Kingstown

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

The flight to Kingstown on LIAT Airlines lasted only 25 minutes or so and because I was sitting on the starboard side of the plane all l was able to see was water the entire trip.   Oh well, that's just my luck.  The Lord plays tricks like that on me all the time.  He knew I was going to be on the water for seven days and wanted to let me know what to expect.  Right.......

The charter company assured me there would be a driver to pick me up at the airport to take me to my hotel for the night so I was not surprised when he walked right up and asked if I was his passenger.  It was surprising that he walked up to me and not someone else.  I guess it was because my body was whiter than any of the other tan ones that got off the plane.  So much for fitting in.  The taxi ride to my room, promised as taking no more than 10 minutes, was actually made in less than seven minutes.  Johnnie, the driver, turned out to be a NASCAR wannabe with a death wish.  We sped around a winding one and a half lane road.  Instead of slowing and moving a little more to our side of the road when a car was coming in the opposite direction, Johnnie sounded his horn and sped up.  Later I learned that the guy with the loudest horn has the right of way.  Or something like that.  

Traffic lanes resemble those in England; oncoming traffic passes on the right, and I imagine all the cars with the right side dented and scratched, maybe 70 percent of all traffic, are the result of drivers being unable to determine who had the loudest horn.  If any of you readers are so inclined, there's a pile of money to be made here.  Just invent one or another devise that will measure the decibel level of competing horns and display that information on the dashboard.  I'm sure they'll sell like hot cakes. 

I'll never know how it happened (my eyes were closed much of the time) but we made it to the hotel without adding more dents to the car.  I thanked Johnnie and tipped him way too much.  I figure just getting there unharmed was worth the money.  The front desk was ready for me, and my heavy duffel bag was given to a skinny guy who weighed maybe forty pounds more than it did.  He managed it much more easily than I.  Wow.  I'm outta shape.  The view from the room was amazing; I could see the lagoon, the sailboats moored there and native trees.  Beautiful.

 After locating all my shaving gear, I showered, shaved and went to find some food.  The restaurant  was just as amazing, with a different view of the same scene.  And, to the side of the path leading there I had to pass several banana trees loaded with fruit that was almost ripe.  Too bad I hadn't waited for another week or two;  I could have grabbed a couple to eat on the boat.

That was to be the last night I would spend in a full sized bed and in air conditioned comfort for a while.  In the morning I would meet my shipmates and board a 44 foot Dufor Gib'Sea for a week.