LOCK-DOWN

Just the look of the word "Lock-Down" is sinister enough yet it has become a household phrase around the world. It was only a few weeks ago that we were frustrated not to be able to take our end-of-season leave.  Now, it seems absurd, considering we must be counted amongst the luckiest in the world to be here on this tiny island of Mustique where the weather is beautiful and our homes are open and one with nature.  Not to appreciate what Mustique has to offer would be a crime and with that firmly in mind I thought I'd keep a diary of Island Life in the time of Covid.

To Mustique, Lock-Down has meant closing the Cotton House Hotel, Firefly Guest House, Basil's Bar and the construction companies, and helping employees to join their families on mainland St. Vincent.  Social distancing and isolation for any new comers to the island is being followed as per direction from our Prime Minister, The Hon. Ralph Gonzalves.  The daily flight to St. Vincent has been cancelled and the boat only sails twice a week bringing in fresh fruit and vegetables from the mainland along with other island essentials.

 Mustique itself is in a wonderful position of having its own generator and solar power, water catchments in each house and an island water desalination plant. One third of the island villas are occupied which brings the island head count up to about 500. 

With half the island surrounded by beaches and the other by rugged coastal pathways, that leaves plenty of space for people to get out and exercise and even for family outings to the beach, so one might be excused for thinking life is continuing as usual. 

After the initial rush of trying to get people on or off the island, life has settled into a peaceful pace reminiscent of the early days here in the "low season", which used to stretch from May to December.

Island walks have become part of the daily routine with beach clean-ups on the way, so Mustique has never looked better.  It is a lovely way for people to get together, catch up on news and still maintain the prescribed social distance!

A night time walk under the Full Moon has become an all-island favourite.

The dry season is here in earnest though, and the grassland is more like an African savannah than the lush Caribbean that visitors are used to, yet contrary to one's expectation the flowers are a chaos of colour and stand out vibrantly against the dusty hillsides.

 A few of the island ponds have dried up and we are all concerned for the wildlife.  Nakita, the island environmental officer, is on the case though, and has organised watering bowls so the tortoises, iguanas, lizards and birdlife are doing just fine!

 

The sky and sea have been very clear and beautifully blue and we are making the most of the photo ops with deserted beaches.  Another exceptional bonus for us here is that there are enough picnic spots for each family to have one to themselves! 

So between walking and swimming and even tennis everyone is able to keep fit and healthy.

Some of the fun events we have achieved on Mustique during this strange time of lockdown are:

Around the Island Swim - fund raiser for Covid SVG - A mega undertaking by Marco Sodi. read more

Art Basil - fund raiser for Covid SVG - an all-island craft and art exhibition. read more

Tennis Tournament - Richard keeps us all fit during lockdown with a week long all-island tennis tournament.

Keeping busy with Colouring.... read more

Lotty B and Pink House Mustique photoshoots for the 2021 Collections - With lockdown in force around the world, our scheduled photoshoot was canceled but Mustique's unique position enabled the show to go on... read more 

Graduation - We made 'island style' graduation hats for our island graduates... read more.

Renovations at the Pink House - despite the reduced crew at MPM, our little Pink House has a new storage loft...  We carried all the stock down to the shop to empty the loft.  The shop was so piled high with boxes we had to close for a few days while Bishop and Peter pulled out the old ceiling and put in the new, and all through the little window at the back! A Big THANK YOU! from the Pink House.

 We make masks .... read more