Gym's Ramblings: Winter 2022 - The Amazon Expedition: St. Vincent

An example of a preserved historical
structure being used as the police station
in Kingstown, St. Vincent

After leaving Barbados, the ship sailed due west to St. Vincent. St. Vincent and a collection of islands called the Grenadines, are the volcanic islands between Dominica and Grenada. It was here in 2021 that the volcano, La Soufriere erupted and spewed a blanket of ash, in a plume blown eastward, that settled on the Barbados.

On the morning of December 5, 2022, the ship docked in the capital city of Kingstown. From Kingstown, our travelers would get a feel for the flora of the area, as they opted to tour the lushest botanical parks on the island. Mrs. Gym always enjoys the colorful tropical vegetation. And on these islands with their recent deposits of volcanic ash, the soils were likely enriched, hopefully providing for enhanced botanical exhibits. Unfortunately, the island is made up of steep volcanic ridges that rise abruptly out of the sea. This makes driving from one site to the next, a considerable challenge. The already rickety vehicles, deteriorate hourly on the steep, bumpy and narrow roads that connect the capital to anywhere else on the island. The main learning was that St. Vincent is unfortunately bereft of any flat land at all. Gym pondered how difficult and expensive it had to be, to build and maintain road networks on such a mountainous island nation. Our local guide admitted on several occasions, that his nation was beholding to numerous 'rich' nations, including Canada, for foreign aid.

Right off the bat, the tour group drove into the capital and up the hill to Kingstown's Botanical Gardens. It is a 20-acre park which was founded in 1765. It preserves many species of local flora and the rare St. Vincent parrot. Of course the park is on a steep hill and our intrepid travelers needed to walk from the bottom to the top of the park to get the full feel of the place. It was the first dry day in many weeks, so the hike was a little hot and sticky. It is a beautiful outdoor space with good paths and plenty of instructive signage.

The next botanical exhibit was in the middle of the island and although, as the crow flies, it was probably 5 kilometers away, driving there required crossing a hgh ridge and descending into the interior valley. If you like switchbacks then this is your place. Point-to-point, the drive was almost 20 kilometers in length. It took between 2 and 3 hours to make the trip with only a couple of short stops at notable viewpoints. The Montreal Gardens turned out to be worth the trip though. This oasis is at the end of a long winding road, aptly named Montreal Road. You would think that a Canadian might own the Montreal Gardens but a French gentleman bought it and he lives right there on the property. He joined the tour group for a glass of wine, at the end of a very fun ramble around the property. Gym,s pictures do not do this justice.

Between the two gardens, as the mini-bus slowly wove along the poorly-maintained roads, you could see the farms planted on very steep inclines where it was obviously impossible to use tractors. The poor farmers relied on manual methods of planting and harvesting to make it work. This means they climb up and down the slopes, stooping to tend to the crops. They really can't be managing more than an acre or so. But it appeared that you could grow anything on those hillsides. And the farmers seemed to be doing well enough to support large families, judging by the large number of uniformed school children the mini-bus passed returning from school that afternoon.

On the way back to the ship, the tour took a slightly longer route along the south coast. This is the leeward side of the island and the place where most of the seaside resorts are located. Gym didn't see any big-name hotel chains so he concluded either the beaches aren't that great or the infrastructure needs some additional investment. Unfortunately, Gym and his lovely companion did not have time to check out any of the beaches.

Upon returning to Kingstown, Gym noticed that many of the historic buildings have been preserved by the local authorities and the capital looked like a fun venue for a couple of days of putzing around the museums and checking out the local pubs.

St. Vincent has had a few hard knocks recently. It had to skate through the Covid-19 pandemic without any tourist income and then in the middle of 2021, some 16,000 people were displaced by the La Soufriere eruption. Canada and many other nations pitched in with some foreign aid to help those most impacted by the eruption. These displaced people were evacuated to a number of generous Caribbean neighbours.

As the sun was setting, the ship left Kingstown and sailed north to Dominica, the second last stop.