I really enjoyed all the little garbage cans along the roadside, each decorated differently and with signs in several major global languages.
One thing was for sure...I certainly didn't feel like a minority anymore. I'm not sure what the tourist population would be in the off-season, but everywhere I looked there were happy tourists speaking in a multitude of languages. It actually seemed a bit odd to me, having spent most of my time in my rural village lately.
We stayed at the Traveler's Inn, a cute little place with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and nice balcony. Our 1st day there, we wandered a bit to a great little vegetable market, got some ice cream, and of course....the beach. Most of us went to Princess Margaret Beach--land of white sand, blue water and good times.
We made friends with a couple locals--T'Shaun and Carlos. Carlos took a few of us for a ride around Princess Margaret and Lower Bay Beaches in a boat that he built--very cool. Turns out we'd be seeing the both of them on and off during our stay there.
On the way back from the beach, we came across a boley tree. Most boley look kinda like a giant apple, bigger than a softball--but are harder. I'm not sure what can be done with the insides yet, but they can be hollowed out and designed into decorative bowls. Laird, one of the Canadian volunteers has already started making several boley bowls that look great.
Later that evening, we warmed up the festivities with some card games, dominoes, and general fun.
We wandered for a bit, watching the local fun at the waterfront hotels and eateries.
Steel pan players outside of Gingerbread
Some of us stumbled upon this beach side eatery, The Green Boley, that I now feel has the best roti I've had in SVG so far. Their chunks and potato roti is delicious--even before I put lots of pepper sauce on it. We met a fellow, George from Georgia, who speaks 7 languages and enjoys sailing all over. He shared some stories with us about his experiences around Bequia from the past 20 years. Scott and I also picked a couple more boley from a small tree nearby. These boley are more pear shaped and I hope to make mine into a water jug.
Further down the street we came across an light up section. The Christmas Village was a whole section of the main and a side street decorated with holiday lights and themes--just like the lighting up back on the mainland.
We ended up at a beach side bar, Devil's Table with live music until the countdown and fireworks.
It was rather packed in the bar area >.<
We got a full fireworks show that lasted quite awhile. Once those stopped, several boaters joined in--firing off several flares.
The celebrations continued on at a place called The Reef. They had a cover charge--which really wasn't worth the price. Unfortunately, this was the only real 'event' going on into the late night. We stayed and danced a bit, but the place eventually got rather crowded. Even as we were walking out around 330, there were people lined up to get in.
Of course, we slept in just a bit the next morning. After another round of tasty roti back at the Green Boley, most of the crew decided to hit the beach again. Scott and I opted to hike to the turtle sanctuary about an hour away. We could have taken a taxi, but we both preferred the walk and enjoyed taking the extra time to see the sights along the way.
This was a side beach on our walk. Notice how all the trees and bushes are slanted toward the island. There was a constant wind blowing while we were there and has probably conditioned the plants to grow under it's strength...amazing.
Finally we reached the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. It is a small place run by a family, independent of any government help. They collect baby turtles after hatching and raise them in captivity, attempting to keep them strong and healthy and allow these endangered turtles a greater chance of survival. According to them, the Hawksbill sea turtle will lay a clutch of eggs around 75-100 and they reach sexual maturity in about 25 years. Sadly, only 1/1000 usually reach that age...which mean the fast track to extinction. With their program, they raise as many as they can until they are about 5 years old. Since they started around 1995, they've released over 800 turtles into the wild. Sure not all of them will reach breeding age, but that's one heck of a boost. They also raise a few Green Sea Turtles too. ^_^
These lil guys are only a couple weeks old.
Their mascot. She was grumpy and liked to splash people, but she was friendly with me and I got to pet her. ^_^
This one was rescued after losing a limb, probably due to fishing nets.
haha, they don't let the kids touch them...they can bite
He showed us how sharp the beak is, danger points on young ones, and where the yolk cord attached. Way cool.
If you couldn't guess...the turtle sanctuary was my favorite part of the whole New Year's trip. I had known about it before we came here and it was my secondary reason for coming along. Scott and I both plan to help out how we can, which will mean scrubbing tanks and turtle shells at the very minimum. I hope to lend some other support as well--to help them find financing and bring attention to their project via the internet. While I know that I need to spend much of my focus on my village and area activities, this is simply something that I feel I really should do. Gotta see if I can negotiate some transportation with the ferry though...there is no way we volunteers could afford the trips back and forth on regular ticket prices if we were to go even a few times a month.
That evening we regrouped and set out for pizza at Mac's. It was really good--although I would contend that I enjoyed the pizza Steph made during Christmas was just as good. ^_^ And the garlic bread they served was superb. lol...either that I've simply forgotten what really good garlic bread tasted like.
The rest of the night was spent relaxing, playing card games, taking walks and generally enjoying the time there.
The last day there was the usual final day in a hotel--get stuff together and make sure nothing was left behind. Having some time to kill before the ferry, Noah and I wandered off to check out the abandoned hotel area--which probably would have had the perfect 'creepy/horror' look if it was dark out. There are many cabins in between social halls; white statues all over the grounds; and overgrowth & disrepair added to the overall effect.
Noah and I enjoyed a great game of chess before leaving. It was the first between us and I'm sure that he will be looking towards future games as much as I will be.
The ferry ride back to St. Vincent was nice, spending much of it with our feet dangling off the top railing and enjoying the rocking of the boat. The rain greeted us shortly after landing--ending a great trip. I can't wait to go back...learned quite a bit there just looking around.
It may have even inspired some of our group talks about started a more jointly-focus effort on environmental projects together.
Here are the links to the whole trip photo albums:
Facebook Photo Album 1
Facebook Photo Album 2
Facebook Photo Album 3
Hope everybody had a great and happy new year!
Stay safe and well,
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn
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