Indian Bay, a pretty stretch of beach where white coral sand meets volcanic black, plays host each morning to small groups of retired Vincentians seeking health, exercise and discussion. Several have returned from a working life abroad: predominantly the UK, US or Canada. Salaries back home in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) are lower, but other aspects of life offer compensation.
St Vincent, the country’s largest island, known as ‘Mainland’ and home to over 90 per cent of the population, is blessed by nature. The La Soufrière volcano has erupted five times in the last 300 years: most recently in 2021, when it forced 20,000 of the island’s 100,000 people from their homes. Thanks to early warning systems and evacuation plans no-one was killed, and after an extensive clean-up, the eruption has left even more fertile soil and verdant land – a blessing for an economy dependent on agriculture in general and bananas in particular.
