Grenada, Bequia and Island-hopping in the Grenadines

DAY 1
D included
After meeting in the afternoon at Grenada’s small airport, we have a short drive along the south coast to our Swiss-run four star hotel, featuring very comfortable and well-equipped mahogany built villas, set in tropical gardens with air-conditioning plus fans, as preferred, and individual wooden verandahs facing the sea. We imbibe a Grenadian rum punch at the poolside bar, before dinner overlooking the yachts in the private bay.

Day 2
B, L, D included
We have a leisurely start to the day before beginning our explorations with a guided walking tour of a spice farmer’s co-operative, gaining an excellent introduction to the island’s plants, including learning about the medicinal uses of many of the trees and spices. We are shown around a delightful private garden, with a particularly engaging owner, before an al fresco lunch by the sea, then return to our hotel for an afternoon relaxing on the private beach, in the gardens or by the pool.

Day 3
B, L, D included
The day begins with a visit to a private garden famed for its orchid, cycad and palm collections, before we explore the 18th century Fort protecting St. George’s harbour and the Pre-Columbian collections of the National Museum. Lunch overlooking the Carenage is a gastronomic delight with dishes such as crabback baked with brandy and nutmeg and flying fish in a saffron and coconut sauce. A large, stable catamaran takes us on a sailing trip along the coast, with the option of snorkelling or swimming in two marine reserves, including the underwater statues.

Day 4
B, L, D included
This morning we are welcomed to the home of one of the island’s best-known families and shown round their private garden, closely associated with Grenada’s many Gold Medals at the Chelsea flower show. Set at an airy 1,000 ft. with fruit trees, an award-winning orchid collection, ferns and bromeliads, the garden is always alive with the sound of Antillean crested hummingbirds and the ubiquitous bananaquits. We descend to sea level for lunch, admiring the super yachts in the marina at Port Louis and spend the afternoon relaxing on Grenada's famous Grande Anse Beach.

Day 5
B, L, D included
This morning we have a sailing trip on the Caribbean coast of the island on board a 40 ft traditional wooden Carriacou sloop. After an informal ‘Mediterranean picnic’ we travel by fast speedboat to an offshore island for some ‘liming’: time for a cold Caribbean beer, a swim and relaxing with a book in the shade on a lazy afternoon. We dine this evening on board a restored Swedish lightship, an unusual and very picturesque setting for a renowned gourmet restaurant.

DAY 6 
B, L, D included
Today, we drive to the north of the island to walk along the magnificent beach and look for herons, stilts and waders by the mangrove lake of the Levera National Park. We visit the River Antoine Rum Distillery, still powered by its 1785 waterwheel, and may taste their startling rums before a traditional West Indian buffet lunch. On a tour of the 18th century Belmont Estate, originally planted for sugar cane, but now devoted to cocoa and nutmeg, we follow the old-fashioned processing of the cocoa beans and may purchase the organic chocolate bars of the Grenada Chocolate Company.

Day 7
B, L, D included
We island-hop by ferry to Grenada’s small sister island of Carriacou, looking out for flying fish, brown pelicans and rare red-footed boobies en route. Landing in picturesque Tyrrel Bay, we drive up into the hills for superb views of Petite Martinique, Union island and the Grenadines stretching north. After a grilled fish lunch, we relax on the aptly named Paradise Beach before a private water taxi takes us across to Union island, where our comfortable hotel for 2 nights sits on the white sand beach and the yacht marina.

Day 8
B, L, D included
A day to play ‘island castaways’ on a superb beach on Union island’s north shore. Excellent swimming, shady sun loungers under the coconut palms, with Royal terns and frigate birds patrolling the bay, precede a French restaurant lunch, followed by a stroll through the village, before returning to our hotel.

Day 9
B, L, D included
After a relaxed breakfast, we board a privately chartered boat for a day on the water. At the Tobago Cays, a group of 5 uninhabited islands, we enjoy exceptional snorkelling over coral reefs and have the opportunity to swim with green turtles. We have lunch on board, then continue north to Bequia. We are met at the dock and a 10-minute drive along the coast brings us to our elegant 4-star beachfront hotel, featuring two freshwater pools in the tropical gardens, a spa and a first-class restaurant overlooking the sea. Time for a rum punch …

DAY 10
B, L, D included
Following a leisurely breakfast, we have a short drive (the whole island is only 7 sq. miles) to the capital, Port Elizabeth. We take our bearings from the 18th century Hamilton Battery, located high above the harbour on Admiralty Bay, then walk down to visit one of the model boat-builder’s workshops for which the island is famous. We stroll through the lanes with their colourful wooden cottages and visit the delightful blue-painted St Mary’s Anglican church, before walking around the bay to lunch at a sophisticated beach bar. The afternoon is free for swimming, snorkelling and relaxing on the beach.

