Postcards from the Past: St. Vincent & The Grenadines

Pirates of the Caribbean

When and Where:           3/2018 – Kingstown (St. Vincent)

52th Country Visited; 21st North American Country Visited

Interesting Facts:

·        St. Vincent and the Grenadines consist of 32 islands in the eastern Caribbean, but only 9 are inhabited.  Christopher Columbus named the islands.

·        St. Vincent is home to the oldest botanic gardens in the Western Hemisphere.

·        Several scenes from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed on St. Vincent.

 Along with our friend Carlos, Joe, Aaron and I made a brief cruise visit to St. Vincent.  Having prior visited all of the Caribbean nations with the exception of Haiti, St. Vincent is definitely the most rustic.  The island of St. Vincent is mountainous with steep cliffs leading to charming beaches.  As our cab driver drove us around the rugged coast, I realized the island is developing: the infrastructure is poor and the island isn’t equipped for tourism.  The island only has a handful of small privately-owned hotels, but no major chain hotels.  The country’s only international airport, Argyle International, opened in 2017. 

During our cab excursion, we visited Wallilabou Bay where several scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed.  The picturesque beach with calm waters was the perfect place to sit and reflect on my life.  To me, there are few things more soothing and tranquil than sitting by the ocean, listening to waves crash ashore, and watching a random colorful boat bobble in the turquoise surf. 

We then drove back to Kingstown, a quaint capital with pastel-colored homes and businesses lining the narrow streets.  I went to the post office as I often do when visiting a new country.  In search of picture stamps, the sweet ladies working at the post office took me in a back room and spent an hour helping me pick out some colorful stamps which I turned into wall art when I got home.  They also gave me a history lesson about their beautiful homeland and gave me small postcard books about each island.  The locals, known as Vincies, are warm and friendly.  If anyone is interested in St. Vincent, I would wait a few years until the infrastructure improves, but the island nation is worth a visit. 

Kingstown, St. Vincent

Kingstown, St. Vincent

Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent

Aaron at Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent

Carlos at Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent

Misty day in Kingstown, St. Vincent














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