16. Kingstown on the Island of St. Vincent

Kingstown on the Island of St. Vincent 

Our ship circled around last night, just 7 miles off-shore because it was so close between Martinique and today’s St. Vincent. The ship had to kill time.

Welcome to St. Vincent

St. Vincent is ‘English’ so people drive on the left side of the road. Most cars here are cast-off Japanese cars but in good shape. 

It rained ALL day, off and on but it rained.  I am getting used it now, but it makes for high humidity.

After our breakfast we went to the dockside and hired a large taxi, along with 2 other couples who wanted to share a ride. 

A Musical Welcome

Our driver was Milton Thomas but people called him Ozzie. He was a man of many things I learned in the short time he drove us. In his youth (he is now about 55?) he ‘worked’ in London, England and in Boston, U.S. He did not like the ‘work’ that construction demanded of him. To get up every day and go to work was not his idea of living. So he came back to the Island. He is a deacon of the Anglican Church on the Island but also a kind of ‘Justice of the Peace’ person. He intervenes when there are conflicts in ideas, marriages, business, etc. His manners are ‘mild’ and he even drove at a snail-like pace throughout the day. ‘Work’, according to my sense of the word, is not his strong point, he loves to philosophize and talk. 

More Rain

There must be a lot of philosophers on the Island because I saw many young men also just loafing about. They had their iPhone in hand and were hanging around the streets. 

Ozzie’s Idea of life was that it needed ceremony. An example he quoted was the way incense is used in the church. You swing the incense container 3 times towards the altar, 2 times towards the minister and one time to the crowd. That was Ozzie’s way of thinking, of living. Looking around me, in the Caribbean in general, it describes living the Caribbean way.

Doing the Tourist Thing

Ahoy Matey!

Pirates of the Caribbean Set

Cheesy?

Our first stop was the beach where “Pirates of the Caribbean’” was filmed. The housing, the trees, the beach made an idyllic spot but it now has become so touristy that loads of buses stop over to look at it. Well, such is Island life, whatever they think tourists want to see is what they show. Not just our taxi was there but a dozen others plus some tour buses, too. I believe every cruise ship that comes into port, with hundreds of people on board, thousands even, is given this tour… I was not impressed. 
Cheesy! 

Flowering Bush

Bird of Paradise

We stopped at the Botanical Garden on the Island and walked around trying to admire the variations of plant life. The ‘Park’ was nice yet somehow the point of a botanical spot is missing. I guess it takes ‘work’ to plan, plant and keep it orderly. While the park we visited was somehow taken care of, I had the opportunity to watch how the caretakers moved around, cut the grass, weeded, etc. No wonder the place looks like it does. 

Weird Growths on Tree

Life is good on St. Vincent, don’t worry, be happy.

After seeing this ‘Garden’ we asked the driver to take us back to the pier. The other 2 couples in the taxi agreed. 

We sat in a café and did our emails, it was better that way. Besides it poured rain.  I mean it P O U R E D rain. It came down like buckets were dumped on us. Luckily we wore ponchos. 

Colour Is Everywhere

After some time, we just went back to the ship. A man in front of us slipped on the wet, metal steps while walking up the gangway. He went down hard and hurt his elbow.  He blocked the entrance and we had to wait until ship’s help came before we could get inside, into shelter. Poor guy, his arm was in a sling for the following weeks.

We made a mistake at dinner; we were given a seat at a ‘permanent’ table, where the same people sit all the time. We were the newbie’s and everybody kept asking us prying questions. Annoying, not fun!

One of the fellows at the dinner table drove me insane with ‘his’ opinions about everything. He seemed to ‘know ‘it all but was ill-informed. An example was our talk about taxes to be paid if you own a car in Japan; the use of highway fees in Japan and the toll rate, the details of owning a car in Japan, etc. He knew for sure, he said so. I gave him the link below to read up on things.  I guess that shut him up.  Yikes, some people are like that. Not a good table to sit at. This guy drove me up the wall.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/owning-a-car-in-japan-myths-and-reality-1770442115

The after-dinner performance was by a Canadian, Karen Granger.  Her singing was great, but I did not know any of her songs. So it felt a bit strange… really, when you don’t know a song, what do you do? Sure cannot sing along in your mind!