"Brother" King and the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary in the Grenadines

One of the best parts of traveling is meeting people that make a difference and Orton “Brother” King is one of the best. “Brother” King runs the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia Island in the Grenadines. Hawksbill sea turtles have a survival rate of one in a thousand and are dangerously going extinct. Brother King works hard at changing the odds and has been doing so for the last twelve years. In his salt water ponds he takes collected hatchlings and raises them up for release. They start out eating canned tuna fish then move on to small fish. At age three they are released back into the sea, over 2000 have been released. Brother marks his turtles with a hole in the back of the shell and his babies are found all over the Grenadines. Standing by the largest pool I was amazed at how friendly a hawksbill can be, they loved having their shells lightly scratched. It is quite obvious that this man loves his cause, check his site and see how you can help.

Bequia and Manhattan, Night and Day

After a fast paced day at the European Travel Commission yesterday, I was drawn to pictures I took down in St Vincent and the Grenadines last week. I wanted to relive the bare footing slow pace and breath the salty air, it doesn’t take me long to get nostalgic over a special place.

One of my favorite places down there was the Island of Bequia (“BEK-way”) just nine miles away from St Vincent, a perfect sail. Its main town is Port Elizabeth, a funky little place with great water views and small scale restaurants and shops. Amy’s Creole Grill was also where I had the best French fries I have ever tasted.It was almost like my lobster sandwich was the side dish. In keeping with the laid back Bequia way it is also a place to drop off a finished book and trade it in for a new one. A long way from the fast pace of Manhattan and people rushing around.