Our next destination in the Lesser Antilles was much more enjoyable: Saint Lucia. Not only is the island more beautiful, thanks to the mountainous heart of the island where you can still find an impressive rainforest, but also because of its authenticity. Also for this island tourism is important, but to a lesser extent. Most tourists arrive by cruise ship or with their own yacht. The Cruise people usually only visit the island for a few hours, spending the time in the main town called Castries, or going with an arranged minibus trip to the famous 'Pitons' (point-like rocks appearing from the sea). Tourists who visit by yacht normally only stay in and around the harbour where their yacht is, or at a nearby beach. Elsewhere on the island you won’t see many tourists, keeping these parts of the island still authentic. On St. Lucia, we also hiked through the Edmund Forest Reserve, one of the best places on the island to see the endemic St. Lucia Parrot. It’s not very easy to spot it, but we eventually did (see also the article on St Lucia).

With a propeller plane of the Caribbean airline LIAT we flew to Saint Vincent & The Grenadines, an island group a little further south. This country consists of one slightly bigger island called St. Vincent, and a group of smaller islands called 'The Grenadines’. St. Vincent is similar to St. Lucia; a mountainous island with a green heart. Also here are a few interesting pieces of jungle, and St. Vincent has its own endemic parrot; the St. Vincent Parrot. This parrot is much easier to see than its counterpart in St. Lucia.

The Grenadines are the real tourist attractions of the island group. There is even one island, named Mystique, which is very popular among the richest of the earth. Queen Elizabeth, Mick Jagger and Bill Gates all have a villa on this paradise island. The normal 'tourist' is discouraged to come to this island. And they do this quite efficiently, namely by making the price of accommodation so high, that only the happy few, which we are not, can pay for a stay here. That’s why we skipped this island. We do have visited some of the other Grenadine islands, where ordinary people are still welcome. Most of the inhabited islands are accessible by public ferry, sometimes on a daily schedule, but usually a few times per week.

The Grenadine islands are very popular among so-called 'yachties', tourists who sail by yacht from island to island. Some travel by private yacht, but most rent a yacht for a few weeks to sail in the area. Usually, these people have deep pockets, and that means that prices on these islands are unreasonable high. A yachtie usually doesn’t need to pay attention to his pennies that much and does mind to pay around four Euros for a coffee or the astonishing amount of fifteen Euro for a meagre chicken leg and some fries. But this problem is true for all islands in the region. This part of the Caribbean attracts wealthy tourists and that is reflected in the price of especially accommodation and meals. As a backpacker, it is not easy to come around for a reasonable amount of money. The cheapest accommodation is still pricey and these rooms are often very basic. 3rd World comfort for a 1st World price. And that makes the area probably not the most relaxed place for for budget-conscious travellers.