St. Vincent & The Grenadines Archives - The Odyssey Expedition

Day 26: 30,000 Pounds of Bananas

Post author:Graham Hughes
Post published:27 January 2009
Post category:St. Vincent & The Grenadines The Caribbean The Odyssey Expedition
Post comments:4 Comments

26.01.09: Dragged myself out of bed and headed to the port. I was halfway there when I realised I had left my coat in my room, so returned, red faced, and headed to the port again. Got to General Maritime, the shipping agents that Kim and her husband Earl Halbich had sorted me out with. I had to talk to a woman named Rochelle. Rochelle was on her lunch so I spoke to a lady who looked at me like I was something she had scraped off her shoe. She rang the captain of the cargo boat I was supposed to be getting a ride with and had a quick chat. She then smiled at me in a way that one would smile at a kitten before throwing it the oven. "The captain say he not takin' no passengers today". My heart leapt into my mouth.…

Day 25: That’s Not Very Christian!

Post author:Graham Hughes
Post published:26 January 2009
Post category:St. Vincent & The Grenadines The Caribbean The Odyssey Expedition
Post comments:3 Comments

25.01.09: Everything closes on Sunday on St. Vincent. I tried to get to (what's left of) the Pirates of the Caribbean set on the other side of the island. I got a minibus to town, so far so good, but then the second minibus I got was good until I got to Layou, when a bunch of people came out of a frickin' CHURCH and told me to get off the bus, there was no room for me! Not very Christian of them. So I started walking to the next town. Easy! Only about five miles. Ah - five miles uphill. D'oh. Flagged down every minibus that drove past, but they were all full of church folk doing whatever church folk do. Minibuses on St. Vincent move in mysterious ways. But then - what's this? A car slowed down, the driver leans across... you alwight mate?…

Day 24: The Ticking Clock

Post author:Graham Hughes
Post published:25 January 2009
Post category:St. Vincent & The Grenadines The Caribbean The Odyssey Expedition
Post comments:0 Comments

24.01.09: If you can't beat them, join them. Got on a minibus to Kingstown and had a great time meandering around the fish market and the fruit market before checking out the old churches (yes I did go all Dan Cruikshank and used the word ‘wonderful' far too many times - I think I'll edit that out of the video) and heading up to the Botanical Gardens (the oldest in the Western Hemisphere no less) for a moment of Will and Lyre-esque calm. Not a single other tourist in sight. Seriously - when I finish this odyssey we're all coming back here en mass and taking over this one-horse archipelago and freeing the people from the tyranny of the cruise ship companies!! Note to Leo - edit out that last sentence if a cruise ship gives me a lift sometime this trip. Nothin' doing tonight so…

Day 23: Trouble in Paradise

Post author:Graham Hughes
Post published:24 January 2009
Post category:St. Vincent & The Grenadines The Caribbean The Odyssey Expedition
Post comments:0 Comments

23.01.09: Another early riser and onto the ferry ‘Barracuda' up to St. Vincent, the big daddy of the Grenadines. It's where they filmed most of Pirates of the Caribbean around here and it looks bloody marvellous. But no time for sightseeing - I've got to get to Barbados! So I met with Kim from the Paradise Beach Hotel in Villa. Lorna Brookes had got in touch with her and had let her know I was interested in getting a speedboat over to Barbados. Now you have to understand that my budget for travelling around THE WHOLE OF THE AMERICAS was about £1500, max - that was based on sleeping on buses, only eating street food and cadging free rides around the Caribbean. I was steeling myself to be told that it was going to cost me £500 to get to Barbados in a speedboat. I was…