Kingstown- St. Vincent

 Caribbean-St.Vincent and the Grenadines -Kingstown It is nice to be back in St.Vincent. The last time was a brief visit . I had always wanted to see the famous St.Vincent Parrot. So this time I made it to the Botanical Gardens to  see the birds . 

I had visited the Post Office in Kingstown and purchased a lot of stamps. These ones show the parrots . 

The Post office also sold stamps for some of the islands. Years ago it was handled by a separate company but now back with the Post Office. 

Mustique

Caribbean-St.Vincent and The Grenadines-Mustique   The easiest way to get to Mustique is to fly from Kingston, St.Vincent. Mustique is considered to be the Upmarket of the Grenadines. Here you see the views from the Cotton Club , the main Boutique hotel complex on the Island. Top class service and prices to match. A beautiful small beach to sit and relax as I got served drinks and lunch. 

Posted on Mustique. When I told the Hotel, The Cotton Club I wanted to mail Postcards they offered to mail them for me and to send them to Kingston. So they usually send the mail out from there. I had to make sure it went from the Post office in Mustique. 

 Caribbean-St.Vincent-Mustique  These were the only cards I could find both purchased at The Cotton Club. 

This Postcard has a Mustique stamp and a very clear Mustique cancellation 

Mayreau and Canouan

Caribbean-St.Vincent-Mayreau   This is the smallest island in The Grenadines that is inhabited. Population of about 300. But they have no Post office. 

This is a Mayreau stamp issued by the Philatelic Bureau in St.Vincent. But there is no Post office on the Island so no way to even post the mail there. This card was posted in Kingston , St.Vincent.

Caribbean-St.Vincent and The Grenadines-Canouan  This is my second postcard from here . 

This is the Postcard with the Official St.Vincent and The Grenadines stamps. All Definitive stamps. The Post office is not near the ferry port, which is unusual for the Caribbean. So I had to give this postcard to the customs official who posted to me . 

St.Vincent and The Grenadines - Union Island

Caribbean-St.Vincent and the Grenadines-Union Island   Spent the day on Union Island. A busy island and beautiful . It was just plain Caribbean without the tourist infracstructure. 

These are the official stamps from St.Vincent and the Grenadines. At the time I purchased them they were not even in most stamps catalogues. They were only available from the Post office, not the Philatelic Bureau. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent-Union Island   The local town was full of life.. Reminded me a little like the Cays of Belize. 

This is a Union Island stamp. In each Post office I went to in the Grenadines I sent a postcard back with each stamp and the Post office ones. I had been told in the Post office in Kingston that if they see these stamps on mail it may not go through. The Post office in St.Vincent is privatised so they do not get any income from the Sale of Postage stamps from the Philatelic Bureau. So it is like having two separate Post offices for one country. 

Caribbean

Caribbean-St.Lucia-Castries  A very beautiful Island. On this occasion I did not see to much of this place. I ended up having a very bad tooth ache so , I spend the day at the dentist here in Castries.I got great reports on the island and ended up visiting another time. 

This was the new definitive issue just realised shortly before I arrived. The postcard arrived without any postmark. So I had to send it back to the post office. This time it got a mark. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent-Kingston  Did not get to see much here as a friend lost his glasses. Spend the day looking for the glasses. Never found them. Another Island I had to revisit. Not having good luck on these two Islands! 

This stamp is a earlier stamp. This stamp is for St.Vincent only. The usual stamps have St.Vincent and the Grenadines. I do like the SVG Post Happy Holidays. Posted at the GPO. 

Caribbean-Bequia-Port Elizabeth  The main town on Bequia .What a beautiful Island. Just like the postcard. Nothing went wrong  here to me today, and I enjoyed the afternoon.

This Bequia stamp is from the Philatelic bureau. According to the Postmaster in Kingston St.Vincent they are not valid for postage. But these stamps are all in the catalogues. This one as you can see went through the system. 

Caribbean-Grenadines of St.Vincent-Bequia-Port Elizabeth  A beach scene from Bequia .

This is the old Grenadines of St.Vincent stamp. Not in use any more. But wanted to use it  as at that time the Islands has their own stamps.A nice clear Bequia postmark. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent and the Grenadines-Bequia-Port Elizabeth  More sea, more sand , most blue skies !!! 

These are the official stamps available from the Post office. They have St.Vincent and the Grenadines on them. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent and the Grenadines-Kingston  The Anglican Cathedral in Kingston. 

These stamps are from the General Post Office in Kingston. At the time they were not to be found in any stamp catalogue. They are not available from the Philatelic Bureau. St Vincent Post had been privatised and they did not recognise the stamps issued by the Philatelic bureau. So there were on going discussions .The Post office of St.Vincent and the Grenadines had one set of issues and the Philatelic Bureau had another set of issues.. The Stamp catalogues only had the  ones from the Philatelic Bureau which were in effect not legal. What a strange situation.