On the first leg of our trip to the Caribbean, we managed to get from Vancouver to Toronto in the early evening in a snowstorm, but only about an hour delayed. Bonus was that we got a last minute upgrade to business class. Had a lovely visit family at the airport as they happened to be flying to Argentina that night. Snowstorm in TO was wicked but managed to get to our hotel. It is just amazing how organized Ontario is compared to the lower mainland of BC when it comes to snow.
Early next morning headed back to the airport and to our amazement, ours was one of the only flights leaving on time. Too good to be true! We boarded the plane and the wait began. First issue was mechanical. Delays kept stacking up as we waited for electricians to fix the plane’s windshield heater. Then the pilots timed out and had to be replaced, then the flight crew timed out and needed replacement, then the 2nd flight crew timed out, then we needed new paperwork, then all the food went bad and couldn’t be served. WE SAT ON THE PLANE FOR OVER 6 HOURS. Ultimately the flight was cancelled. Another wait while they found a gate agent to deplane us. Then we had to try to get “back” into Canada. Since we were coming out of an international arrivals gate, we had to clear immigration to get back off airside. A bit comical as we had to explain to the Canadian immigration agent that we had nothing to declare as we had never left! Somewhat chaotic as Air Canada tried to accommodate 200 or so displaced travellers. To their credit, they rescheduled the same flight for the following day. Also, put us up for the night and fed us (or at least handed out vouchers). Next morning, a trip back out to to YYZ for a do-over. Flight left on time in clear skies and to many cheers from our fellow passengers. We all knew each other quite well by now.
Having finally arrived in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines over 30 hours late, we had missed the last ferry to Bequia so we had scrambled to find a hotel. Totally exhausted from three consecutive days of early wake-ups and hours of sitting in airports and on planes, we didn’t want dinner just a drink and a bed for a full night’s sleep. The bar at the Cobblestone Inn did the trick nicely; a very atmospheric venue in an early 18oos Georgian building on the main street of Kingstown. It being Valentine’s Day we opted for a bottle of wine. Only two choices: a warm chardonnay or a cold pinot grigio, so really no choice at all!
We still hadn’t arrived at our final destination (even though we’d paid for the first night’s stay there!), so had to set the alarm to catch the first ferry to tiny Bequia, an hour’s sail south. No breakfast, just a short walk to the ferry dock (via the coffee stand for a “to go” cup) and we were off. We enjoyed another coffee and tea with freshly baked pastries at a portside café, then a short walk up the hill to our Booking.com apartment. On the tiny island of Bequia, just 18 sq.km, and population only ~5,000, everything is either uphill of downhill and usually just a short walk away. If the hills are too much, then frequent taxis (pick-ups with bench seats for 6 to 8 in the back) ply Bequia’s only two main roads.
At some point during our were introduced to the Caribbean verb/noun “to lime/a lime”. From Wiktionary:
Verb – liming
(Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago, slang) hanging around, usually in a public place with friends, enjoying the scene
We believe that we were fairly successful in our attempt at liming (or, more properly on Bequia, limin’) since in three days on the island we didn’t do much except walk to the beaches, enjoy rum punches, and quaff many cold Hairouns, the local lager. As a token gesture, we did visit the Firefly Estate for lunch on Sunday and a tour of their orchard, but that was pretty much it for touristic activities. Here’s a couple of FB reels from that tour:
Our liming wasn’t really authentic since we didn’t hang out with friends. But then on our very last day, we ran into friends and neighbours from our home town and spent a couple of hours just sitting around gabbing, so we felt as though we were truly limin’ on Bequia!
On our last day, our ferry was delayed so we got a bonus sunset cruise back to “the mainland”. Despite the fact that St. Vincent is itself an island, it is not one of the Grenadines (hence the long country name of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and everyone calls it the mainland.
See our pictures from Bequia on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/100countries/72177720323961433/
