not happy to say the least; we consoled him telling him it would be OK. I guess he was so overwhelmed with the circumstances and traveling from NY he was exhausted. They told him not to worry they would get his bags on the next ferry, and deliver them no later than Monday.
Gus from Ocean View arranged to have someone get us at the airport; as I wandered around introducing myself, asking names, trying to find them, we met Rodney from Tamarind Beach Resort (TBR), a really nice guy, who agreed to give us a ride to Crystal Apts.. I made sure I told Rodney that Gus or Maurice was suppose to pick us up and I didn’t want them to get mad at us if we left with him. Rodney said “No, its OK, I called Gus at Ocean View and it’s OK, and don’t worry we don’t get mad”. I told Rodney “I don’t want to start our vacation off the wrong way; I don’t want to make someone mad by getting a ride with someone else.” He laughed and laughed smiling saying he totally understood, saying its all “OK”, don’t worry; making me feel better. Along the way he pointed out several restaurants, stores, disco, etc, along with introducing us to Na’nann who owns Crystal Apts (CA) and Viola who helps out, both very very nice women. Viola showed us the apt, telling us to come inside and look around asking if it was “ok” before committing to staying there. We were very pleased, it was perfect for us, nothing extravagant just basic homey feeling with the hospitality of family surroundings, just what we love, staying with the locals, enjoying the culture and making new friends. We then introduced ourselves to Na’naan, told her about our plane ride and the man with the missing luggage, only to hear “oh my, that is my brother-in-law he was to arrive from NY today”; little did we know we would all meet up later on in the week.
After settling in, we decided to walk around to grab a few cold beers, wandered to the little grocery store by TBR but no beer. A guy in the store introduced himself to us, Guston, a local fisherman on island, that offered his services to catch us fresh fish and cook it up, also giving us tid-bits of info. We let him know we just arrived, we’d be on island a few days and definitely seek him out. We ventured back to CA, asking where to get cold beer, so Viola invited us to her house, sell us some beer and show us some of the island while we walked. We stayed and chatted for a bit, showed us local places to eat, then we were off to begin our walking adventure up some BIG hills and down others, taking in the evening breeze, the sunset and the stars, waving to everyone, giving a “good evening” and most everyone chatted back. By now we were out of beer and decided to eat at Hilltop Restaurant (aka R&C), walking up these hills were killer for the calves, a work out for the legs definitely - half way up we’d be breathing in and out saying “Umphhh-aaaa” its the noise you make as you breath in and breath out, this was our famous word, as we chuckled, exhausted, we really worked for the beer we were about to drink…
While we waited for our food, drinking more beers, we got to know Joanna & Cornell, and their friends Cuz-I and a few others, asking them about the local animals that inhibit the island, birds, reptiles, etc, asked about the beaches, water taxi info, ferry times, etc, they all treated us so kind by telling us so much info, we learned a lot in such a short time. We both had lobster for dinner, very good but a bit dry from grilling, w/rice and veggies, we were so hungry from a long travel day we chowed down in no time. We were having such a great time that we stayed at least an hour or so after dinner just chilling with our new friends, talking and enjoying the evening sky. Meeting everyone at hilltop and the folks at CA that night proved to be a wonderful start to a great vacation ahead of us.
Sun 4/2/06
Woke up around 8-9am; ate leftover sandwiches from our plane trip, walked down to TBR for a cool swim, headed back to CA, grabbed the duffle bag/snorkel gear, soft sided cooler and off to Twin Bays big reef. Venturing thru the neighborhood we passed the school and the adults were playing cricket, we watched for a while, asking a boy about 10 yrs old about the rules, what fun we had trying to figure the game out along with his accent, got hot so off to the beer store, along the way a local guy Mad Matt introduced himself to us, really nice, who offered us beverages, showed us his grandparents house where he lives and telling us all about the island. Then he directed us on how to get to Twin Bay and where to snorkel, which hill/mountain to take and which path to follow. What an adventure to say the least! We had a 6 pack so we were OK, or so we thought! Up, up, up and around we go, only to get to the top, breathtaking views, picture time, then realizing we have to hike all the way down to the beach via a goat path that is really really steep and rocky as heck, only to find a rocky beach at the bottom. We then had to walk a while on lots of rocks to a sandy beach, only to find out on the way back, about the dirt road with a smooth dirt path that led you down to the sandy beach!! As we sat on the beach catching our breath, drinking a cold one, here comes a snorkeler pop up out of the water, it was Guston, a spear gun in one hand and bag of fresh catch (several conch, red snapper and about 6 lobsters), all of us surprised to see one another, he offered to sell his lobsters for 10EC and a beer, we gladly accepted. We asked if he would cook them up, he said no he had to get home to his mom. He told us to walk down the beach around the bend, near the rocks, dig a hole, start a fire and cook them up. We asked if we could get in trouble starting a fire, etc. but he told us nobody will bother us, just make sure we clean up our mess, which is a given anywhere we go, “respect”. Off we went walking down the beach, where