Wallilabou
Alia Vita
Rob & Frances Lythgoe
Thu 19 Feb 2015 16:50
13:14.88N 61.16.23W
Well you can't win 'em all. This place needs avoiding by anyone following in our wake. The bay was used as a base for some of the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean some years ago, and it is still trying to live off the back of that. There is an old stage set there and nothing else. There is absolutely nothing to commend it. So why did we go?
W
ell we have to check out of each country, and this is a 'Port of Entry' for St Vincent and The Grenadines, and is about where we wanted to stop on our way to St Lucia. To check in or out of a country you need to visit Customs and immigration, but what the guide book doesn't tell you, is that whilst there's a custom office here, there's no immigration office. Well that's brilliant! So w
e still had to go to another bay to visit immigration at the local police station. This procedure is free, but I was encouraged to make a 'small donation' to the person that had hold of our passports at the time! I explained that there wasn't a charge for immigration but was told that a 'small donation' was only EC$ 20 (About £5), it started off in US$ (about £12). I capitulated and moved on. It is difficult, these people have nothing but are generally very pleasant. The Police woman fleecing me was especially nice. I had been asking her earlier if her station was busy and she said sometimes, just theft and woundings! When I refer to a 'Police Station', this is a rickety hut with one battered desk and a wobbly chair in a corner, Scotland Yard this is not.
Back at Willilabou the stage set did lend itself for some fun photos, and the local 'boat boys' that approach to sell live lobster, dead tuna, fruit, veg and jewelry were more in evidence. The jewelry vendor actually set up shop on the side deck of Alia Vita.
You have to hand it to them, they really do set their stall out to sell you something. I tried to charge him rent of course.
Set from Pirates of the Caribbean
No self respecting pirate's lair would be without a noose at the ready.
This is a facade, part of the set.
And of course the obligatory cheesy photo. Looks about the right size to me.