Sunday, November 17, 2024

We arrived in port at 8 am, greeted by another sunny day.

The second largest island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bequia (pronounced Beck-way and meaning Island of the Cloud) is about seven square miles in area. Some people believe Edward Teach, the pirate Blackbeard, had his base in Bequia. Another privateer, Henry Morgan, for whom Captain Morgan Rum was named, may also have spent time here. Admiralty Bay, on the southwestern side of the island, was a safe natural harbor during hurricane season.

Whaling was introduced here in the 19^th century, and the island is one of the few places in the world where limited whaling is still allowed. Natives are allowed catch up to four humpback whales per year, using only traditional hunting methods, as overseen by the International Whaling Commission. Whaling of humpbacks by natives started in 1876 to supplement their diet and income. The natives use traditional open whaling boats, similar to those used by Yankee whalers in the 1800s. The equipment, too, is identical to that of the 1800s: harpoons, bombs, guns, lances, and other implements. Once the whale is dead, the whalers enter the water to sew up the mouth of the whale to prevent water from entering the stomach, causing the whale to sink and be lost.

There has been some discussion about introducing whale watching tours, but the waters are often too rough for the boats.

We took a tour to the Firefly Plantation, a 30-acre complex on the eastern side of the island, with hotel, golf course, croquet lawn, swimming pool, trails, fruit orchards, and an old sugar mill. We sampled several fruits from the trees on the plantation: guava, golden apple (actually a type of plum), and coconut. We drank coconut water from the coconut, and sampled juice from the sugar cane.

After our tour, we enjoyed lunch in the Firefly Restaurant. Much of the food came from the plantation – plantain, honey, salad, coconut – and was supplemented by fish or chicken, and rum punch as well. The views here were lovely.

This was our final full day of the cruise. We left port at 6 pm, heading to Bridgetown, Barbados, where we will spend the next few days before going back to cold Minnesota.