The sun rose over the Grenadines at 6:10 a.m. At 8:30, we boarded our tenders and landed in Port Elizabeth after a brief ride. The lovely village of Port Elizabeth is the major town on the island. Once we disembarked the tenders, we got on our covered pick-up trucks for our visit to this lovely isle. Bequia was settled first by the Taino and then Carib Indians. Scots were bought over quite early as indentured servants in some considerable numbers in the early 18th century and they have remained. The few surnames, e.g., King, Simmons, and Sweet are evidence of their ancestry. There is also an early residual population of French you can hear in their name of Oliverier. The demographics of Bequia, whose population is about 6,000, is unlike many of the other islands we have visited as it retains a substantial Euro-American population. Like all the islands we have visited, however, the races did eventually mix and there is now a rainbow of racial colors all living harmoniously.
Our first stop this morning was the beautiful overlook of Mt. Pleasant. This is one of the highest points on the island. We could see the nearby private island of Mustique, the haunt of the “jet setters.” Our lovely guides told us of the traditions of the island. The International Whaling Commission allows the locals—whom they identify as indigenous—to take up to four humpback whales per year. They hunt them in traditional long boats with hand-thrown harpoons and rarely meet their quota.
Our next stop was the “Old Heg” turtle sanctuary of “Brother” Orton King. Brother King, a former commercial turtle fisherman, had a conversion experience and realized that overfishing was destroying the turtles, fish, and reefs, which he knew and loved as a child. He vowed to help serve the turtles and so began to raise recently hatched hawksbill and green turtles in pools. He and his assistant wait until the baby turtles are hatched and about to head for the sea. They then gather them and bring them to the sanctuary. They remain in his sanctuary pools until they are five years old when he releases them. In the 21 years he has been working to save the turtles, he has released 935 back to the sea. This year he expects to see his first mature adults return to lay their eggs. He receives no government support for his work and as a result Lindblad Expeditions have elected to support his efforts.
On being dropped off at the main street (the only main street!) we were on our own. The street was ringed with small tables selling all sorts of local handicrafts. Some visited the lovely Anglican Church but there are many denominations on the island: Roman Catholicism, Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists, and even a few Rastafarians.
Our final stop is always a hit—Jack’s Bar. A number of us walked on the newly built Belmont Walk along the sea to Jack’s. This delightful watering hole overlooks Princess Margaret Bay and has to be one of the most idyllic spots in all the Caribbean. There we enjoyed all sorts of fruit punches and some, I am told, had rum in them! The water in the bay was perfect, and the color a clear crystalline coral blue. Most of us took advantage and had a great swim.
