Fresh off a quick overnight in Grenada (courtesy of a free JetBlue voucher from last October’s Welcome to Chinatown gala), we touched down at Maurice Bishop International Airport at 1:53pm.
This kicks off a 3-country Caribbean island hopper to knock out 3 of my final 5 UN member states.
The Royalton Grenada was an 4 minute taxi ride from the airport; it was so short I felt we could have saved the $10-$12 and walked it.
But it’s an all-inclusive resort, beachfront cabanas, the works! I’d scored a discount with the Amex Platinum, so we did what any reasonable person would do: ate our weight in buffet food and relaxed by the pool.
The next morning we woke up early to board the 8:00am InterCaribbean Airways flight JY 703, landing in St. Vincent (SVD) by 8:45am.
Our tour guide Devon came by exactly at 8:45am to pick us up, and we had exactly one day to see as much of this island as physically possible before moving on.
We started at Arnos Vale with a view of Young Island and Fort Duvernette behind it
Continuning along the main road we stopped at the site of the old airport turned shopping center, with its runway as a new road and tower converted into a rooftop bar.
We then reached the capital of Kingstown, touring through the mostly commercial town. Very few people live in Kingstown; the culture is that the entire island comes into Kingstown to work, and leaves for home in the evening in the rest of the island, with Kingstown becoming a ghost town by nightfall.
It has its fair share of churches in the center:
From Kingstown we then drove up along the northwestern part of the main road, shaped like a smile on the island with no ring road yet constructed. We stopped for a view from of Kingstown from the town of Layou:
From Layou, you can also spot the Sandals resort:
Up to Peter’s Hope, we glimpsed Little Bay and the attempt but abandoned attempt to build another resort there.
Belle Isle Correctional Facility in Barrouallie:
Barrouallie reinforced sea wall
Then Wallilabou Bay, where they filmed the original Pirates of the Caribbean. Some of the sets and props are still there, slowly wasting away in the tropical humidity.
Rose Bank:
Near the end of the road, we reached Dark View Falls, a twin waterfall setup tucked behind a bamboo grove, bamboo suspension bridge, and a $5 entrance fee:
We then weaved past the lower falls to hike up about 3-4 stories of stairs, crossed a stream, and saw the higher falls:
From Dark View Falls, we drove to the very extreme northwest in Richmond, where remnants of the volcanic eruption from 4 years back in 2021 still leaves its ashes and traces.
The river has completely boiled away, leaving behind an empty, barren, but fertile bank
We then turned back into town at Richmond for a pilaf and chicken & mutton roti lunch at Beach Front Restaurant & Bar:
Instead of St. Vincent Botanical Gardens (the oldest in the Western Hemisphere), and Montreal Gardens up in the Mesopotamia Valley, Devon took us to his childhood favorite at Wallilabou Heritage Park ($5 entrance fee). You can find the island’s oldest pietroglyph here.
A stunning place to have a family gathering for a picnic:
Reaching closer to Kingstown, Devon drove us down to a view of Questelles Beach:
We then drove up Dorsetshire Hill for a grand view of the island:
Turn around past a stair case up behind a radar tower, we saw Kingstown in all its glory from above: Pastel buildings, humid air, harbor lights in the distance. The capital doesn’t get much tourist attention, which probably works in its favor.
By late afternoon, we checked into the newly built Holiday Inn Express, and grabbed dinner next door at the Diamond Terrace.
One day in St. Vincent. Not enough time, but also exactly the right amount of time for what we needed to see!
- At time of posting in Saint Vincent's, it was 30 °C - Humidity: 69% | Wind Speed: 12km/hr | Cloud Cover: wet and rainy
