The End.

Well, I guess everything comes to an end, and in this case it is this blog, this tour, and these 6 weeks in Bequia. Glad you all followed along.

One last thing was to get on the plane and head back to Maine... what proved to be a shock as we left 84F and arrived 24F.

Nov. 2, we said our goodbyes to Jal, boarded the plane and left from Mitchell airport.

Plenty of free parking

Final good bye

And we are off! 

THE END

It was not a street, nor a driveway

We ended our last day on the island by driving Jal home...  mostly to say goodbye. He lives on this crazy hill with a crazy single car width road that angles up about 30 degrees. Well we dropped him off and headed down the hill ---  but took a wrong turn.

But because every road in the area was tiny, I thought, "Well, its narrow, but nothing really bad" The road dead ended , and the car was pitched at about a 30degree angle. I had to back up this tiny, tiny road.

Actually it was not a road, and it was not a driveway, .. it was actually a wide path.  Backing up wasn't going too well as the end of the road was grassy and the tires were slipping. What to do? Go get Jal and a few boys.

Jal decided that he should drive -- I agreed.

It gets a little narrow!

Yuh a little narrow... wondering what the island boys were thinking as we excavated the car.

Last Day in Bequia

Yup - leaving tomorrow AM

Been here 6 weeks.. It has gone by quickly, and we have thoroughly enjoyed being here.

Obviously we have many stories, and tried to share them. We arrived wanting to experience the island, island life, culture and a bit of community, and that did happen. 

We had the opportunity to meet many people and hear their stories and views of Bequia.

The one main thing that we found in Bequia was how friendly the people are. Whether it was for a long conversation or a quick wave to someone on the road, folks here in Bequia just seem to happy to see you.

We will be heading back to Maine to the house at 56 Surf St, Saco to seawater that will likely be 30F colder that here.

Just call me "Bashie"

We were back at Jack's talking to Ken, Ari and now Yellow and David -- yup a guy named Yellow.

Yellow says that "everyone on the island has a nickname  - what's yours?" - Shrug
Almost immediately Yellow says "Bashie - you are Bashie"

He derived that from the fruit that is use to make the boleys -- the Calabash. Since Yellow was there when I presented my personal boley work to Ken, it was a first impression for him.

So, ... call me Bashie

Tobago Cays and Mayreaux - part 3

We had lunch at Dennis's hideaway... what an unexpected treasure. -- in the middle of a tiny island.

The first odd thing was that as we approached the restaurant, we heard Irish music. I was a bit surprised, so I asked Dennis why he played it - "I like it" -- dah I guess. Why not? He later said that he was educated in British schools and they sung Irish songs. He liked the traditional stuff the most.

I wanted to add   video/audio  but this internet is way to slow upload to let me.

Pretty funky place with surprisingly good food.

Notice the live free or die license plate.

Alicia in her slick look.

Dennis in his kitchen. What do you want? Fish, Chicken, Ribs ? === Fish.

Our table

Grilled Grouper

Tobago Cays and Mayreaux Part 2

After the first bit of snorkeling, we set off for lunch on Mayreaux -- a small island in the Grenadines with about 300 residents, one road and not a lot of cars (possibly 3-4).  Pronounce it My-Roo.

Approaching Mayreaux ( camera lens had a little dew on it)

Colorful Shops on the beach

Not sure what kind of fish these are - found at the same "colorful" shops.

Last Bar before the Jungle

Very funky

Tobago Cays and Mayreaux - part 1

We decided to hire a boat and take a tour of some of the Grenadines. The goal was to get to Tobago Cays for some snorkeling at the reef that exists there. Its about an hour boat ride south from BQ.

We arrive at Tobago Cays

>>>double click for largest size<<

Pay the entry fee to the Marine Park

Check out the island that was used in Pirates of the Caribbean

Hang out some while snorkeling ( this is not an underwater camera)

A boat vendor

We pass a boat on the way out

The HGTV house

Many of you have mentioned that you saw an episode on HGTV on international house hunters. They showed 3 houses. One was in Moonhole and 2 others were in Spring. We would certainly not suggest that Moonhole is a desireable location. It is the farthest away from town, and to get there you have to drive a dirt road through an active quarry.. Not you pleasant approach

The one the lady bought was Seacliff.. up the hill in Spring. She like the house but complained about the roads. (ha)

By chance we met a couple from Rochester who were here for a week, looking at homes. They were staying at Seacliff!  We ended up having refreshments with them at the house.

The woman who wanted to live forever in Bequia doesn't live there anymore -- she rents it.

Here are a few picture of the house. Nice, but not sure it was great.

Hanging out around the pool with some weather coming.

The house is set up with a main house and two separate bedroom areas

The main house

One bedroom area

The other bedroom area

The Main area

The main area is actually somewhat dated and oddly set up

The view

Mangwana

It's the name of a house here in BQ. It sits pretty much on the top of one of the peaks, and we look at it from Ravenala. It's big, it looks like it costs a lot but the place looks like a bunker. So we decided to take a look. Firstly, we had to find the road, that looked liked like a driveway.

Well, it has one hell of a view, but the place looks like a bunker.

http://www.grenadine-escape.com/villas/wana

What to do when the world hands you lemons? - just call me juice boy.

Well in this case -  limes...

Earlier I mentioned that we had 2 lime trees outside the main house at Ravenala. What I didn't realize is that the limes would be ripening while we were here. When the limes are on the tree, they are green, but turn yellow when ripe.

You do not need to pick them as they simply fall of the tree during the wind, rain, or just age of ripeness. Simply pick them up, put them in a bucket and have at it. Every couple of days I get a bucketful -- about 50-60+ limes. A couple of times I just pushed the tree and a bunch fell off.

Cut in half

Squeeze -- I likely would have only done this once if there wasn't a juicer.

 Find a container and fill

Got (used) technology?

In talking with Jal and Alana, we became aware of the lack of technology in the schools and library here on Bequia. The government of St. Vincent and Grenadines are heavily involved in building a new airport on St. Vincent, so much of everything else is put off as that project sucks up a lot of money.

The cost of technology here is very high relative to the income  levels of most islanders, so most people just don't use computers. Jal and Alana want to change that.

We've decided to help.

We agreed to seek out unused, older technology that may be collecting dust in homes, companies, or where ever, accumulate what is available, and ship it to BQ for Jal and Alana to distribute as appropriate.

If you (or anyone you know) have any unused computers, iPads, kindles, etc... and wish to donate them, let us know and we will make arrangements. Contact us by email: kevin-AT-sheamail.net or alicia-AT-sheamail.net

Beer Snob -- not

As many know, I pretty much drink only micro beers: brown, red, IPA, wheat, - but never fruit. Here in  BQ you do not have much selection. There is Carib, Hairoun, Heineken, and maybe Guinness in a can.

So I tried them and concluded that I could actually drink the Carib. I am thankful that it wasn't just Miller Lite and Corona

Drinking yellow beer at Mac's Pizzeria

With Lobster Pizza

With Ken's Special

With Jal