Montreal Gardens

This country of St Vincent continues to astound us.

Today’s mission was to visit Montreal Gardens nestled high up in the Mesopotamia Valley. There was no direct bus there but from our visit to the Ministry of Tourism earlier this week we knew a bus from Kingstown would get us close with only a ‘walk up the hill’ to get us there. Getting into town was straight forward but finding the right bus to take to get us close to the gardens was not so easy. We eventually discovered we had to take the ‘Mespo’ bus which we did. This one initially took us back along the route we had taken into town but eventually took us up into the mountains offering us some awesome views of the southern end of the island.

The conductor let us know when it was time to get off and which way it was to get to the gardens. Soon we were climbing more and more hills. It was just under two miles from the bus to the gardens. We past plenty of locals who were very friendly, asking us how we were, greeting us good morning (one thought it was the afternoon already – too relaxed) and never asking us for anything. I mention this as St Vincent has a reputation for being unfriendly and pushy. We are seeing none of that.

Soon we were at the gardens. We learned very quickly they were not open at the weekend but we wandered in anyway hoping we would get to see something of them. In the end we managed to see the whole gardens having met the owner and giving him the entrance fee directly.

These gardens were unlike a normal horticultural garden where flowers are laid out almost as specimens. This was more a cross between an English country garden and a nursery. The best way to get a feel for the place is to visit, but second best are the pictures we’ve taken. Play the slideshow below full screen.

The big surprise was getting back. The gardens had one other visitor who was collecting some flowers for a local school holding their graduation ceremony today. He left around the same time we did and offered us a ride. He ended up dropping us off at a supermarket down by the airport where we could pick up some food and catch the bus back to where we are still moored. His name was “Ras-John”. He ran a landscaping business here in St Vincent but has spent time in the US. His 24 year old daughter still studies in Miami. Along the way down out of the hill Ras-John wanted to buy us a lot of fruit from a roadside stand. This is a very pleasant correction to the myths of the grabbing locals of St Vincent.

We are more than pleased we made our way back up to St Vincent before the hurricane season really kicks in. This island is really surprising us.

Tomorrow we’re back on the move round to Buccament Bay where we’ll stay for a few days.