The Arrival

- Written By Chandy

Now that you’ve taken in the spectacular view at E.T Joshua airport, and you’ve dropped your luggage at your hotel you’re wondering what’s next. Well for starters my dear don’t expect to rest your sweet head for no more than 3 hours a night, and that’s if you’re lucky. Come along with me on my experience of Vincy mas. St. Vincent and the Grenadines Carnival, known to many as Vincy Mas starts the last week of June into the second week of July.

Many people tend to land in Vincy during the weekend of all the madness I was one of them, ( when you work a nine to five it’s hard to take a whole ten days off, so you opt for the next best thing 5 days of madness). The night I landed was July 3rd, Panorama took place earlier in day but that evening was Fire Fete at Arnos Vale Playing Field (directly across from the airport). Bunji Garlin, Faynne Lyons and the Asylum band performed along with local artist Skinny Fabulous, Icon, Problem Child, Blakie, Zola and many others. I can honestly say for my 50 EC (about 19 US) it was well worth it.

The music was sweet, the vibes was right, and waist was pelting for days. I didn’t reach home til six the next morning, some may have to sleep for work others have nothing to do (like myself) but lime after the show by Yankee’s chicken located opposite the Methodist church Kingstown. Yankee’s chicken is the only late night spot open til the wee hours of the morning, kind of like your local diner in the states.

So I rested for a couple of hours to head into Kingstown (town) to exchange money and after head to KFC for lunch and take a walk to SVG players Mas Camp to pay off the balance on my costume and spray paint my shoes. There are six local banks but during Carnival all the lines are very long, (Scotia, NCB, First Caribbean, RBTT, First St. Vincent Bank, St. Vincent Cooperative bank) each bank has an ATM so if you’re in a rush you could always come back and use the ATM.

After lunch I take a walk down to the mas Camp to pay my balance and spray my shoes. SVG Players has won band of the year for two years straight and I know we will take it again this year. I opted to not do the hot 97 section (which is the hottest section in the band) because I wanted to play with my sisters and cousins this year. “Birds of Paradise” was my choice. SVG Players is usually organized and takes care of all their masqueraders that’s why I come back each and every year. Their mas camp is located across from Peace Memorial Kingstown. Playing mas in St. Vincent is relatively inexpensive when compared to most countries. My costume was $275 E.C and the exchange rate is $2.67 EC to $1.00 U.S, I get drinks and service with my costume.

Friday Night is the Ms. Carival Show where 8 Beautiful women throughout the Caribbean compete…

Most countries provide goodie bags for their masqueraders SVG Players does not but you still get a fun experience. While I pay for my costume I get my sneakers sprayed to avoid the hassle Carnival Tuesday. After the mas camp I head back to Heritage Square where there are street bars, street vendors, steel pan, riddim section and local DJ’s to entertain you. Heritage Square is where you enjoy the sweet Vincy breeze, socialize and decide what to do next. The Friday night is the Ms. Carival Show where 8 beautiful women throughout the Caribbean (from Puerto Rico right down to Trinidad and Tobago) compete for the title. This show is as big as Ms. America in the States. I opted for Fuzion, a local club located in the heart of Kingstown. The cover charge ranges from 40 EC to 60 EC depending on the night.

The atmosphere in the club is well worth the cover, there is no smoking allowed in the building, there is a V.I.P. section equipped with leather seats and flat screen televisions and it’s own security, if you want to enjoy the night sky take a walk up to the roof where there is another bar and security.

Fuzion offers a feel of an upscale Manhattan club with a Caribbean feel. The DJ’s actually spin music and do less talking and keep the vibes rolling. Once again I didn’t leave until six but this time I only received an hour sleep because I was heading to the Grenadines on a catamaran.

You ever saw water so tranquil and blue that it seemed more like a painting or a color out of a Crayola box well that is the sea in the Grenadines. The water is so clean and pure you can see right down to the bottom of the Ocean and not many people from the states can experience such a glory. We met in Villa 50 of us full of energy still after a night of drinking and pelting waist. We headed to a boat operated by Fantasea Tours www.fantaseatours.com. Fantasea tours is known for their exciting tours to the waterfalls, the Grenadines, and every natural attraction St. Vincent has to offer they are located in Villa 15 minutes away from Kingstown. The boat ride lasted for about two hours from Mainland to Mayreau. If you suffer from motion sickness the waves can be a little intense from mainland to the Bequia channel but pass that it’s smooth sailing.

With the tour you get unlimited drinks and food and its Carnival I’m not driving so why not enjoy me so for me the time went by rather quickly. I enjoyed tanning and soaking up the sun. I even did a little snorkeling but next time I would like to try scuba diving also provided by Fantasea tours. At the beach in Mayreau there are local vendors who sell hand crafted jewels and they provide service with a smile. We headed back on the boat at a quarter to five to get back in time for the biggest show of the Carnival season SOCA MONARCH 2008.