ISLAND TOUR

Or for a faultlessly clear view, and the breeze whipping through your hair, there are also open-back taxis like this.

You could rent a car or a moke (watch the kids) or a motorbike (some roads are rough).

Or try the local style dollar bus - which runs only on the busy routes, has no exact schedule, and charges anything from a dollar (Harbour to Friendship Gap) to four dollars from the Harbour to the Airport. These are Eastern Caribbean dollars with one US$ = 2.60 EC$. Catch your bus in Port Elizabeth under the Almond Tree, or hail one as it passes. 

But if you have time still the best way to know Bequia is on foot.

Mount Pleasant on top of Bequia is a fine place to start. If the day is clear look south to Canouan, Mayreau and Union Island. These other islands of the St. Vincent Grenadines recede southward their colour decreasing in intensity with the distance. Behind them and almost transparent as it competes in your eye with the horizon, is Carriacou, the most northerly of the Grenadines belonging to Grenada,  a kind of sister to Bequia, which is the most northerly of the St. Vincent Grenadines.

A quick glance around the grassy plateaus and hills of Mount Pleasant with its sparse population of cows, sheep and goats, and you might think you are in Scotland.  The Bequians who live in this area tend to be blue-eyed and fair-haired, descendants of the Irish and Scottish labourers who were laid off when the wealthy sugar plantation owners of Barbados realised that African slaves were a better bet economically.

With the introduction of slavery these working class lads were sent to other islands to fend for themselves, if they were lucky with a small grant of land from the English Government. Independent to this day most are house  builders, or fishermen, or boat owners.

Loop around the top of Mount Pleasant but eventually go back the way you came to the main road and continue on to Lower Bay, Bequia's longest beach. Nestled at the base of the hill at the far end is the thriving village of the same name.

The Bequians living here were traditionally fishermen building and running fishing boats, seine boats, and whaleboats. Nowadays there are some interesting locally-run hotels, apartments, guest houses, restaurants, and bars giving the area a real left bank atmosphere with a mix of locals, expats, yachtsmen, faithfully returning visitors, and eager newcomers. Still, many times you  might find yourself the only person on the beach. Crowded it is not.

If from the main road you had turned left instead of right you would find yourself at Friendship Bay. On an angle facing the prevailing northeast trades this valley basks in an almost constant breeze, but the bay is protected from  strong waves by the curved headland at the north-east, and by the reef and the tiny island of Semple Cay to the south. Mustique hovers in the distance as backdrop. 

Friendship Bay Beach Resort is tucked into the northeast segment of this beautiful bay.  The beach bar and grill, Moskito, offers fine dining at night and a pleasant respite from the sun at lunchtime.

More to the centre of the bay the completely rebuilt Bequia Beach Hotel will be fully operational soon.  At present the adjacent Blue Tropic, which is part of the complex, offers accommodation and an upscale café featuring  international delights for lunch and dinner.

In past years there were several whale fisheries in the area of Friendship Bay, a tradition learned mainly from the American whaling ships who used to ply these waters and would take on the skilled seamen from Bequia as crew, ships that later helped devastate the world stock of certain species. A Scotsman, William Wallace started the first shore-based fishery in Bequia. The Ollivierres, a large Bequia family originally of either French or Portuguese stock and now living mainly in the La Pompe area of Friendship Bay, developed several fisheries.  The International Whaling commission allows Bequia a catch of 2 whales per year.

There is no single road around Bequia (which has the effect of making the island feel larger than it really is, a delightful illusion worthy of the best landscape designer) so we must double back on our tour to take in the capital, Port Elizabeth, named by the city fathers after the present Queen of England in 1936. The tiny town presides over the magnificent harbour of Admiralty Bay and is the banking, shopping and administrative centre for the island.  Here, at the main jetty, the ferries arrive several times daily from the mainland of St. Vincent bringing not only people but an amazing array of goods. 

This  detail of a British Navy map of 1836 shows what is now Port Elizabeth with just 41 structures including a magistrates house, police station, well, mill, and church and rectory.  The church, St. Mary's Anglican, is still standing and functional. The structure marked Union Estate House is now the Bequia Hospital. At this same time (1836) there are no structures shown at Lower Bay, and only one at  Friendship which shows the early
historical importance of Port Elizabeth.

West of Port Elizabeth the village of Hamilton rises on the hill behind the waterfront road. Dozens of colourfully painted houses nestle on the hillside, as does the exquisitely tiny Roman Catholic Church. The remains of Hamilton Fort, located on the hill at the far western end of the road, is an excellent look-out over the whole of Admiralty Bay. The cannon which were found on the site and remounted are French indicating the chequered history of these islands which changed hands many times between the French and the English.  The original inhabitants, the Caribs, clung to St. Vincent long after all the other islands had succumbed to the European invaders. Their eventual defeat and shameful incarceration on the tiny island of Battowia with eventual removal of survivors to what is now Belize is a dreadful episode in Vincentian history.

Leave your vehicle by the Porthole Restaurant/Local Color Boutique and take the Belmont Walkway along the waterfront to the south, a quarter mile devoted to hotels, (Frangipani, Gingerbread, Plantation House),  dive shops, restaurants, and boutiques. Half a dozen shady spots along the way will tempt you with a cool drink and a wonderful view of all the
happenings in the bay.
Back into the capital, Port Elizabeth, and your vehicle takes you out of town to the Northeast to three bays facing the Atlantic.  Spring is a shallow bay at the foot of an impressive coconut grove with trees that make close to 100 feet and about as many years. This valley is one of the most fertile areas of the island but now bananas, plantain and market vegetables have supplanted the sugar and cotton of old. The original Spring Hotel has now been replaced by the more sophisticated Firefly Bequia Hotel, a sister to its namesake in Mustique.Surrounding hillsides are home to  many expatriates who have built attractive second homes here away from the bustle of "De Harbour".

Next is Industry which is named after the sugar industry which used to dominate this end of the island. Crescent Beach Restaurant and Guest House is located in the striking wallaba and greenheart building which was erected here about 30 years ago.

Industry

And the last major beach is Park now famous for the turtle farm started here a few years ago by an interested Bequian, Orton (Brother) King.  In an effort to assist the hawksbill turtle he keeps baby turtles in a sanctuary until they are big enough to face the predators of the sea.

If you try to swim at Park you will find it difficult because of the coral but with fins and a mask you can do an interesting snorkel from its southern corner travelling around the point into Industry or Spring Bay.  The current will take you there at a good speed.

Orton (Brother) King. 

So that is our quick island tour.  Can you do it in an afternoon?  Sure, but we recommend a little more time. Some visitors have been known to take weeks, months, even years!