Hillsborough Carriacou

February 2, 2010
Caribbean Misadventures#11: Moving On...St. John's to Hillsborough

Bright and early this morning, I packed up yet again, threw out a few more clothes and still had trouble closing the bag. I swear that heat and humidity cause clothes to expand, therefore necessitating the abandonment of all but bare essentials by the end of the trip. I did pick up a few little gifts yesterday in the market, but they weren't really that big.

Walked down the steep hill to the main road, and flagged down a bus. The bus dropped me off beside the Osprey, a large catamaran ferry that would take me to my final island - Carriacou. The boat slowly filled up, and then an official looking car arrived with important looking people dressed in suits, and wearing the little Independence day rosettes in their lapels. It turns out the Prime Minister, and his entourage of 'Important People' were on board.

Carriacou celebrates Independence day a day earlier than the rest of Grenada, so tomorrow should be full of parades, and marching bands, and school presentations in the school grounds around the corner from where I am staying. Drums and tubas and other instruments were loaded into the hold and many bright, cheerful young men boarded, and it turned out that they were the police marching band. They quickly started distributing rum and cokes (this was at 9 am) in front of an official looking policeman, who didn't seem to be bothered by it. Smiles all round as we set sail

Leaving my gear inside, I went up top, where I met a most interesting oldie travelling alone. He was from Bermuda, and had been the head of the gov't conservation dept or some such. He was a serious birder, and was heading out to join up a boat/birder expedition that was sailing up the islands looking for endangered birds... very interesting person, with a nephew in Victoria that i have to phone when I get home.

It was a nice, albeit kinda rough trip, and as we landed we were engulfed by a torrential, but brief tropical squall. Soaking wet, I walked the hundred feet or so from the dock to where I was staying - Ades Dream Place. For about $30 a night I have a small room, a/c, TV, bathroom, shared kitchen, WiFi, and the worse decor I have ever experienced. But its nice and clean and central and there is a shared kitchen. Just outside my room is a lovely large balcony, where i can sit and have my breakfast.

Met several other budget travellers who have also fallen in love with island on first sight! Hillsborough, the only town, is small, but not too small with lots of grocery stores. I am in the middle of town, across the street from the beach- albeit not the cleanest, because it is in middle of town, but quite manageable in a pinch. I took a long walk to the end of town on one side and came back down the back lanes. Tomorrow I will go the other way, before the excitement begins with the bands and such. I am now sitting on a lovely quiet balcony, overlooking their excuse for mountains (hills, in my book) at the back of the guest house. There are lots of school kids in uniforms walking home from school.



You can see Union Island from here....hmmmm maybe i will head over there for the day, or over to the Tobago Keys.... hard to decide....