Allan caught a small fish by hand in the seaweed beds, no bigger than his hand, picture time, throw it back, off to cook our lunch. We dig a hole, pile small rocks around it to stop the wind, only to find the lighter broke, matches were wet, seaweed not catching on fire, then remembered I had my folder of travel info in my bag (ahhhh…paper to light), finally got the lighter to work once more, pulled apart some hair from a dried coconut (watching survivor paid off!!) and poof we had a fire! What team work! Both of us were soo soo excited it was too funny, way too funny; while the fire got hot went for a quick swim, got back threw the lobsters on the hot coals, leaving them whole, and had the sweetest juiciest lobster ever. We created so much commotion that one of the catamaran boats had their binoculars on us and later on after we ate we went snorkeling closer to shore, not wanting to swim all the way out to the reef, the people dingied to the beach and poked around our camp/fire area to see what we were doing, jealous I guess, they ought to be it was the best 1st official starting day to a 11 day vacation! Seen some interesting fish, water the greenest blue ever, crystal clear, hiked back up the smooth dirt path, only to meet up with Elvis, another local fisherman who told us fish stories as we all walked back home. On the way back at the school the adults were now playing soccer, Dominica vs. Canouan, what a racket going on, people had chairs up in the tree tops watching the game, we stopped for a bit and watched, took pictures, later on found out Dominica won; which Canouan was very happy about since they have lost several times and wanted to wish them well for their efforts so they would continue to come back and play with hearts filled with glory as they said. We wound up meeting Matt again, told him about the goat path, he laughed and laughed, asking us if we had a good time, told him about Guston, lobster lunch, he just smiled real big, offered us a beverage and off we went to shower, change clothes and head to TBR for dinner. Took some beautiful sunset pictures, a favorite a silhouette of a gentlemen and a child fishing off the dock, boats in the background w/sunset – breathtaking! We had a great dinner, ate at the Pirates restaurant outside under the stars, grouper and pizza, with eggplant appetizer-delicious and reasonably priced. While eating and talking to our waitress; found out she is related to Na’Naan of CA; and the bartender Delvin related to Hilltop Rest, once they found out who we were and where we were staying, they really went out of their way for us, then to have Guston walk by and stop to ask if our lobster lunch was OK, to see how we were, etc., it proved to be the best 1st day ever. After dinner they were having a basketball game right behind CA, we could watch from our bedroom window, then they had a jam fest with music and dancing for a few hours till about mid-night, what a full day, with so many activities one after the next, we really had a great time, not having to wonder what to do next, mingle with the locals and you will find lots to do.
Mon 4/3/05
Up around 8-9am, off to TBR beach for a swim to cool off, the hot sun already baking the room, Na’naan and Viola were getting food ready for the funeral that day, they offered us breakfast each morning but we always had something to munch on but appreciated the offer. We got with Na’nann to settle up our tab since she was going to have such a busy day, traveler’s checks or cash, left our bags in the room, packed the cooler & headed up the mountain the other way towards Raffles resort, took lots of pictures, Delvin passed asking if we needed a ride, we said no thanks (should have) but the views walking were breathtaking, and the only way to really see the islands is to walk around and meet everyone to make sure you don’t miss anything. We got as far as the entry gates, spoke to some employees about getting a day pass, then head back so we could catch the 2pm mailboat. Got our bags, said our goodbyes to all at CA, told them we’ll be back in a few days, headed towards the ferry dock, met up with an older man to tell us this ferry was headed to St Vincent, the next should be here soon. We sat on the beach when all of a sudden our friend Matt appeared on the dock, came running over to check on us, telling us he was going to work, making sure we were OK, to rest assured the ferry to Mayreau would be there soon. Before long the dock was filled with everyone from the village waiting for their mail/packages/ fruit/veggies/vehicles/cargo/construction items, you name it, the ferry was packed with all sorts of stuff; what a delight to see so many happy people. Viola came over to wish us a safe trip, she was waiting for her niece, then Na’nanns brother-in-law stepped off the ferry, dressed in his suit, came over and shook our hands, smiling remembering us, we gave our condolences, knowing he, his brother and family had a long day ahead of them, Matt appeared once more saying see you in a few days, along with some other friends we made, asking what day we return. Took about ½ hr for them to un-pack the ferry, we boarded, paid our fare and walked up to the middle deck under cover looking at the views of the neighborhing islands realizing how far each island is from one another. Once we arrived, Dennis was at the ferry dock with his jeep to pick up his guests, us 2 plus another man named Norm, who we hungout with and accompanied us on the rest of our adventure. We settled into our room, got a cold beverage, Norm went one way over to Salt Whistle Bay and we went the other way to the beach to cool off for a few hours before sunset and dinner. Both had red snapper for dinner, just awesome the food was every night, DB aka Smiley is the best chef around. All of us had after dinner drinks and off to bed for an early start.
