Birthdays, with a few notable exceptions, have just been another day for me for quite some time. This year I wanted something a little different, which is why I decided that Carriacou would be a special enough place for my 62nd birthday.
This year the admonition, “Be careful what you wish for… “ becomes quite real. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a good thing to have a local neighborhood bar and in Bayaleau it’s Mafi’s The Valley Bar where on Friday nights you can have a drink with your neighbors, and have a little barbecue too and on special nights you can even get a bowl of Manish Water.
You can also get some Jack Iron rum to go… whew! Read the rest of this entry »
Birthday cake left over from a Happy Button Day
A few days after the official birthday I held a small gathering of some of the new friends I’ve made while here on Carriacou. Originally planned as a birthday party, it morphed into my own little thanksgiving and maroon for a few of the many kind & helpful people I’ve met on this rural little slice of real Caribbean life. Read the rest of this entry »
The Carriacou Maroon and Stringband Festival is a celebration of thanksgiving and culture. This 2nd annual festival started in Mount Pleasant on the windward side of Carriacou with a traditional maroon and big dum dance. The community of Mount Pleasant prepared and shared food and drink with all comers for free.
Dancing and Druming at Belaire Park
The afternoon was overcast and we were hit with a few rainstorms that drove everyone under the food and drink tents, but didn’t dampen the spirits as everyone, young & old, ex-pats & Kyaks, kept eating and drinking but mostly visiting with friends and relations.
The next evening the festival moved up to Belaire, where I was staying at the time, and the grounds of the Provincial Secretaries house at Belaire Park. While the house itself is just a shell of its earlier grandeur now hoping for restoration. Belaire Park also has a rather nice stage and outdoor amphitheater for live music festivals just like the Carriacou Maroon and Stringband Festival, along with several permanent booths for food and crafts, a regular festival village.
Today is a rather special day for me… not so much that’s it’s my birthday (62 and counting), but that I’ve been shown such kindness by strangers, really, here on Carriacou. Sure I’ve been here for a month and a half and while there’s been lots of visitors, I haven’t seen a single white visitor with a long ponytail like mine. So yes, while I am distingtive I’m still a visitor and not a Kyak, a local of Carriacou … yet/maybe/hopefully.
My plan is to have a little gathering, a party – a fete here at Dave’s Bayaleau Point Cottages to celebrate. So I have asked Barbara Ann, who works for Dave and his wife Georgie as housekeeper and babysitter, to help out as cook… just because I want to just relax and enjoy myself on my birthday party. You can ask any of the old KZAP N Street House family about how I do birthday partys.
Mostly Harmless at Mayreau
At Dave’s Bayaleau Point Cottages resides Mostly Harmless, Dave’s twin outboard motor island tour boat and on Friday I was able to go for a day trip to the Tobago Cays.
It was a beautiful day, almost picture postcard perfect. The wind of the past few days had slacked which had blown in some haze from Africa. This gave us visibility of over 20 miles and a mostly flat sea, save for the swells between the islands.
On Wednesday I moved up to Two Oceans, into the Wells’ house in Belaire, a village on the hilltop overlooking Bayaleau Point, Windward & the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Hillsborough & the Caribbean Sea to the west. This is a bit of a stop-over before I move, just over the hill, to Michael & Becca’s Belaire Garden Cottage.
The view from here is stunning – to the west is the Caribbean Sea and technically to the east as well, but where does one sea end and the next ocean begin? Seeing the beauty of Carriacou from this vantage is mesmerizing… watching the rain storms move in from the west, with the sun behind and pass over C’cou is quite a sight. Read the rest of this entry »
Today was another good day on C’cou as it marked the day of my first dive since I was here last in 1998. I felt quite clumsy, but Claudia of Carriacou Silver Divers is a very good and patient instructor. We weet to Sandy Island with another guide and a couple, John and Agie (sp?), and while they went on a dive around the reef,Claudia guided me through a few essential exercises; mask clearing, out of air sharing, and buoyancy control.
We thought we had the weights right, but after we entered the water, I could not descend until Claudia added a couple of kilos to my belt and then down we went. Even though I felt rather clumsy, she told me that I did well and within another couple of dives I would be much more comfortable.
Wonderful! Even though this was a short 30 minute dive, I was reminded of the beauty and stunning diversity of coral life, and why Carriacou is called “the island of reefs.” I’m also looking forward to my next dive, tomorrow.
This morning around 10am I take a bit of a walk from Bayaleau Point to Mount Pleasant, a distance of about 5 km. The walk was pretty hot, but I remembered to larup on some sun block and didn’t get much sun burn. I took a few pictures
The road toward Mt. Pleasant
along the walk and need to collect a few more closer to Bayaleau, as I was thinking I’d walk path the same way. Read the rest of this entry »
Good morning Carriacou! A bit of heavy rain last night woke me a couple of times, but the morning sky is but hardly cloudy. So I may be able to go for my first dive a bit later this AM.
Dave left early this morning for the boat yard where he is finishing up his new boat in time for the Antigua Regatta and Popo, who has been working with Dave for the longest time is here cutting grass. It was really quite a delight that Popo recognized me and remembered my earlier visit. Read the rest of this entry »
