“Another day in Paradise” said the tee-shirt of the lady we’re chatting to at midday as we return to Pretoria, a suburb of Port Elizabeth. It’s a very true statement - this island really is paradise.
A few hours earlier, we’re quite late getting sorted as Hubby has some work to do, and I’m “messing on the Internet” as usual. When we do eventually head off, we’re the only people needing a lift, so it’s a private tender to the island of Bequia.
What a contrast to yesterday’s madness ... there’s a single taxi driver who simply offers his services, which of course we politely decline and head up past the police station and school out of town. A mongrel joins us on our walk, mabe he can smell our elevenses?
We’re heading north through delightful countryside, along the only road serving this part of the island, yet there’s only the occasional vehicle passing us. Soon we’re dropping down to a bay, an undisturbed beach and a few smart houses. Each time we pass a house, it’s more like a small ranch. Alert readers will have already picked up the references to a different place on Earth and these ranch-style houses remind us of remote farms found all over South Africa. Similarly, all the owners seem white and their staff are black. After about a mile and a half, we say hello to a couple walking back towards town and our not-so-faithful companion turns and heads back with them!
Our first destination is a small turtle sanctuary created by a local man to protect the local breed, which has a particularly colourful shell and so has become quite sought after. For a breed that can’t replicate before they are 25 years old, that’s a recipe for extinction. The retired fisherman who founded the sanctuary realised the need to protect them, and he now rears youngsters up to six years old before releasing them back into the wild. At $6 a visit, it’s a small contribution to their protection.
On our return we decide to wander off-plan and up into a housing development called Spring Estate, which is dotted around a hillside. It’s the most incredible steep climb - up over 200m in less than a kilometre - with houses virtually invisible from the road, often only the staff accommodation can be seen. At the top we enjoy our elevenses with views both to the south west and the Atlantic, and to the north east where the main island of St Vincent and the Grenadines lies.
Rather than walk back down to the road we came on we opt for a barely visible track on Google Earth which is a joy to use, we’re the only people for miles and it’s a “country-file” moment with birds, lizards, butterflies all around us in total silence apart from the noise our feet make. A minor cartographical malfunction near the end of the track, which needs reporting to Google, means we end up having to rejoin the road for the last mile, but that’s a small price to pay for the beautiful nature-walk we’ve created. As we emerge from the scrub, the aforementioned lady comments on our intrepid activities and chats briefly (before jumping into her car, her driver whisking her away!)
Our return to PE is only brief, we take a quick stop in church and then proceed in a southerly direction in search of the beaches, the first named Princess Margaret’s Beach and the next one Lower Beach. Both are lovely, and we wander around for a while. On route the geek in me notices that we pass through the thirteenth parallel, I’m sure a screenshot will find it’s way into the photos. After which we return to PE to take our tender back for lunch.
The afternoon is spent working on auditions for me and sunning and chatting for him, before we end up in the jacuzzi with a Canadian actuary and her friends. Soon it’s time to head for the traditional Epicurean Extravaganza on eight around the pool deck, the stalls are quite different to usual, and we enjoy ship-made G&T as well as a selection of tit-bits. This is followed by the staff parade, when more than one third of the staff from all departments get appreciative applause from us all.
We dress for dinner in MDR, with me managing two main courses because I didn’t fancy any of the middle course options. Everything is excellent apart from my waistline.
Tonight’s show is a hybrid of the magician and the impersonator singer, the former great, the latter a little bit difficult to understand for us Brits, but she can certainly sing!
There’s no time to process photos of today, and Saturday is a busy day meeting friends in Barbados, so it will be later on before they get posted.
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