Selling Travel July/August 19

36
my journey
St. Vincent & the
At Dark View
Fallls
Grenadines
From islands designed for billionaires to movie star cays surrounded by turtles,
Kathryn Liston hops between St. Vincent and a few of the Grenadines
Tobago Cays
I
’m face-to-face with a huge hawksbill turtle,
its shell and cream belly so close to my mask
I can almost count its markings. It turns and
glides to join two others feeding on tufts of sea
grass, but as I turn for the shore a huge stingray
emerges, flapping its gigantic wings.
I am snorkelling in the protected Baradal Turtle
Sanctuary of the Tobago Cays, a cluster of five tiny,
uninhabited cays, so remote that the desert scene
of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the
Black Pearl was filmed on nearby
Petit Tabac.
My island hopping
adventure starts in St.
Vincent as we drive
north along the Leeward
coast, the narrowing
road clinging tightly to
the cliff edge. Lush forests
and prettily painted houses in
pastel pinks, blues and greens
tumble down the mountainside onto
black-sand beaches and looking-glass seas.
We must inch our jelly-like legs across the long
swinging bamboo bridge over the Richmond River
to reach Dark View Falls, a magnificent waterfall
cascading 110 ft down acliff face.
The ice-cold water is a welcome relief from the
intense heat but, unbeknowst to us, there’s more
to come. We follow ranger Maxwell Robertson’s
magnificent head of dreds up a flight of
57 steep steps, clambering over slippery
boulders, jagged rocks and fast-running
rivulets until we reach a second waterfall
– a 229-foot thundering beauty directly
above the first.
Sadly, we don’t have time for the fourhour
hike to the crater of the active
Soufriere Saint Vincent volcano - a
The turquoise sea
glows brighter and the
powder sands whiter
rite of passage for island boys, which Maxwell did
when he was 10 - but enroute to our hotel we enjoy
views from Fort Charlotte.
At private Young Island we find 29 secluded
cottages, sparsely laid out and surrounded by the
deafening din of tree frogs. Mine comes with a
plunge pool, hammock and gorgeous sea views
thanks to the 160 steep steps I have to climb to
reach it. Thankfully, this works off the delicious
homemade coconut bread I devour.
A rum time
It’s rum for breakfast! The
sweet aroma of molasses
greets our arrival at St
Vincent Distillers, which
was a sugar factory in the
1920s and now offers tours
and tastings of its five rums.
For lunch, we feast on
finger-licking jerk chicken in
Kingstown, the capital, before taking
the 45-minute ferry to Bequia, one of 32 islands
(only nine inhabited) in The Grenadines.
Pretty Port Elizabeth exudes a laid-back
Caribbean vibe. Yachts bob gently in the harbour
and bright wooden shacks lining the waterfront
sell ‘fresh coconut - natural viagra’, rum
punch, books and colourful rattan baskets. We
are whisked in an open-sided 4WD to the Bequia
Beach Hotel, where owner Bengt Mortstedt has
dotted retro posters and quirky lamps promoting
‘Island Time’ and ‘Parrot Party’ around the
sumptuous colonial lounge and bedrooms.
We visit the recently-opened Boat Museum to
learn about the island’s whaling heritage and
on our way to lunch at Coco’s Place, we stop at
British-built Fort Hamilton for views of Admiralty
Bay, before devouring jumbo shrimp and conch.
An exhilarating 10-minute flight in a six-seater
aircraft takes us to Mustique and the only hotel on
the island, the colonial-style Cotton House, which
boasts opulent villas owned (or rented out) by the
rich and famous, including Mick Jagger.
At a cocktail party that evening, Executive Chef
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