June--Canouan

Canouan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines: June 1 - June 3, 2009

Click on the above thumbnail for a map during this time period

Just a scant 21 miles south of Bequia lies Canouan ("can-no-wan"), a small boot-shaped island with plenty of hills and panoramic views (cf. pics, below) just right for hiking. The waters are crystal clear; anchored in 20 feet we could see perfectly the starfish on the bottom. We were anchored in Charlestown Bay, out in front a bit from the Tamarind Beach Hotel and Yacht Club. Enjoying a beer at their beach bar after one of our hikes, we asked Peter, the barkeep, about how the resort was faring during this period of world-wide economic downturn.

"Not very well", he replied. "Last year at this time we had 75% to 80% occupancy in our 40 units. Today, we have 0%".

We could see for ourselves another indicator: The Moorings company has a base in the bay for their charter vessels; it is not a good sign when most of the moorings are filled with un-rented boats.

Fortunately for the island, there is a massive resort area that occupies the entire northern half of the island, and that employs some 600 people. Created by the Canouan Resort Development Company (CRD), and now run as a Raffles Resort, the development features a golf course, tennis courts, villas, 180 rooms, a casino, a church, a beach-side restaurant and bar with a swimming pool, and a fancy spa. It is a gated community with guards at the entry points, and everyone must seek permission to enter. As we did, since the development also surrounds the highest peak on the island: 877-foot Mt. Royal. CRD has pledged to keep the peak and its immediate surroundings free from development. It took some doing for us to get in. They wanted us to purchase a day pass, which would include lunch and transportation to/from our anchorage and the trailhead of the path up the mountain. A mere $125 (US) per person. We didn't really need transportation, we responded, since we were on the hike for exercise and were already at the resort. We had really hoped to be able to hike to the top, since we were on a mission to climb the highest peak on each of the islands, we explained. The guard called a supervisor, who repeated the offer of a day pass, and we repeated the somewhat-exaggerated but hopefully compelling story. The supervisor consulted a higher-ranked supervisor. He repeated. We repeated. It worked! We were given permission to walk the concrete road through the development up past the casino to the dirt road which lead to the well-marked and apparently-fresh path that zigzagged sharply up the forested slope.

(An aside: all of the personnel we dealt with were extremely cordial and friendly. $125 per person may seem like the policy of cold money-grubbing automatons, but the real-live people we came in contact with were genuinely warm. Indeed, a construction worker noticed us pausing to consult a map, and took the time to jump in a pickup and show us the way to the dirt road leading to the path.)

The trees/bushes on the slope were fruiting small dark red berries, and as we climbed we repeatedly flushed heavy dark-bodied pigeons away from their feasting. The summit itself is a pinnacle of sharp-edged boulders that appear to be rather precariously balanced. Nearby, and just slightly lower, is a flatter, larger area called the "base camp". There, we found a waterproof bag that we at first thought had been forgotten by a careless hiker, but soon realized contained a guest book.

It was a very nice hike. Compared to climbing Mt. Pelee, very easy indeed. Times: 45 minutes from anchorage to entrance gate. 100 minutes from gate to summit. Your Mileage May Vary.