Day 11
B, L, D included
This morning we have a leisurely high level walk from Mt Pleasant, learning about pirates such as Henry Morgan and Sir Francis Drake, who regarded this as the best hiding place in the West Indies. After lunch and a swim from a lovely, hidden, small beach, we return to our hotel and this evening enjoy grilled lobster and the local steel pan band.

Day 12
B, L, D included
We visit a turtle sanctuary run by a retired fisherman to improve the survival rate of endangered hawksbill turtles, then walk on the wild Atlantic coast to ‘Firefly’, a 250-year-old working plantation producing pineapples and coconuts. We have a guided walking tour and see their historic sugar mill before lunch on the estate. Back at our hotel, we have a free afternoon to enjoy the beach, with water sports available, swimming pools and extensive gardens.

Day 13
B, L, D included
We are up in good time to board the ‘Friendship Rose’, a 100 ft. Bequia schooner which served as the main island transport for decades. Once clear of the harbour, the sails are unfurled to catch the Trade winds; refreshments are served and we settle back on comfortable cushions to enjoy the scenic 2 hour sail across to the island of Mustique. We go ashore for a guided jeep tour to see the villas of the rich and famous before lunch on board. After a snooze, we snorkel or swim in an area with many turtles before sailing back to Bequia, hoping to see dolphins surfing on our bow wave.

Day 14
B included
After a final morning relaxing on the hotel beach, we depart from Bequia’s little airport. A scenic flight brings us to Barbados to connect with international flights home.

Please note that no twin rooms are available in the first hotel. The double room for single use supplement is imposed by the hotel and not by Kudu Travel. If you are willing to share but no other suitable guest books on the trip, we regret that the supplement will be payable.

• Accommodation for Days 1 through 14, sharing a double room
• Meals with Caribbean beer or fresh fruit juices at lunches and wine at dinners, as listed in the daily notation
• Land and water transportation, as described, except during free periods
• Garden tours as described
• Entrance and sightseeing fees, except during free periods
• Gratuities for drivers, hotel and restaurant staff (appreciation for tour leaders is discretionary)

• Flights to Grenada and from Bequia
• Trip cancellation, medical or other insurance
• Immunisations, prescriptions or other medical requirements
• Passport, visa and health documentation
• Personal expenses (laundry, alcohol other than wine/beer with group lunches and dinners, free time activities, etc.)
• Transport and transfer of excess baggage 
• Grenada, Bequia and Barbados departure tax, if any

On Kudu trips, you will only need money for postcards, presents to take home, the odd G & T or an irresistible ice cream. Festival and opera tickets, museum and gallery entrances, National Park fees, all meals (with a very few exceptions specified in individual itineraries), wine with lunch and dinner, access to specialist books carried by the guides, gratuities for porters and hotel and restaurant staff, boat rides, train trips, internal flights, wine tastings, 4WDs with drivers, the services of skilled local guides and trackers etc are ALL INCLUDED in the cost of your holiday. 

We are confident that, like previous very satisfied guests, you will discover that our tours give you excellent value for money.

• 6 nights on Grenada, in very comfortable and well-equipped mahogany-built villas, set in tropical gardens on a private bay
• 2 nights on Union Island, in a comfortable hotel on a white sand beach
• 5 nights on Bequia, in an elegant 4-star beachfront hotel that features 2 freshwater pools in the tropical gardens, a spa and a first-class restaurant overlooking the sea

Visitors from EU countries, USA and Canada currently require a valid passport, but not a visa, for entry to Grenada, Bequia, Union island (both part of St Vincent and the Grenadines) and Barbados. If you are a national of any other country, you will probably be granted a short stay visa on arrival. Please check visa regulations with your nearest Embassies of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Grenada.

At present, there are no specific and compulsory health requirements for entry to Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines (Bequia, Union) and Barbados. You may also wish to check the advice given to travellers by the Department of Health and the FCO. 

Insurance
It is essential, and a condition of booking, that you protect yourself with a suitable travel insurance policy as soon as you book a trip. Follow this link for a quote for a policy available to UK residents.

If you are already insured or a non-UK resident, please inform us of your policy at the time of booking.

Size of party 
This trip will run with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 14 guests.

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