Day 29, 31/1/2017 - Barbados, Coast to coast

Early start, now regular breakfast in bed, narrow walkway or shuttle bus.  Lots of music to greet us.
Day 29, and one degree hotter 29C - phew.

 

Our trip today was called Coast to Coast and our tour guide was a German Barbadian, Tina - who has had a very interesting life, having moved from Germany 18 years ago, doing a bit of back and forth and then decided she'd like to be a Barbadian. she now thinks everythng Barbadian is the BEST! Water, rum, food, people, lifestyle, everything,

Seeing both sides of the island demonstrated the contrast between more calm Caribbean on the west, and more rough Atlantic on the East.
We set off from the man-made port, which had been built on to the island to accommodate the tourism/cruise ships, onto the mainland Bridgetown.  Here wealth and poverty were right alongside each other.
It seems that Barbados is not volcanic, but coral that "folded" out of the sea.
Mountains of clay.
Hillsides of rain forest.
Again, as with many f the Caribbean Islands,  history includes early Indian heritage, the fighting reputed to be cannibal Caribs, then Africans, Portuguese, French, Dutch and English.
There were three stops on our Coast to Coast trip
1.  Highland Centre, situated in the middle of the island so there are views both oceans.  We enjoyed fruit punch here, loud background music.
2.  St John's Parish church, where there was a bit of hard selling from the locals, but we didn't really like the things that were on offer,  and then back to
3.  Bridgetown along the  coast and through rain forest.

We passed Heroes Square and Gun Hill signal Station
More about Barbados here

We were dropped off at the shuttle bus stop, and it was hot.  People were generally grumpy having to wait, and so toally relieved to return to an air conditioned spaceon the ship.

Our sail away was after 7 p.m so we sat on out on our veranda and had a cold drink as we watched (and listened) to the sail away.

Overnight sailing to Tobago, our last stop before the Amazon!

Day 28 30/1/2017 - St Vincent and the Grenadines

30/1/2017 and Day 28, 28 degrees celsius!  In St Vincent and the Grenadines 
We came into Kingstown a small port with entertainment and a few stalls for passengers, surrounded by rocks, houses built into the rocks.  

Today's excursion was "A Taste of St Vincent" - literally a taste of all the local food. Driver Kevin
Guide Missy.  We started at Kingstown, went around town then up into the hills, trees - coconut, banana, papaya, mango, plantain

It took us to the old and new new airports, the new international airport set to open on  14/2/2016.  she told us of  compulsory purchasing and rehousing of people from the land surrounding the new airport.

Food was much more than a taste, more like a full lunch - like roasted breadfruit, rum, juice, a rice dish - chicken rice and peas, snacks, different breads - coconut sweet bread and coconut cake, jack fish.  we also watched the roasting of breadfruit.

We only had rain at sail off at 6 p.m., even though we knew of 50% chance of rain in the day time.  Here put the angry stormy sky picture

Evening entertainment UKE BOX - a music/singing ukelele bane with a wide popular repertoir.
Overnight sailing

Most of St Vincent is rugged and mountainous, volcanic in origin and with an active volcano, La Soufrière, which rises to 1,234 metres and is the island’s highest point; its last violent eruption was in April 1979.

Some 69 per cent of the country’s land area is forested.

Many of St Vincent’s beaches are of black volcanic sand, while the Grenadine beaches are of fine white sand.

There are 829 km of roads, 70 per cent paved. Cruiseships call at St Vincent. A mail boat runs several times a week through the Grenadines and ferries operate between the islands.

E. T. Joshua International Airport is at Arnos Vale, 3 km south-east of Kingstown. There are small airports/airstrips on Bequia, Union Island, Canouan and Mustique. A new international airport was due to be opened at Argyle in the east of St Vincent in 2012.

St Vincent and the Grenadines is a member of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Association of Caribbean States, Caribbean Community, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Organization of American States, United Nations and World Trade Organization.

The country comprises the island of St Vincent and the northern Grenadines, a series of 32 islands and cays, stretching south-west towards Grenada. (The southern Grenadine islands are part of Grenada.) The larger northern Grenadines are Bequia (pronounced Beck-way), Canouan, Mayreau, Mustique, Isle D’Quatre and Union Island. St Vincent is volcanic in origin, and has an active volcano, La Soufrière, which erupted violently in 1812, and again in 1902. A mild eruption in 1971–72 created a volcanic dome in the crater lake, forming an island. This exploded in another eruption in 1979, blasting ash, steam and stones high into the air. A rugged mountain range runs from La Soufrière in the north to Mt St Andrew (750 metres) above the Kingstown Valley in the south. This mountainous backbone sends off lateral spurs which are intersected by wooded valleys and numerous streams. Many of the beaches of St Vincent are of black volcanic sand; there are some white-sand beaches. The Grenadines have been much celebrated for their beaches of fine white sand and clear waters. 

Tropical, moderated by trade winds in June/July. The dry season is January to May, the rainy season May/June to September. There is significantly heavier rainfall in the mountainous interior. Tropical storms and hurricanes may occur June–November.

The most significant environmental issue is pollution of coasts and coastal waters by discharges from yachts and from industrial plants on shore.

The mountains of St Vincent support a luxuriant growth of tropical forest; coconuts and the more typical tropical coral island vegetation occur on the Grenadines and coastal fringes of St Vincent island. Forest covers 69 per cent of the land area, having increased at 0.4 per cent p.a. 1990–2010. The botanical gardens, founded in 1765, conserve rare species, including the mangosteen fruit tree, and a descendant from Captain Bligh’s original breadfruit tree.

The Buccament Valley east of Layou is a tropical rainforest reserve, home to the endangered St Vincent parrot, as well as many other species such as the unique whistling warbler. Bequia’s rich marine flora and fauna make it a popular resort for divers.

From http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/st-vincent-and-grenadines