Mustique - An Estate Island

So here we were in Mustique, supposedly home and playground to the rich and famous – mostly rich. As with most of the islands we have visited, this 1400 acre parcel of beauty was originally inhabited by the Arawaks, to be eventually replaced by the bloodthirsty Caribs, who then succumbed to the even more bloodthirsty British. In order to protect the seven sugar plantations which were subsequently built and owned by various British aristocracy, the Crown built three forts to ensure the French, who they had battled with for most of the other islands at one time or another, did not win out on Mustique.

In the 1800’s sugar beets replaced cane as the major source of sugar and the economy decayed rapidly until the island was divided into just two plantations which grew cotton, peas and corn to export. Then in 1958, the Honourable Colin Tennant (Earl of Glencannon) purchased the entire island and took over all production. His estate flourished and in 1964 the village of Lovell was created to house the islanders who worked the estate. This in fact was the only employment for the islanders as the fishing was done by men from Bequia. At this point, Mustique was virtually self-supporting; even though still part of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In the meantime Mustique’s reputation as a good “get-away” island for the wealthy was growing and in 1960 Princess Margaret accepted a 10 acre plot as a wedding present. Shortly after that the government of St Vincent entered into an agreement with developers who then committed to building 140 (no more than that allowed) homes/estates (mainly designed by Oliver Messel who is apparently someone special) to be purchased by – you guessed it – wealthy people. These have included among others David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Raquel Welch and others.
The island is 3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide at its widest point with essentially seven valleys each with a white sand beach. The educational system for the islanders as well as the roads, electricity, communications, a desalinization plant, a medical clinic and air transport services are all run by The Mustique Company, with the education and medical services guaranteed free and for life by a special trust that was set up. In other words, this is undoubtedly the best equipped and serviced (for the inhabitants) island in the whole Caribbean.

So much for history – now our time there. Britannia Bay is the only area for pleasure craft (i.e. yachts) to stay and if the boat is less than 50 ft, you have to take a mooring ball. They charge $75.00 US and that covers 1-3 days – if you stay one day it is $75, if you stay 3 days it is $75. We figured we might as well get our money’s worth so we planned on staying 3 days. Although the bay is a bit rolly at times, the water is crystal clear and there are no bars on the shore booming out music. There was also a great view from the boat of the very pristine looking shoreline. There is a dock there where small freighters load and unload and on one day a barge full of gravel came in and it backed into the shore and was also unloaded but it was very quiet in spite of this.

The first day we went ashore and walked to the village of Lovell. Unlike the other islands, the roads here are in absolutely great shape and the village looked clean and tidy with no sign of the shacks or poorer housing that usually exists in some area of the towns and villages we have seen on the other islands . The people are friendly and helpful although there is a lot less interaction as no one appeared to be trying to “tourist” us to death or sell us stuff we didn’t want or need. Although there was a breeze when we were on the boat, on land it was very hot, probably around 34-36 C most of the time, so a swim in the clear cool water was a welcome treat when we got back to the boat.

Next day we decided to walk to the northwest corner of the island up by the airport. As in the areas we walked the day before the roads were in good shape and on our walk we passed one place that had about 6 well maintained tennis courts and then further along a riding club with the type of lands and outbuildings that I usually associate with places like Spruce Meadows or Kentucky riding estates. The airport, when we arrived and started walking down the length of runway (there is only one) was quite unlike anything I have seen before. It was shaped like a “U” that has had the arms bent towards the ground. In other words, you land on a down slope and if you get to the other end of the runway you are on an up slope. If I were a pilot I would be quite careful landing on a surface that falls away from you as you are trying to land!!

We walked around the runway with the idea of getting to either Macaroni Beach or L’Ansecoy Bay, whichever was more accessible. All the way along we had been passing driveways with Private Property – Keep Out signs on them and it was no different up there. The one exception was a place that I estimate to be about 30 acres (although we couldn’t see the entire estate) called Seascape. From what we could see of the property and house(s?), it obviously belonged to someone quite wealthy but I have never been one with any great desire to ogle the “rich and famous” so staying off the property was no big deal.

We eventually reached L’Ansecoy By and walked along the beach with the idea of getting back to the road towards the end of the beach. At one point we went further inland and a man immediately came out and asked if he could help (riiiiiight) we said we were looking to get back to the road and he said all the places along the beach were private and the only way to get back to the road was the way we had come. He was nice enough about it but obviously privacy and property are quite precious to the owners up there.
After meeting up with some fellow Canadians from a boat moored close to ours in Britannia Bay (we met them at L’Ansecoy Bay beach) and talking with them for a bit, we headed back for another cool swim and a quiet evening.

Last full day on Mustique we decided to walk the other way and visit the south end of the island. We brought along our scuba gear because Doyle’s guide book and the Mustique literature said there was good snorkeling around the corner. As it turns out their definition and ours were at opposite ends of the spectrum so we didn’t get any snorkeling in there but we did find a Conservation Trail that was extremely well done. It was well marked and had some information stations with some really interesting presentations offered to the “seeker of knowledge”. We had not brought the camera as we intended to be snorkeling so of course we had to come back in the afternoon and do the trail again. Although I mentioned the island is quite small, when you are meandering through the nature trail the mileage adds up. The one blessing is that we didn’t have the hills to climb that we had encountered the two days before. Cheryl has inserted some pictures of some of the things we saw on our walk.

Wild Pineapples on Machineel Trees

Land Crab Hole

Red Mangrove Roots - grow down from the tree

Black and White Mangrove Roots - grow up from the ground

Again, back to the boat for swimming and reading and resting and one of Cheryl’s great suppers. Although Mustique – specifically the mooring area in Britannia Bay - has a reputation as a somewhat rolly anchorage, our first two nights had not been bad. The third one made up for it so in spite of the beauty of the island, we were happy to set sail the next day for Tobago Cays.
If I had to sum up Mustique in a short way – imagine a tropical island, palm trees, white beaches and happy people – that has been turned into an estate by someone with a lot of money and a flair for tidiness. Mustique!!