Monday, December 8, 2008

Matt's Driving Experience

One of the things on my to-do list was to drive a right-hand drive vehicle. That wish came true when I heard I could rent a car on St. Vincent. I knew the vehicles were RHD because the taxi that took us to the ferry dock was like this. The front office at Young Island made the necessary phone calls and arrangements, and even found us the best deal! The cost to get a temporary 6-month St. Vincent driver's license was US$25 or EC$65. The East Caribbean Dollar is the official currency of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, although many places there accept both US and EC currency. To rent the car, a 2-door Toyota RAV4, was US$146.


We've returned!

We are back from the Caribbean. Staying at Young Island was a truly remarkable experience. We really didn't keep a schedule, except when meals were served, which was a 2- to 3-hour window. We took our time to explore this 35-acre island and the fort directly to the south of it. We also explored the main island of the Grenadines by car, but that's for another post. From what the resort manager told us, they used to do cocktail parties there until a huge chunk of rock fell. The island that the fort sits on has been deemed unsafe by the government of St. Vincent, so we took a pedal boat from the resort to the fort and explored it at our own risk. The access to the fort underwent restoration in April and May 1969. The dates in the pictures are date, then month, the opposite of the way we write them here in the States.