Feeling stiff about now – here’s why. We left the boat this morning around 8am with only one slip up – forgot the map. After a brief trip back to the boat, setting the dinghy stern anchor a second time, and locking the dinghy a second time we were ready to set off.
It’s only a small climb to the main road to pick up the busses. We had thought that all busses heading away from town would take us up island but that was not the case. A local fellow sitting on the wall set us straight and as he recognized all the busses he helped us identify the right one. While waiting we had a little chat about not a lot.
Up and down the islands (except for Mustique of course) there is a similarity in the bus services. All rely on minivans which can squish in about 18 people. Both Grenada and St Vincent make use of ‘conducters’ who open and close the side door, lean out looking for new customers, help squeeze more people in and handle the money. This leaves the driver to concentrate on driving. And they need to here in St Vincent as they race along the winding roads at break-neck speeds performing acts of driving that would disqualify them from driving instantly in other countries. An example today was overtaking, at high speed, another bus which had stopped on a pedestrian crossing.
Today’s ride may just well be one of those that sticks in our memory. The ride was more memorable due to the local radio station playing Michael Jackson as a result of his passing yesterday. The driving was not too “Bad” but it was certainly a “Thriller”. I thought the lyrics “Don’t stop till you get enough” were quite appropriate. They managed to fill the bus to capacity despite us with our rucksacks, several large people, mother with small child on lap, a man with a ladder and someone else with a box. Amazing.
We survived the ride intact and soon caught a second bus to cover the remaining distance to the closest point we could ride a bus to the mountain trail. This was on the coast road a couple of miles from the trailhead which was also at around 1,100 feet above us. This extra leg was a small price to pay for the money saved. The ‘quote’ for the official ride was US$140. So far we’d spent EC$10 total getting there (less than US$4). The air was stuffy and very humid as we walked through a plantain plantation. I started developing a blister very quickly so we stopped so I could pay it some attention. I think all the walking in bare feet and flip flops have left my ankles with tender skin, unused to the 
rigours of hiking boots. As I was putting my boot back on a lorry/truck carrying teachers and kids from a local tech school came round the corner and stopped, offering us a ride to the trailhead. This was most welcome as it eliminated a climb of around 800ft from our overall ascent to the crater rim at 3,100ft.
We were soon on the trail sweating in what felt like 100% humidity. The vegetation varied along the route as we climbed from bamboo woods to rainforest to more like scrub towards the top. The trail 
was generally in good condition but towards the top it was a bit of a scramble alongside deep gulleys eroded into the volcanic soil. Towards the top we joined up with the leading group of students and their lead who knew the mountain well. I think he’d said he’d climbed the volcano around 50 times so he knew his stuff.
At the rim it was windy and chilly and initially not a good view. The crater floor which I believe is 1,000 feet from the rim was barely visible. We ate our lunch here waiting for the mist to clear and eventually we were reward with an awesome view. The crater is quite large with a bulge in the center forming a circular crater floor. There was a small lake on the floor nearest to us and steam was visible rising from the central bulge off to our left. A video I took perhaps shows this best.
We eventually parted company with the students and teacher who wanted to see if they could descend into the crater further round. 
There was a path for this but we weren’t up to it. Going down was, as ever, much easier than climbing up. Near the top we met a family (John, Lynette, Jasmine and Brandon (we think)). He had a distinct North London accent (Harringay) and she was clearly Australian. They were on their way back to Australia via St Vincent where his mother lives. They were on their way up.
Having made it back to the trailhead we set about walking down the road we had been given a ride up. Close to where we were picked up the first time a minibus stopped by – it was John and Lynette with their guide on the way back down. They gave us a ride back to Georgetown saving us a bit of a hot walk and an EC$ each for the short bus ride (it all counts).
After picking up a couple of drinks we caught a bus back to Dignity. From the start of our walk to the end of the final bus ride I had my GPS running so you can see our walks, our rides and the bus ride home on the following map (if you care to).
View 2009-06-26 Soufriere in a larger map
Back on the boat we’re resting our weary limbs. Finally – here are our pics.
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